Some help choosing memory Please!

[DaZednConFuZeD]

Hey guys n gals,

I was considering upgrading my p4 1.8 OC'ed to 2.4 to a P4 2.4C and was wondering what kind of memory would be ideal for my system. I plan on overclocking the SOB as much as possible; probably around the 3.0 - 3.2 mark somewhere. In consideration of this, I was considering OCZ PC3500 EB or EL 2x256, if I can get my hands on it, Mushkin Lvl1 PC3500 2x256, or Geil Golden Dragon 2x256 Pc3500. I have a Asus p4p800 and am currently running 1 stick of 512 spectek pc2700 and 2 sticks of 256 Spectek pc2700. Help me out!

p.s. do you think that PC3500 is the way to go? or should i stick with PC3200, or perhaps even take my chances on PC4400+ and try taking my chances in running 1:1 ratios?

Thanks so much! :beer:

 

[DoobieOnline]

Geil Platinum PC4000 is good stuff if you want to run 1:1 and get your 2.4C up to (and over) 250 FSB. Newegg has a pretty good price on it here. I have the 1GB kit and it hits 250 FSB at 2.85V using 2.5-4-4-7 timings. You can go even higher if your mobo supports higher VDIMM. ZZF has a brief special on the SimpleTech PC3500 1GB kit for $159 after MIR here so that may be worth considering if you want to run at 5:4 or pump some serious voltage into it for 1:1. Good luck!

Doobie

 

[DaZednConFuZeD]

HEiDi Ho again everyone,

Thanks Doobie for the reply. So if I were to get PC4000 and run 1:1 do you think that Geil would be the best? I want to see if I would be able to keep latencies tight at this speed. Also, I was wondering with respect to which ram I will be purchasing, what you guys thought would be more beneficial?... Running 1:1 on PC4000 or Running 5:4 on PC3500? Thanks again, and I appreciate all the help.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Tighter RAM timings at 5:4 will give you slightly better benchmarks. Example: CPU @ 250 FSB and RAM running @ 200MHz (DDR400) 2-2-2-5 would give better scores than CPU @ 250 FSB and RAM running at 250MHz (DDR500) 2.5-4-4-7. I'm running my 2.8C at 3.5GHz using 250 FSB and when I ran some Mushkin PC3500 at 2-2-2-5 using the 5:4 ratio on my Asus P4P800, the benchmarks were a hundred or so points higher in Aquamark and 3DMark03. I decided to go with the Geil because I liked the idea of running 1:1, but it was just a personal preference. You can always get PC3500 and run it with increased voltage, super-tight timings, and really stretch the legs of the 2.4C by using a 5:4 ratio. Personally, I think you'd be nuts not to get a gig of memory when it can be had for the same price as 512MB.

Doobie

 

[someone16]

If you look at the OCZ EB review here, it's got quite a bit of headroom and should be good for O/C ing a 2.4C

 

[DaZednConFuZeD]

Hey, thanks a lot for the info guys. I haven't yet decided whether to run 1:1 or 5:4 yet, but i know that if running 1:1 PC4000 is the way to go and running 5:4 PC3500 will be groovy. I guess i just want the most for my money. I'm planning on Playing EQII when it comes out, if that helps any with the suggestions....Now, i'm willing to spend about $250 for 1gig if possible of ram either way, and was wondering if you guys could throw the suggestions this way. Thanks so much:thumbsup:

 

[DaZednConFuZeD]

Hey guys,

Finally knocked it down to about 3 choices! I'm having a hard time deciding between, Mushkin PC3500 Lvl 1s 2x512, OCZ EB PC3500 2x512, or Geil Golden Dragons PC3500 2x512.

I will be running a P4 2.4C and plan to OC to at least...hehe .... 3.0 so about 250 FSB if not 270
I have a P4p800 MoBo and Enermax 550W psu. Let me know what you guys think... THanks!