Upgrading memory need advice? OCZ, Patriot, Corsair?

[Veraxitas]

I want to upgrade from 2x512 to 2x1gb dual channel. I have a DFI Lanparty Ultra D motherboard. These are the sticks I have been looking at:

OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 2x1024MB Dual Channel Platinum XTC
Patriot 2GB PDC2G3200LLK
Mushkin High-Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory
Corsair Twinx2048-3200c2

As you can see all of the ones I listed are Low Latency and PC3200. I don't really do much overclocking so I assume that is best. However, If you think a higher ram like 3500, 4400, etc. would be better give me some suggestions.

I am willing to spend about $200 so please let me know what would be the best RAM for my motherboard when not overclocking.

Also, I use my computer 90% of the time for FPS gaming.

Thx

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

uhhh if you're going tos pend $200, I recommend you getting the 2x1gb Platinum EB PC-4000. Forget XTC. Get the fastest 2gb combo there is =) Best timings too.... 3-3-2 @ DDR500? Anand even hadt hem at 2.5-3-2....

 

[conlan]

All three are good quality w/ good warranties. Check the memory company websites for Mobo compatibility.

I chose the OCZ for my recent upgrade and couldn't be happier

 

[Veraxitas]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
uhhh if you're going tos pend $200, I recommend you getting the 2x1gb Platinum EB PC-4000. Forget XTC. Get the fastest 2gb combo there is =) Best timings too.... 3-3-2 @ DDR500? Anand even hadt hem at 2.5-3-2....

Thanks for the suggestion and it looks like very good memory, however, the cheapest I could find it was $259, that is a little over the budget.

Would the XTC be the next best option or one of the others?

 

[Madwand1]

Forget about > PC3200 if you're not overclocking, and even if you are, you can still do so with PC3200 RAM. Actually, any good RAM will do; relatively inexpensive name brand C2 or C2.5 RAM would be good buys.

In the OCZ line, the Platinum EL 3200 (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K) has had some recent price drops, and comes with rebates in some places. It looks like a good buy.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/m...z_el_ddr_pc_3200_dual_channel_platinum

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...+1052407862&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=147

 

[Veraxitas]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Forget about > PC3200 if you're not overclocking, and even if you are, you can still do so with PC3200 RAM. Actually, any good RAM will do; relatively inexpensive name brand C2 or C2.5 RAM would be good buys.

In the OCZ line, the Platinum EL 3200 (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K) has had some recent price drops, and comes with rebates in some places. It looks like a good buy.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/m...z_el_ddr_pc_3200_dual_channel_platinum

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...+1052407862&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=147

I misunderstood you...You said forget about PC3200 if Im not overclocking....Did you mean to say forget about the PC4000?

Are there any reviews with comparisons of PC3200 LL memory that would help me to see which one is best? I have looked but cant find any.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: Veraxitas

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Forget about > PC3200 if you're not overclocking

I misunderstood you...You said forget about PC3200 if Im not overclocking....Did you mean to say forget about the PC4000?

By "forget about > PC3200..." I meant "forget about greater than PC3200" because going for higher bandwidth RAM is not going to give you any direct benefit unless you overclock.

If you're mildly overclocking, then in theory RAM which lets you mildly overclock the RAM would be generally superior, at least by being more flexible. However, at low CPU clock speeds, which would be implied in this case with mild overclocking, there is little benefit from high speed / overclocking of RAM.

AT has tons of RAM reviews. Contradicting my pervious statement now, you might even take performance figures as an indication of general quality -- thinking that if it overclocks really well (sometimes), maybe they'll tend to do down-to-earth speeds reliably.

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/

That is if warranty / reputation / customer service aren't enough for you to estimate RAM quality other than speed. However, I don't know if any companies have maintained stellar reputation while still being cost competitive. I have for example some OCZ RAM that doesn't work for me (won't let me overclock the CPU even when I don't overclock the RAM), and some OCZ RAM that does (e.g. the Platinum previously mentioned), although the RAM doesn't overclock for me at all while keeping low latency. If I judged the company by the first product, I'd say they were bad; by the second; good.

If you're even going to be mildly overclocking, you should become familiar with Memtest86+ -- using that might be sufficient to judge RAM quality in your application, after having made a guess in the purchase decision.

There is no best RAM however, just lots of options that will probably work for you and do the job.