what size/speed RAM to buy?

[joecool]

fellow at'ers,

i'm finally upgrading my ecs-k7s5a/xp1800 to an nforce2-based board. currently i'm leaning towards the abit nf7-s (now that it seems they've finally fixed the sata problem) and the barton 2500. however i'm completely torn about the RAM - should i get 512MB or 1GB? i do a lot of video editing so i'm thinking the extra RAM might be advantageous ... plus i love the sound if it! and should i go with pc2700 or pc3200? from everything i've heard, it seems like corsair pc2700 will actually run as pc3200, so i'm thinking i shoud get the less expensive pc2700 and oc it. or should i go for pc3200 but a less expensive brand? seems like for the cost of corsair pc2700 i could actually get real pc3200 from a cheaper OEM. your thoughts?

thanks in advance,

joe

 

[andyfasthands]

if you're going to overclock your Barton, go for PC3200. Size depends on you. You might just want to start with 512MB and expand later if you find it isn't sufficient!

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: andyfasthands
if you're going to overclock your Barton, go for PC3200. Size depends on you. You might just want to start with 512MB and expand later if you find it isn't sufficient!

yeah, i guess i'm just thinking that since so many of these mems are overclockable too, why spend the extra $ - is it really needed?

 

[snidy1]

You should go with 2 X 512 DDR 3200 so you can use the dual channel. If you get 2 X 256, there's not much room for adding more if you need to.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: snidy1
You should go with 2 X 512 DDR 3200 so you can use the dual channel. If you get 2 X 256, there's not much room for adding more if you need to.

the only problem is... buying 2x512MB of high performance memory would be hella pricey.
when i bought my 512MB of hyper-X 3500 it cost me over $200/stick (Canadian)

no way I was going to spend $800 on memory...

at current prices it's ALOT better... but still. 512 is enough for the time being and saves a pretty penny.

 

[joecool]

so the consensus seems to be, go for the faster mem even if the slower can be oc'ed pretty well?

 

[moonshinemadness]

On the same idea, what would be better 1gb of less exensive DDR3200 or 512 of Corsair XMS 3200?

 

[Markfw]

2x512 Corsair 512 meg 3200 c2 = $217 for one gig. That is out ????

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
2x512 Corsair 512 meg 3200 c2 = $217 for one gig. That is out ????

yeah, i really don't want to drop that much just on the ram

 

[0roo0roo]

question is does your chip oc that well? is it tbred? if it can't hit speeds justifying 3200 then its a waste.

 

[Malladine]

2 x 512 is nice. Both our rigs have 1gb of 2700 crucial in that form.

And I agree, 3200 would be best for you, if you can afford it. It's quite a bit more expensive than 2700 as you might have noticed.

Originally posted by: joecool

Originally posted by: Markfw900
2x512 Corsair 512 meg 3200 c2 = $217 for one gig. That is out ????

yeah, i really don't want to drop that much just on the ram

The 512 chips set me back $150 directly from crucial.com.

 

[thorin]

Mines bigger, better, and faster then yours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I purchase whatever is needed for the particular installation and whatever is cheapest. ie: If I only need 2100 but 2700 is cheaper I buy the 2700. Similarily I see absolutely no point in buying 300, 3200, or 3500 and then only running it at 333'ish speeds (OC'ing 2700 makes more sense then UC'ing 3000+ ... IMHO ).

Thorin

 

[0roo0roo]

i got 2 512 2700 from frys for ~50 bux a piece, but well.. yea itsgeneric

 

[beatle]

I picked up a single 512 meg stick of PC3200 Twinmos/Winbond from MemoryX when I built my system. It runs great over 200mhz at aggressive timings. I plan to pick up another stick when I get the funds. I figure PC3200 is not only going to improve performance now, but it'll also be "future proof" when motherboards require at least PC3200.

 

[joecool]

ok, so what about this - i can get 2x256MB corsair xms pc3200 for $120, OR 2x512MB geil pc3200 for $140. is it worth the $20 for the extra, lower performance geil ram?

 

[joecool]

thoughts, anybody?

 

[nick1985]

i have 512 if high quality RAM, and i have no slowdowns