Which Memory Should I Get

[amol]

First, the specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 90nm
Asus A8N-SLI
Maxtor 300GB SATAII NCQ
6800GT PCI-E
NEC 16x DVD+R w/ 4x DL
Floppy Drive

That's what I'm planning to build soon . . .

Which memory should I get? Corsair XMS? OCZ?

Also, in the future, I plan on upgrading to:

Replacing CPU with FX-57/59

Adding Raptor Hard Drive

Adding 6800 PCI-E in SLI

How much power am I going to need to run that config?

TIA!

 

[jpeyton]

PDP 1GB Dual Channel w/ XBL. It's like OCZ EL Platinum on the cheap.

As for the PSU for future upgrades, 500W+ from a reputable brand like OCZ, Enermax, etc.

 

[NarcoticHobo]

You should look at the thread I posted about this, for the current rig 400W should be fine for the future 500W will provide expandability and stability.

 

[amol]

I'm not looking for cheap memory . . . if I need to pay extra $, might as well, if it improves performace . . ..

 

[amol]

Originally posted by: NarcoticHobo
You should look at the thread I posted about this, for the current rig 400W should be fine for the future 500W will provide expandability and stability.

would an antec neopower 480W work?

actually, are there any 500W PSUs on the quieter side?

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Amol
I'm not looking for cheap memory . . . if I need to pay extra $, might as well, if it improves performace . . ..

It's good memory, trust me. OCZ is slightly better, but whether that is worth the extra $50 is up to you. The best on the market is probably the OCZ EL PC4200 Platinum Rev2, or GSkill PC4800.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Amol

Originally posted by: NarcoticHobo
You should look at the thread I posted about this, for the current rig 400W should be fine for the future 500W will provide expandability and stability.

would an antec neopower 480W work?

actually, are there any 500W PSUs on the quieter side?

OCZ PowerStream 520W is relatively quiet; so is Enermax's Noisetaker 600W unit.

 

[amol]

btw, i'm not an overclocker

if i OC, it wont be much

probably something like 2.8GHz to 2.9 or something

EDIT: can someone give me a short, crash course in RAM speeds? like PC3200 and PC3500, etc . . .

I'm not good with memory . . . in many ways . . .

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Amol
btw, i'm not an overclocker

if i OC, it wont be much

probably something like 2.8GHz to 2.9 or something

The 3200+ is a 2.0GHz processor. Many people have been getting them to 2.4GHz and beyond.

When you increase the FSB speed to overclock, you can choose to keep the memory clock at a 1:1 ratio, or to lower the ratio if your memory cannot overclock as well.

The PDP is good up to 270MHz+, so hypothetically using the default 10X multiplier of the 3200+, you could raise the FSB and memory clock speeds to 270MHz (resulting in a 2.7GHz overclock) before you need to think about lowering the memory clock ratio. That is the advantage of faster memory.

However, if you are not an overclocker, you will not really benefit from the faster memory. You could buy 1GB of Corsair Value memory for $150 (versus $230 for the PDP, and $280 for the OCZ).

 

[amol]

I heard "value ram" was not good, and that i should avoid it . . . . . .

EDIT: I meant 2.8 because in the future, I may get an FX-57 (right now, dont have money, and dont wanna keep WAITING and WAITING . . . )

 

[amol]

BUMP (only 14 minutes, but when WAY down in lineup)