Which RAM for P4P800-Deluxe

[iroddy]

Hi, I am a newbie and will be building my first PC.

I will use P4 2.6 or 2.8/800 with Asus P4P800 Deluxe board.

What is the memory of choice for this board?
I want to use high-performance memory, (low latency) and need recommendations.
I want to stay under $200 if possible for 2x 512MB of at least PC3200 DDR.
Maybe choose between geil, ocz, mushkin, or corsair xms.

Also, if I want to overclock, do I need to get faster than PC3200 memory?
If I bought a PC3500 , would I have more room to overclock to 3.0Ghz?
Also would my choice affect the ability to enable PAT?

Thanks for the help, and any other advice to a first time PC builder would be appreciated.

 

[egale]

Long as you stick with name brand high quality, you will be ok. With a 2.8 processor, you should be able to get to 3.0 without any problem with PC3200. You may have to relax memory timings a bit and of course increase VDIMM to 2.75.

PC3500 will give you a little more room. But, it may be the processor or motherboard that won't be able to do the overclock the way you want. Sometimes it is the luck of the draw with how parts will oc.

 

[marcel21]

For what its worth I run PC3200 kingston value RAM dual channel kit on a 2.6 at 3.12ghz using the 20% OC option in bios with no probs. Its the not the high performance RAM latency wise you are looking for, but at least it gives you a cheaper option just so you know. Thats with MAM enabled, but no Turbo (locks me up even at 2.6 default). It sure was a pleasant surprise, I wasnt expecting much from this RAM. I would pick RAM from the list of approved vendors at the asus.com website if you want to be safe. (which this RAM is on)

 

[jhites]

First - Welcome to AT Forums.

If you go with a 2.8C, then PC3200 should be ok if you run 5:4 memory ratio. I think that 3.0Ghz is actually shooting a little low as most of these newer chips will do 3.2-3.4Ghz very easy. At 3.4Ghz you would only be running the memory at DDR388. Any of the ram that you mentioned would be good but you should add Kingston to the mix. If you stay with some of the value ram then you can most likely get it for the $200 price that you mentioned. If you want tighter timings then you are looking closer to $250 with XMS or HyperX modules and they would give you the ability to enable PAT as well as higher overclock potential.

If you go with the 2.6C, then you will need better ram to achieve the same cpu speed due to the multipliers.

I just replaced my 2.6C with a 2.8C SL6Z5 chip and it is awsome. I am using Kingston HyperX PC3500 with timings of 2-2-2-5-4 with Performance Mode enabled. I am running at 262fsb - 3673Mhz on a P4C800-Dlx

 

[iroddy]

Thanks guys...

Now I'm actually thinking of saving some money and going with Kingston Value Ram or something cheap. Many of these high performance memories such as ocz, geil, mushkin 1GB dual channel kits (2x512) are under $200 still (barely). But then the Kingston is $158 at newegg. ( Kingston ValueRAM Dual Channel Kit 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail). Saving about $50 bucks and going with the cheaper ram sounds tempting.

 

[lookin4dlz]

I'm similarly deciding on a HT chip/ram. I figure that I can't sell my 512MB XMS2700 for enough to offset the cost of 2x 512MB modules of DDR400 ram. Since this ram is running at DDR400, I think I'll get another module of it and a 2.8c as the lowest cost upgrade (which will include a new board as well, so I want to keep the overall cost down).