Corsair or Kingston?

M

MadSkills

Limp Gawd
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Jun 11, 2003
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I have heard that Kingston is good b/c they use Samsung memory modules, does Corsair?

I can save $37 if I go with Kingston over Corsair at my desired speed and timings. The memory has the same specs, so is the Corsair name worth the extra $37?
 
I chose to go with Kingston HyperX over Corsair because they were cheaper and the ones I bought have Winbond BH-5 chips which OC like mad. IMHO I would use the extra cash for some other component and go with Kingston.
 
apparently they're both Samsung memory modules, not that crappy micron ;)

WHERE did you find Kingston with Winbond BH5? what model # and what are they running? I'm trying to track this down on their site.
 
apparently the KHX3200K21G used BH5 chips, ran at 2-2-2-6, and had a default VDIMM of 2.5

i am looking at the KHX3200aK1G which run at 2-3-2-6, use CH5, and have default VDIMM of 2.6.



The question is: HOW THE HECK DO YOU FIND ALL THE CHIPS OUT THERE USING BH5? RETAILERS DON'T TELL YOU THAT, AND CORSAIR AND OCZ DON'T EVEN SAY WHICH MODEL #'S CARRY IT ON THEIR WEBSITES!

Another question: how the HECK do I dilineate which Kingston chips use Hynix and which use Samsung w/o having it in my hand?

It seems so difficult to find the correct chips based on their model # when the manufacturers don't even mention who made the chips and PCBs/ICs.
 
Well it looks like I"m going with the KHX3200K21G as it's a BH5 module with an amazing price. All reports have it as running 2-2-2-5 at DDR400 speeds.

The Corsair PC3500 C2 is supposed to be a little better but it costs $60 and you cannot purchase it in matched pairs (the dual-channel boards are picky) so it's not worth it to me.

Thanks for the help bradbowl, I think my memory situation is all figured out.
 
the old corsair 3200 cas2 also used the BH5 chips if i'm not on drugs, i mean mistaken...
 
Yep, I have the TwinX 3200LL (Rev 1.1) and it's BH5. Overclocks like crazy, does 2-2-2-5 no sweat @ 200 and it been up to 2.5-4-4-8 @ 246 FSB / 2.8v - I know they'll do > 250 FSB with a little more volts and who knows how high they would go with some of the crazy voltages I see people here using (3.2+).
 
Unfortunately its not that easy to grab BH-5 anymore. Both Kingston and Corsair have been running very low on supplies of BH-5 chips.

The only garunteed way of getting BH-5 now is to buy Mushkin Level 2 ram. This ram is built because of the guise of the BH-5 chips, and they have a ton of them. When they run out, Mushkin will stop selling Black Level 2 ram.

It has been rumored Corsair is completely out of BH-5, though you may find a reseller that has old stocks.

Kingston is close to out. They will not garuntee BH-5 anymore, so its a crap shoot wether you will recieve BH-5 or the CH-5 chips. Again you may get lucky with a reseller who sells older stocks.

So unfortunately the BH-5 hayday is comming to an end.

What I suggest is the Kingston Hyper X at your rated speeds (PC3500 to take out the guesswork). If you get BH-5 good stuff, you saved money. If not, you still get the rated speeds and normally some more.

Anything more than PC3500 on an amd XP system tends to go to waste. Even with the fast Nvidia chipsets, they conk out around 225fsb for most people. Its not the rams fault, thats all the chipset can handle without ratios which havent proven very usefull on amd XP systems. So its better to shoot for 200-225 with the tightest timings you can.

EDIT: Oh I forgot to mention, OCZ is completely out of BH-5. Which is why they stoped production of the PC3500 Platinum Limited edition line. Again, look for resellers with old stock.

-Fush-
 
Originally posted by MadSkills
apparently the KHX3200K21G used BH5 chips, ran at 2-2-2-6, and had a default VDIMM of 2.5

i am looking at the KHX3200aK1G which run at 2-3-2-6, use CH5, and have default VDIMM of 2.6.
Click to expand...

I called Kingston about this RAM. They're the same chips, just different EPROM programming for the defaults. The "a" stuff is for Intel 865/875, which, according to Intel, won't run 2-2-2 (as if we don't know better).

Kingston is believed to have run out of the BH-5 chips and is using CH-5 in the newer modules. Chances of finding BH-5 are getting slimmer by the day.
 
Originally posted by T5
I called Kingston about this RAM. They're the same chips, just different EPROM programming for the defaults. The "a" stuff is for Intel 865/875, which, according to Intel, won't run 2-2-2 (as if we don't know better).

Click to expand...

Can I ask where you found that information about Intel specifically stating no possibility of running at 2-2-2? I just got that Intel Retail Edge package (the P4 3.0C and the Intel D865GBF board) and I want to maximize the performance I can get with this hardware (no I don't wanna buy another mobo at this point, maybe in the future).

I planned to get some Mushkin Level II (popular stuff according to this thread) and yes it is getting very difficult to find at reasonable prices.

At this point today I'm going to get some Geil low latency DDR400 from Newegg. Considerably less expensive and the timings are fine with me. I already knew when I bought this Retail Edge kit that overclocking wasn't an option with the hardware, but that's never been the goal.

Thanks for any information you can provide,
br0adband
 
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