Do I REALLY need paired ram??

A

angrybusdriver

Gawd
Joined
Jul 16, 2003
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Hey guys!

I'm buying my new Barton system soon.. (abit nf7-s, 1gb pc3200, barton 2500+) and I really need to know if I need to buy something like the Corsair XMS PC3200 2x512 paired dual channel ram... it's really expensive ($330 cdn). If I were to buy 1GB of Samsung (2x512, not paired) it'd only be $220 cdn. I'm on a tight budget, so...

I'll be overclocking my 2500+ probably to 11x200 or more. I'm aiming for 3200+ speeds.

Even if I buy 2 individual 512mb sticks of PC3200 ram with heat spreaders on them (like OCZ or Kingston (not value)) then I can save quite a bit of money.

So, do I really need paired ram?
 
As long as the ram is the same size, afaik, it'll run in dual channel mode(IE, you have to use two 256 sticks, or two 512's, etc.)
 
Chances are that you are going to get two identical sticks whether you buy two with or without the pack. If you order them both at the same time, anyway.
 
So i'll see no dual channel advantages if I buy paired ram?

It'd run the same as 2x512 with heatspreaders?
 
of course it's a big deal; if paired sticks are more expensive they muuust be better. You don't think the BIG ram corps would lie to you, do you?
 
The advantages of the "dual channel" packages are: generally, the individual ram sticks are of higher quality(can run higher speeds at faster timings). And, you generally spend less buying a package of 2 512 or 2 256 meg sticks, than buying them individually, if buying from the same manufacturer.
 
Originally posted by thirdeye213
of course it's a big deal; if paired sticks are more expensive they muuust be better. You don't think the BIG ram corps would lie to you, do you?
Click to expand...

They never lie to the consumers. :rolleyes:
 
Just get what the better deal is...Sometimes it is indvidual and sometimes it is the pair...
 
newegg has some sweet Geil PC3500 platinum sticks for pretty cheap as I remember, maybe $43 a piece (maybe $45) for 256MB sticks. I put them in an nForce2 system, and it turned out awesome, and at ~=$90, that was cheaper than most dual kits.
 
"paired" RAM is pretty much a marketing gimmick

just buy two of the same model modules, and youll be fine.
 
i would go corsair everytime,
ocz - dont even think about it!
and as for geil a lot of motherboards arent compatible for some reason or other.
 
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