Help me decide on what ram to buy (for the specific purpose of overclocking).

L

Lukano

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 11, 2003
Messages
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As you can see in my sig, all of my current hardware is running @ stock values.

I had a thread going in the OC forum last spring/summer with my trials and tribulations of overclocking the very same hardware in question, and after many months of semi-stable performance I finally got fed up and threw it all back to default. I strongly suspect that the OCZ 2-3-3-8 PC3200 ram shown in my sig was the culprit, but also would not be too terribly suprised to find that my specific 3000+ Venice has a weak memory controller.

So 8 months later, I've been bitten by the overclocking bug again - and having come into a bit of extra spending money, I'm going to take another stab at this.

What I'm aiming to do is keep the current board (I can't see any reason why this board won't last me through another couple of CPU's - even with overclocking, being DFI - but if I'm wrong let me know now) - so the first step is new ram. Once I get the new ram, and find that either my 3000+ Venice just isn't going to hack it, a new processor will be next on the list.

So to start - the memory.

Should I stick with PC3200 and just aim for 2 x 1gb with incredibly good reviews and tight timing - or would I buy myself some longevity (for future overclocks with future CPU's) by going for a reasonable PC4000 set of 2 x 1gb instead?

Now I've long since come to understand that 2-2-2-5 is the goal of kings for PC3200, but when looking at the PC4000 stuff my limited understanding is being taxed. I'm seeing 3-3-4-8, 3-2-3-8, and a wild variety of other timings. I understand those are @ PC4000 speeds - but what would I expect those to translate into when running lower (ie; assuming I get lucky and I can push that 3000+ to 280-300 HTT - what ram if any will hack it at 1:1)?

A few of the ideas I've been looking at (NCIX.com here as I'm Canuckistanian);

OCZ Platinum EB PC4000 2GB 2X1GB DDR500 CL3-3-2-8 - ~$388 CDN

Mushkin Redline XP PC4000 2GB 2X1GB DDR500 CL3-3-2-8 - ~$406 CDN

OCZ Gold EL PC4000 2GB 2X1GB DDR500 CL3-4-4-8 - ~$316 CDN

or would I be better off buying two singles (insofar as I've seen that'll be more expensive, and runs the risk of having mismatched sticks);

OCZ Gold EL PC4000 1GB DDR500 CL3-4-4-8 - ~$196 CDN EACH

OCZ Platinum EB PC4000 1GB DDR500 CL3-3-2-8 - ~$202 CDN EACH

Or am I way off base here?

Bear in mind my selection is a little more limited than those of you with access to NewEgg (unless NewEgg has suddenly brought back that ability to ship to Canada and I missed it - and even then the risk of customs/border charges negates any possible savings to begin with).
 
Shame they don't have G.Skill in Canada. I would go for the OCZ EB or the Redlines.
 
i disagree. CE-6 is a bitch to get over 260-265mhz. get the ocz gold, it's cheaper and will hit higher mhz, at the expense of timings. kinda gives you a bit more flexibility ;)
 
Sort of a followup question, but I'm debating on trying to fit an Antec P180 Case, Opteron 165, and 2x1gb RAM into my budget - so may look at PC3200 2x1gb - if I can some some good overclockable 1gb PC3200 sticks I may take that route instead.
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
i disagree. CE-6 is a bitch to get over 260-265mhz. get the ocz gold, it's cheaper and will hit higher mhz, at the expense of timings. kinda gives you a bit more flexibility ;)
Click to expand...

Oh really? I'll go take a peek at the pricing for the Gold then.
 
overclockable pc3200 1gb sticks don't reaaaally exist sadly. there sorta are some, but it's very hit or miss :(
 
I live in Alberta and I got my Mushkin 4000 Redlines at Memory Express for $399 and I also got a kit for my friend and both do 265 more 3D stable and my kit will do Cas 2.5 easily at rated speed and higher. Havent really messed with them a whole lot but they are great.

They run good at low volts and I think that is a blessing nowadays. Looks like the Ballistix 2GB kit is being pulled as it keeps dieing from heat and voltage.
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
overclockable pc3200 1gb sticks don't reaaaally exist sadly. there sorta are some, but it's very hit or miss :(
Click to expand...

Well thankfully the OCZ Gold 2x1gb PC4000 3-4-4-8 kits are within $50-70 of the 2x1gb PC3200 2-3-2-5's anyways - so it's a no brainer there.

I'm now changing my approach a bit, considering an Opteron 165 / OCZ PC4000 Gold instead of going full bore on the ram and getting CPU later.
 
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