Need a crash course on MEMORY

[apopilot]

I am planning on buying and AMD 3500+ with a MSI NEO2 MB. I would like to know why people buy different levels of memory. I am confused. I know it takes DDR400 standard, but whats up with the other higher speeds.

WHICH COMPANY SHOULD I GO WITH TO BUY THE MEMORY. I need to make a decision now.

Thanks

Abe

 

[BillLeeLee]

Two main factors with memory for most of us:

Rated speed and timings.

Rated speed - DDR400 is the highest under JEDEC specs for DDR 1 (JEDEC is a memory standards organization), but companies release RAM like PC3500, 3700, 4000, up to 4500 right now I think. The faster the memory is rated for, the higher you can overclock the memory at a 1:1 ratio with the CPU FSB.

Timings - CAS latency, RAS to CAS, Active Precharge Delay, RAS Precharge, as well as Command Rate and such. These affect memory performance. The lowest timings under JEDEC right now are 2-2-2-5 - and indicate how many clock cycles it takes for the memory to execute whichever of the above I've listed.
Lower timings = better memory performance.

Also, generally, the better the timings a RAM has, the more overclocking potential the RAM has, because you drop drop the timings to looser timings when overclocking the RAM higher.

For a much better explanation, go here for a 20 minute memory presentation:
http://www.corsairmemory.com/memory_basics/153707/

RAM manufacturers I recommend:
Crucial Micron (excellent RAM manufacturers), Mushkin (probably better than Mushkin, but I just think they're tied), Corsair Micro, Kingston

Just the ones I've had experience with.

Stay away from generic RAM.

 

[wallijonn]

the higher speeds are if you overclock.

if you overclock your front side bus (FSB) from 200MHz to 250MHz, you'll need DDR500 or PC4000 mem.

If you do not intend to overclock stay with standard speeds.

 

[Catuela]

BillLeeLee
I was getting ready to post asking if anyone had any links to RAM guides...thanks for being there before i needed you

Any other good places to look to learn more about memory? i.e CAS timings, speeds and the such.

 

[apopilot]

Ok, what is the standard speed? DDR400? And which name brand and model is best?

 

[BillLeeLee]

Some more memory guides that better explain timings and such:

http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/memory/memory_timings/index_3.shtml
http://arstechnica.com/paedia/r/ram_guide/ram_guide.part1-1.html

DDR400 is the standard speed these days.

If you want the best RAM out there right now that's readily available.

Corsair XMS PC3200XL RAM - uses Samsung chips that run at 2-2-2-5 timings. Has a lot of overclocking potential if you loosen the timings.

However, it is pricey pricey stuff, at about $170 for 512 MB.

Kingston HyperX, other Corsair XMS, Mushkin Level 1, and Crucial Ballistix are other good brands of enthusiast RAM.

But are you overclocking? If not, I always generally recommend Crucial RAM. It doesn't have awesome timings, but it is excellent stuff.

 

[apopilot]

I am not going to be overclocking. I was looking at OCZ and Kingston. I am confused. Is there a site that has benchmarked the memories. I need the best performance for Flight Simulator 2004 and first person shooter.

 

[BillLeeLee]

Just get Crucial or Corsair value select if you're not OCing. Really no point in spending a premium for something like 3 or 4 more frames of performance.

 

[apopilot]

I am looking at 1GB of DDR400 Ram. Any suggestions which way is the cheapest if i want 2GB of RAM?

 

[apopilot]

I found the corsair TWINX-3200XLPRO. Its $330 on newegg for 1GB. Does anyone have an opinion comparable memory and performance at a lower price?

 

[Tech_Pro]

BillLeeLee thank you soo much for that thread helps me out a whole lot thank you again.

 

[apopilot]

How about 2GB of Geil VALUE?