Need DDR2 533 ram

[Gibb]

Help a RAM n00b out. I honestly dont know what's the difference between dual channel and single channel. My new mobo supports DDR2 533 and 400. I dont know how to tell the limit of whether PC4200 will be too fast or not. I've had Kingston HyperX ram in the past and have liked it well enough. Here are some things i've found:

Kingston 1 GB kit (2 512s) PC2-4200, 533 dimm ($229)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85016-37

Corsair 1 GB Kit PC2-4200, 533 dimm ($220)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85016-33

Kingston HyperX 1GB kit 533 dimm, PC2-5400 ($284)
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA20710

My friend recommends the HyperX kit, but i'm afraid it's just more overkill than i need. I have 3 sticks of PC4000 HyperX ram, and i'll never have a computer that can run DDR1 PC4000 ram, i dont even know if they exist.

How can i tell the PC#### limit of my mobo? Here it is here:
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/bl/index.htm?iid=ipp_browse+motherbd_d915pbl&

[opus512]

Mushkin 2x512 MB PC4200 DDR2 CAS-333 $272.00
http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushkin.storefront/41cb425a03487a682740c0a80102060f/Product/View/991390

Don't know squat about DDR2, but I feel safe in defaulting to Mushkin as a recomendation.

Corsair I had issues with, but to be honest that was with their 'budget' line of memory. Kingston I've sold and used some of the HyperX, and it was ok, had one issue I can remember, that's probably about it.

I've also had issues with Mushkin, as I have had with every memory manufacturer I have ever sold/tried, though. Nobodys perfect all the time.

Crucial probably had the best overall track recrod, but they kinda fell behind the curve with the initial switch over the DDR. Haven't been to their site in some time, don't know what they offer now.

Out of the three you list, I would go with my Mushkin recomendation :D

If your willing to spend the $284 for the HyperX, I would spend the $272 for the Mushkin. otherwise I would go with the regular Kingston over the Corsair.

From your MoBo specs all I can see it taking is 533 or 400 DDR2. You can run higher clocked memory in it, so you can over clock the FSB. if you don't OC, it'll just run at the lower speed. I would just go with the 533, as the 885 isn't that much more, but I haven't seen any of it with low enough CAS numbers to make it worthwhile.

All this is, of course, in my own limited biased opinion.

[edit] Ew, especialy the Mushkin of the CAS on the HyperX is only 444.

[incandescent]

DDR2 has much higher latencies than DDR1, allowing it to reach higher clock speeds.

[Gibb]

but what's the difference between the $229 non-hyperX and the hyperX. The hyper seems to have a higher PC#### rating, but does that even matter?

[sj_hurst]

but what's the difference between the $229 non-hyperX and the hyperX. The hyper seems to have a higher PC#### rating, but does that even matter?

The PC#### is related to the memory's speed. But it's deceptive because often the higher PC#### or MHz rating is sometimes made possible by much higher latency (depending on the brand & how that company chooses to market its product). In essence, the uninformed consumer doesn't always get the level of performance they think they're paying for.

And PC#### limit of your motherboard? No such thing unless there's something new/different about DDR2 compared to DDR1. But I doubt it. In the past, you could always use faster memory and try to overclock more. The rating given by the motherboard manufacturer is just their estimate of the m/b's max memory speed. Nothing would prevent you from clocking fast memory (>533 MHz) at slower speeds. Some people will often buy faster memory than the motherboard specs hoping they can overclock more. Of course, how much you can O/C depends on the cpu, motherboard, and memory (not just any one of them). Any one of these can limit overclocking.

[sj_hurst]

BTW, as far as compatability w/ your motherboard goes.. the main thing to look at is the # of pins (in your case, 240) and if it uses registered (ECC) memory or the nonregistered (non-ECC).

Whether you have/use dual channel or single channel memory is really determined by the motherboard. The only thing to be concerned about here is to use matching memory (2, paired memory modules) when you have dual channel memory. Obviously, dual channel is better because it offers more memory bandwidth.

[OtakingGX]

Registered and ECC aren't the same thing. Registered memory has little registers that hold data for a clock cycle before it gets transferred to the memory controller. ECC has an extra chip on the DIMM to hold 8 bits of error checking data. So you can have unbuffered non-ECC, buffered non-ECC, unbuffered ECC, and buffered ECC combinations.

I have not yet delved into the world of DDR2 yet. I have read, as stated here, that latencies are higher. Of course, if you do the math, the actual latency time works out about the same. Compare a stick of DDR 400 CL3 to one of DDR2 533 CL4. 3 cycles on the DDR 400 is 15 ns, 4 cycles of 533 comes out to 15.01 ns. If the DDR 400 were CAS 2.5 it would have a latency of 12.5 ns and at CAS 3 the DDR2 would be 11.26 ns. So latencies aren't climbing, just the relative latencies are increasing.

[sj_hurst]

Thanks. So in lamens terms, DDR2 is currently just a marketing tool and a way to get peeps who are upgrading to spend more $$'s on RAM? For all intents and purposes, DDR2's not yet outperforming DDR1?

I fell for some similar marketing bullshit a while back in regards to buying an ATA133 HDD over an ATA100 HDD (which was actually the faster HDD due to having 8MB cache, etc.). only to learn my mistake later on after reading up on HDD's. Except, in the case of RAM, they're not giving you much choice when you upgrade your m/b.

[opus512]

I think it's a case of it will eventual be faster, and the next standard, so if you're upgrading your MoBo, might as well take a look at going to DDR2 as well.

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm a big Kingston RAM fan. The first one you list @ $229 is good RAM and since your board supports DDR2-533 buy that instead of DDR2-400. If you already had some DDR2-400 I wouldn't tell you to change to the DDR2-533 but since you are starting with none, buy the faster RAM since the price is close. I don't think the HyperX RAM is worth the added cost personally.

[Maniac]

DOES MY COMPUTAR HAVE RAM IN IT?????!

I HAVE A DELL eMACHINEW!

[Gibb]

I'm a big Kingston RAM fan. The first one you list @ $229 is good RAM and since your board supports DDR2-533 buy that instead of DDR2-400. If you already had some DDR2-400 I wouldn't tell you to change to the DDR2-533 but since you are starting with none, buy the faster RAM since the price is close. I don't think the HyperX RAM is worth the added cost personally.
good to know, tho i went with the HyperX anyway. My friend persuaded me to get it, to i have two sticks of Kingston HyperX DDR2-676 ram on the way. I suppose i could OC it, but i most likely wont.

[sj_hurst]

good to know, tho i went with the HyperX anyway. My friend persuaded me to get it, to i have two sticks of Kingston HyperX DDR2-676 ram on the way. I suppose i could OC it, but i most likely wont.

I noticed you're getting an Intel motherboard. In that case, you shouldn't plan on doing any OC'ing anyway. Based on what've I read about Intel m/b's, they're not designed/engineered to overclock much. But I've also read that they are among the most, if not the most, stable m/b's out there.

[ArchAngelCD]

From what I've seen Intel boards are extreamly stable but aren't designed to OC. That should be expected since Intel doesn't want you to OC their CPU's to begin with :lol: