Which RAM ???

[anthonylei]

I have finally decided to upgrade and could not decide which DDR2 ram to have... can you guys give me a hand??

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
M/B: Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2
Graphic: HD 4850
Power: Hiper Type R 580W PSU
HD：Maxtor 250GB + Samsung 2*500GB + Samsung 750GB
Case: Antec P180 case
Monitor: BenQ FP241W 24" + dell UltraSharp 1708FP 17"

Should I go for 800 MHz RAM Speed or higher?

thanks very much

[skeeder]

kinda depends if the board can handle it. Alot of boards have limitations, or won't even work with some types of ram.

I'd get
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
To be 100% safe.

But honestly I'd probably swipe this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298
OCZ I've always trusted and had no problems with (less than Corsair amazingly) they are faster for a little more.

[Mesh]

Unless you plan on overclocking or can find em cheaper than ddr2-800, ddr2-1066+ are pointless.

I've had success with both corsair and ocz so can't comment on compatibility issues.

Right now I have ocz 1066 ram, got it since it was about same price as ddr2-800. I've compared performance running em at 800 and 1066. The difference is insignifigant.

[DaFox]

Get the corsair listed above.

[crowing]

Yeah, the corsair should be safe with most boards. I guess you could get something with higher values if you were planning on doing overclocking, but that's not necessary required. You will more than likely be able to do 3.6 Ghz without pushing the RAM beyond normal specs. At least that's what I have with my e8400. Don't forget to buy a better HSF if you go that route.

[[email protected]]

I just bought some OCZ ram one of the two sticks was bad, REAL bad IE crash in safe mode in under a min... IF you could boot.

[Mesh]

Can happen with any brand. So far the ram I have is this:
ocz:
4 1gb ddr1 pc4000
2 2gb ddr2-1066
2 2gb so-dimm ddr2-800

corsair:
2x 512mb pc3200

all of em perfectly fine, and I've tested em thoroughly with memtest and etc.

bad parts happen, regardless of company.

Although ocz's flash drives tend to be poorly thought out (durable aluminum shell held by 1mm wide plastic strip).

I've bought mostly ocz not because I like em that much but simply they always tend to have the best value even if not cheapest.

[Tamlin]

I just bought myself some new ram (and mobo and processor). Needed something new to tinker with until the new Intel processors arrive and go a bit down in price. Also, I wanted ASUS Express gate so I can quickly surf in the morning before going to work.

The memory I bought was Corsair Dominator TWIN2X4096-8500C5D 1066MHZ. Tested them on both 5-5-5-15@1066MHz and 4-4-4-12@800MHz. Didn't seem like much difference on Everest in read and latency (have only demo, so I don't get all readings).

Any memory can fail, though I've never gone wrong with Corsair even when overclocking and using agressive timings on their value series. Corsair are known for high quality memory and good warranty for overclockers. Kingston is the ones I've had most problems with, mostly due to compatibility problems.

I would advice to look at timings@highest speed for your price point where you buy them regardless of memory brand. Unless you plan to overclock, then there is often wiser to buy memory that are tested on higher frequencies.

A good guide for overclocking memory btw:
memory timings explained

[Paradigm Shifter]

Oddly, I've never had Corsair memory either be or go bad on me. I've had the same 'luck' with generic no-brand-name el-cheapo RAM, too - never had a problem with it (back when I used it because price was more important than anything else).

I've not had great experiences with Kingston... and G-Skill memory I've discovered is really picky about the settings to use. A colleague bought some G-Skill RAM with a new mobo, and I had to set what volts/timings/speed it wanted using a stick of Corsair, save the settings then swap the memory over to the G-Skill before it would even detect the stuff.

[Mesh]

General rule of thumb I've always used is thoroughly test any part and if it fails, it'll do so within the first week or so.

That includes testing all 4 dimm slots on my motherboard even if I only have 2 dimms. Trying onboard audio/firewire when I'll likely disable em and never use em.

Tech gear tends to fail very early or after you've had more then enough life out of it. If it passes the first month it should be fine for some time.

Of course some would recommend more things such as dusting your pc often, cleaning fan filters/grills/etc. I probably should but I've never done so, and so far the only 2 parts that have failed me are a cheap case+psu that I ran 24/7 which eventually blew up and a hdd that was killed by a power spike.

[anthonylei]

i went for Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 XMS2 Dominator Memory Xtreme in the end...

the only problem with Corsair is they dont have a UK RMA base... The closest one is in Holland

[maxxfurygts]

In terms of brand, Corsair, OCZ, Crucial, and Mushkin are my preferred manufacturers.

Because you have an E8400 though, you get maximum speed compatibility with DDR3 (10600MHz) modules. This isn't a crucial factor (I run an E8500 with PC6400 modules 'cause I'm cheap) but I thought I'd mention it if you have the mulah for DDR3. This is due to the fact that processors from Intel based on the Core technology, when run together with memory with similar speeds to the processor's FSB, theoretically don't experience latency that you would get with unsynchronized speeds between memory and FSB.

Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_2_Duo#Motherboard_compatibility if you want to know more.

[skeeder]

Same thing with AMD X2's back in the day of 939. AT least thats what I remember.

[Mesh]

Reviews I read suggest ddr3 is equal performance to ddr2 only quite a bit more costly.

The only gain right now from a ddr3 system is less heat/power usage.

If ddr3 and ddr2 had comparable pricing ddr3 would win, right now, it's just not worth it.

In the older generations 1:1 vs asynchronous might have mattered. Right now though, the 0.001% difference is hardly worth the cost.

[Paradigm Shifter]

Yep, DDR3 is horribly expensive - although it's come down quite a bit from the price it was. Still, even so, it's not worth the cost when the performance is taken into account... unless you're doing something really bandwidth intensive, DDR3 makes no difference... oh, and DDR3 motherboards usually cost more than an otherwise-identical DDR2 board...

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2330074,00.asp

Have a quick read of this article if interested. To be honest, I've gotten a little wary of ExtremeTech recently. They really seem to have dropped in quality. :( But this article seems OK.

[anthonylei]

my board handles DDR3 as well but DR3 ram is still a bit expensive