Hi all - my first post in the OC forums! Looking for some advice for upgrading my RAM on my current rig, and figured I'd ask you guys for some advice.

At the moment, I'm running a P4 3.2E Prescott on a DFI LanParty PRO875B rig, using 4x512MB Kingston Value Ram. I'm thinking about picking up a good 2x1GB matched DDR PC3200 kit for beginner overclocking. This will free up the Kingston sticks for some other entry-level rigs for friends/family.

However, I've been reading all of the different reviews out there, and it's hard to know what type is the best "bang for the buck". At the moment, think I've narrowed it down to the following 4 choices for 2GB kits:

1) Corsair XMS TWINX2048-3200C2PT (2-3-3-6, 2.75V)
2) OCZ Platinum OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K (2-3-2-6, 2.6-2.8V)
3) Patriot PDC2G3200LLK (2-3-2-5, 2.7V)
4) Mushkin High-Performance 991434 (2-3-2-6, 2.6-2.8V)

The prices for these items seem to range in the $200-260 range from what I can find online, with the Corsair/OCZ being the most pricey, and Patriot/Mushkin being slighly less expensive.

What would be the PCApex choice? OCZ and Corsair seem to be more beloved around the internet, but it can be hard to find someone objective. I'm a newbie OC'er, but technically oriented and looking to learn more about the subject, so I'd like to get some solid, stable ram w/ good OC potential to play with.

Thanks in advance to all the old school PimpRig xperts for any and all advice!!

I my self try and always run OCZ I have had the best of luck with their ram, they overclock well and can handle a butt load of voltage if need be. Also they can run at some tight timings and still stay stable. And they look damn good to boot

I have 2 stiks of the OCZ pc 4000 Plat. EL and I have had them running at around 525mhz with no problem. (but I had to put the voltage around 3.2 to get them there)

Than can be on the expensive side but you get what you pay for, and a lifetime warrantee is not that bad ether.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the advice Mage - honestly, out of the 4 choices above, I've been leaning towards either the OCZ or Corsair matched kits myself. It seems that the reviews for both of those brands are overall really positive (at least according to Newegg, and what I can Google). And it seems that almost everyone has at least some success with OC'ing these kits....as long as their MB supports it!

And you're right about that lifetime warranty - after losing my last Soyo Dragon P4I875 Black Label motherboard from a crazy lightning storm, I like the extra protection!

I see that for the 2GB OCZ kit, the warrantee covers up to a voltage of 2.8V. What would you consider the "safe" range of operation - meaning, how much could I actually crank it up without seriously having to worry about smelling that burning, gooey silicon goodness You mentioned running yours at 3.2V.....was this using any type of heat sinks, or extra cooling for the RAM?

Quote: Originally Posted by TeamHype Thanks for the advice Mage - honestly, out of the 4 choices above, I've been leaning towards either the OCZ or Corsair matched kits myself. It seems that the reviews for both of those brands are overall really positive (at least according to Newegg, and what I can Google). And it seems that almost everyone has at least some success with OC'ing these kits....as long as their MB supports it! And you're right about that lifetime warranty - after losing my last Soyo Dragon P4I875 Black Label motherboard from a crazy lightning storm, I like the extra protection! I see that for the 2GB OCZ kit, the warrantee covers up to a voltage of 2.8V. What would you consider the "safe" range of operation - meaning, how much could I actually crank it up without seriously having to worry about smelling that burning, gooey silicon goodness You mentioned running yours at 3.2V.....was this using any type of heat sinks, or extra cooling for the RAM?

Nope no extra cooling, I have been up to 3.4 and been ok but the system got a little unstabel running 3d apps.

The goal is to find a happy middle where they will run overclocked with out errors and without a s load of voltage.

I think you would be happy with the OCZ sticks. No matter what you go with there are plenty of peeps around here that can help you get the best preformance out of your setup.

Most ram will not take insane amounts of voltage, most are happy with 2.8v even when overclocking(Or 2.9-3.0 if you wish too take a chance) a few will tolerate up to 3.0-3.2 volts, but not many.

The only chips that can truly handle more than 3v are based on the older "Winbond BH-5" of wich I do not know of any 2GB kits....only 1GB kits.

I had a set of them (2x256) that would run at 270 FSB (DDR 540) with uber tight timings of 2-2-2-7 wich made for some pretty insane benchmark numbers! I had to use 3.6v to do this, and i just used a 80MM fan blowing on them to keep them cool...This was using a AMD64 and a DFI Lan party 939 board, Pentium 4 performance or older AMD's would often only end up at 250FSB with similar or slightly looser timings, or even less FSB speed, not many boards would support over 3v wich was needed to get the most out of those chips.

Muskin and OCZ sell them still I believe, here is a Mushkin review

AnandTech: Mushkin Redline XP4000: Winbond with Voltage Be Damned


OCZ is usually the number one choice for Overclocking, and Corsair can often be a close second.

Just remember, some kits that are rated at PC3200 will not go much higher than that at the tight timings they are rated for, and even with looser timings, still may not reach very high FSB speeds.

You can use a memory divider to keep the speeds of the memory in check, or you can look at getting some ram rated to run at PC 4000 (250FSB) or so, this will allow you to retain a "1 to 1" ratio wich is generally considered "Optimal"

The downside is they often will use looser timings to achieve those speeds, wich somewhat negates the advantage, though Pentium 4's do not seem to be quite as sensative as AMD to timings.

Check out these links to see if you can find what you are looking for!

Xtreme Bandwidth - XtremeSystems Forums
2x1GB/1x1GB OC Database - XtremeSystems Forums

2GB kit reviews
AnandTech: FAST 2GB DDR Kits - Part 2
AnandTech: 1GB DIMMs: FAST 2GB DDR Kits from Corsair, Gigaram, and OCZ

All memory reviews
AnandTech: Memory Section

Oh..one last thing, the larger the size of the module, the less "OC potential" they have, 2x256 is best for high FSB and tight timings, 2x512MB is not bad, but 2x1GB is VERY difficult to achieve high FSB speeds and still maintain "Decent" timings...

A typical 2x1GB PC 4000 kit will often be rated at 3-4-4-8, or at best 3-3-3-8, but the same kit ran in a 2x512 configuration can run at 2.5-3-3-8.

You could just save he money and put it towards a new system. Just an idea, I know its not what you want to hear.

Thanks for the great links $SOLID$ Necro Looks like I've got some reading to do!

I checked out my DFI Lanparty motherboard, and the settings only allow me to push my memory up to 2.9V anyway - so I won't be able to cook any new RAM at the moment (at least, not until I upgrade my motherboard!) But in all honesty, this probably isn't a bad thing for someone relatively new to the OC game like myself.

As you mentioned, I have heard of the "Winbond BH-5" chips, but since I'm in the market for a 2GB kit, it looks like I'll have to do without for the moment. It's amazing to me sometimes the different tolerances on these memory chips!! You got yours to run at 270MHz?!? WOW - That is awesome!

Regarding the (2x512MB) vs (2x1GB) struggle, I'm starting to wonder which one I should choose. As you mentioned, I had read that the 256MB and 512MB chips are best for high FSB and tight timings, and that 1GB chips have a lower overall "OC potential". Since my current rig currently has 4x512MB Kingston ValueRAM chips, I was assuming that 2GB would be the best upgrade. But maybe I'll want to go with 2x512MB instead?

I guess I need to figure out what I want to do with that rig - if it's going Vista, the 1GB chips are probably better. If not, it's a tougher choice.......hmmmmmmm. Decisions, decisions!

Anyway, thanks again for the advice - you've definitely given me lots to think about, and some great research material!


And to Zaltan's comments - trust me, I've already thought about that one, too! I hear you....it's tough to figure out when you've reached that point where it's just time to move on - the cost of the upgrades is more than new, faster parts. I think that this will be the last upgrade my current system will see....I'm already eyeing the E6300 for a new rig!!

If you are eyeballing a Conroe E 6300 Rig, then don't even think about sinking money into new DDR-1!

If overclocking and benchmarking is your main goal, 2x256 or 2x512 kits are all you should look at..but I am betting you are more looking at gaming performance!

When it comes to gaming..it's definately QUANTITY over Quality!

1GB of ram that is running a high FSB with good timings will loose out to a slow FSB loose timings at 2GB!

Though you may get a few more FPS with the better timings and FSB while standing still, you will see slow load times, and it can "Lag" quite a bit when going into a new room or area, and especially when teh firefights get heavy!

So if you are thinmking of building a new rig, stick with what you have for now, because a 2GB kit of DDR2 can run as much as 400+ for the top of the line DDR-2 1066 stuff!

I would suggest you look more at the midrange DDR-2 533~800 kits (2gb of course!) these will still give excellent "Real World" performance, often even the most low end 533 kit can run at or near 800 Speeds with more voltage, and a bit looser timings!

The difference ingames between a low end kit and top of the line kit will only be around 5FPS in most scenarios...when it comes to building a gaming rig, the Vid card should be the place you spend the most money, followed by ram, then CPU

Check out the midrange kit articles in the link below:
AnandTech: Memory Section

For ddr 1 i would only use GSkill 2GBZX its the best.. WIll run on DFI N-force 4 with timmings 2-3-2-5 up to 230Mhz and 2.5-3-2-0.. Yes 0 tras! @ 250+ mhz! It ran it all! I loved that ram.. Very pricy tho for ddr 1


G.SKILL Value Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail at Newegg.com




BUT just like everyone else said... I would for sure.. save the money and buy a new system man.. conroe E6400 or maybe even the 6600 Gskill also makes some VERY good ddr2 memory!


I picked up a set of 2gbhz DDr2-800 stock timmings are 4-4-4-12 got them down to 3-3-3-8 over the rated mhz of 400 to 412Mhz IT ROCKS!!!





Matt

Thanks for all the advice everyone - at the moment, I think that I'm going to wait and see if I can score a deal on the memory. At these prices right now (i.e. >$200), it just makes more sense to hold off and go for a Conroe rig.

BUT - I think I'll have to keep an eye out on ebay, or maybe the trading forums, to see if I can still score a deal on either an OCZ or an G.Skill 2GB DDR kit

I think you have made a wise choice, Ram prices are just crazy right now, you should be able to get a 2GB midrange kit of "Old" DDR1 IMO for around 150$ or so...not 240$ for "Value Series Ram"