Sup OC pimps. Just curious about these modules-

Corsair CM2X512-8000UL. 4x512mb (1gb matched pairs of 512mb) modules, Good for OC'ing/Speed or would 2x1gb be better?

Would be my first Venture into DDR2, I know corsair is a great company and im just currious what CPU these would favor most...AMD or Intel? Ive heard about how the DDR2 doesnt help out AMD much, but im not 100% on that information so any advice would be Kool Beanz

Some 8000UL is very good. The old stuff uses Micron D9DQT, which is comonly referred to as 'FatBody' D9. If this is the stuff you have then you'll have a nicetime overclocking it. Though you'll need to give it some volt's, it the BH-5 of DDR2 IC's. I've no idea how 4 512MB sticks will preform, though I read that its nots supposed to make too much difference for DDR2.

D9DQT normally preform's like this (I have the Corsair 5400UL which also has D9DQT)
3-3-2-4 @ 667MHz 2.2v
3-3-3-8 @ 800MHz 2.3v
4-4-3-8 @ 1000MHz 2.4v+
Anything else needs insane volts (2.5v+)

For Intel..I have heard that 4 sticks can be better due to "Bank Interleave" but then you give up the ability to upgrade later...wich probably is not a big deal.

AMD...Well..they can use 1T timings at low speeds, but high speeds demand using 2T timings, but that is not a real dealbreaker...

Memory bandwidth wise...the AMD kills Intel..but realy does not see enough gain to catch up to the Conroe.


The larger the module size, the less OC ability they will have...the more modules you have, the less OC ability you will have.

So...a single 256 module is best, but then you loose dual channel.

When it comes to DDR-2, they don't offer the "Ultimate" high performance ram modules in smaller sizes...there are some "High end" 2x512 kits around...but the realy good stuff is usually 2x1GB.

OCZ "Alpha" series would be my first choice.for AMD..but is over 400$ the Corsair XMS-2 stuff with the new funky heatsinks would be my second choice..but is over 400$ too.

OCZ Technology | Products | Memory | OCZ PC2-9000 Titanium Alpha VX2 DFI Special Edition

Corsair Memory - XMS2 DOMINATOR

Check out some of the reviews below and get back with us!

AnandTech: Memory Section

Ok, THIS is the article that is realy making me think. Right NOW Conroe takes the cake in both memory Latancy and Bandwidth. If you look at the charts , you will clearly see that the only thing holding AM2 back, is lack of support of the higher speed modules. You can see a trend that as the speed increses so does AM2...Dramatically. They aslo noted this in the article. All AMD needs is the higher module support and they would be the new Cake eaters

So, this is the delema. I could go Conroe now, and have the most efficiency for these memory modules. Even though an OC would render higher bench scores, the score difference from stock to OC wouldnt match AM2.

If I went AM2, I would have to wait for support of the higher speeds, to make the best of these modules. The catch-22 is, That would probly be a new core AMD cpu to get...

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Quote: Originally Posted by beachbum86 Ok, THIS is the article that is realy making me think. Right NOW Conroe takes the cake in both memory Latancy and Bandwidth. If you look at the charts , you will clearly see that the only thing holding AM2 back, is lack of support of the higher speed modules. You can see a trend that as the speed increses so does AM2...Dramatically. They aslo noted this in the article. All AMD needs is the higher module support and they would be the new Cake eaters So, this is the delema. I could go Conroe now, and have the most efficiency for these memory modules. Even though an OC would render higher bench scores, the score difference from stock to OC wouldnt match AM2. If I went AM2, I would have to wait for support of the higher speeds, to make the best of these modules. The catch-22 is, That would probly be a new core AMD cpu to get...

Well, you are wrong about bandwidth and latency ...AMD clearly kills Intel at the same memory speeds and timings...but the Intel is more effecient IPC wise (Instructions per clock cyle) and that is where it KILLS AMD, even if AMD supported 1066 or 1333, it would still not be enough to catch up "Overall"

Quote: This does not change the fact that the AM2 memory bandwidth is really greater than Core 2 Duo or the fact that AM2 scales better in memory, exhibiting a steeper slope in performance increase as memory speed increases than does Core 2 Duo

(From the same article you linked)

BTW...I have seen OC'd AMD easily reach well over 1066 ram speeds..and it still doesn't match Intel at the same CPU speeds..it's all about IPC at this point.

Quit worrying about ram speeds..it's not THAT big deal at this point, go Conroe, it just takes one look at the Pi times to tell the story for the true "Systems" power as a whole!

Plenty of articles on both CPU's below:

AnandTech: CPU & Chipset Section