Well it's that time of year again...'tis the season to get a new rig...

Specs:
Barton 2500+
A7N8X Deluxe
120gb Maxtor SATA
Antec 430W Power Supply TRUE430
ASUS V9950 Ultra 256MB GeForce FX5900Ultra
Onboard Sound for the time being

Now I'm really having trouble on what Memory to get...

This rig is to play Planetside with everything set to max
BzA knows what I mean....

Seeing how its a AMD, I need some DDR PC3200.
Im looking at Mushkin Level II Dual Pack (I want a Gig) with its
2-2-2...
But then there's Corsair, Geli and OCZ....I just dont know what to pick...

If you're planning on oc'ing, I heard the Mushkin can do wonders.

Are you on a budget?

Yes, I plan on OCing to 3000+ to 3200+ levels. And I have a budget of about $1100 for the whole project. (like $380 for memory)

I would say go with Hyper X memory. It is the best out there right now and really pricesd well.

I will post the ChromeRust "Mantra"
XMS3500 by Corsair, it runs tight timings and Overclocks to 450+FSB, In his opinion, the best Value for the money.
Mushkin is pretty amazing stuff, but I don't think it's worth the extra $$

Why would I need PC3500?
I plan on running the FSB and RAM in sync and im sure that that most PC3200 can run at any FSB a air-cooled cpu has...
Wouldn't that be overkill?

Running a High FSB increases memory bandwidth.
430FSB at 2 GHZ will give better memory performance than 400FSB at 2.1GHZ..
PC3200 can run higher than 400FSB, but you have to increase voltage and lower timings (sometimes) to match what PC3500 will do out at stock settings.

But wouldnt I lose performance because it wont be Sync?
Why not get 3700 or even 4000?...
Im guessing I would lose performance because of latency issues?
Or does performace go up until you reach a point and then decline as the memory speed increases?

500FSB in Synch has been attained on AMD's before, but the memory timings are pretty slack. I do think you hit a point of Diminishing returns, but I am not sure... I will have to go doublecheck some benchmarks.
3700and 4000 have Seroiusly loose timings, and you might gain as much as you loose by increasing FSB.
I think the best comprimise for AMD is PC3500, and around 430FSB.
I can dig around some more and link ya,if you want to see benchmarks and Forum threads on this subject

HERE XMS3500 Review at PCStats
HERE MUSHKIN PC4000 at AnandTech
HERE MUSHKIN Fast Timings at AnandTech

I must say, I am impressed by Mushkin, but it is very expensive

I dunno, I like the access times of tight timings, but more bandwidth might be good also. Thats why I thought I should get the lowest timings I can get and overclock it as far as I can while keeping those timings. Im more than certain that the 2500+ could keep up w/ the memory.

Edit: Odd, just checked Newegg and the PC3500 is cheaper than the PC3200 (Same Level II Dual Pack Rating) and the timings are identical...

I was just going to revise my recomendations a little for gaming along those lines.
Mushkin has the fastest timings I have seen at high FSB so far, I would think if money was no object, this would be my choice.

They have some awesome PC3500 Level2 low latency memory that Kicks A$$ too

The PC3200 might just be a good comprimise, it should allow a decent FSB of 410-420 at Ultra low timings.

The point I was originally trying to make was too not discount higher speeds on the FSB than 400FSB, when overclocking.
Some people just set to 400FSB and go with the highest multiplier, and miss out on the extra bandwidth if they used a lower multiplier and a High FSB (With low Memory timings this should yield the best gaming performance)
It seems you get a few more FPS this way, but it costs you for it.

Since ya got the coin for Mushkin, go for it

EDIT:
Get the Level2 3500 for the same money then!
Look HERE

Hyper x outperformas corsair and mushkin.. Check out last months max pc issue..

Sadly I only have augusts and decembers issue of MaximumPC...

Ok well it did the review of Ram and Kingston scored tops with hyper x at 526 mh.Mushkin was second at 516mhz and corsair was third with 502mhz..

Hmm, well I really dont know what to say, did the review mention anything about stability or reliability? Ive never used Kingston...

Try doing some serches aobut Kingston Hyper X ram and read reviews..

Don't worry bro, kingston rocks. Ive been runnign kingston RDRAM for ages that i bought used. Even though it was out of warranty they replaced a damaged stick i had for free. Their customer support was pretty good too (at least about a year ago)

I would recommend the Kingston

Brandon Cisneros

Well I checked the reviews that Newegg review links and the only review that puts Hyper X against Mushkin (both PC3500)
Mushkin wins...

Hyper X vs. Mushkin vs. OCZ vs. Geli


Edit: So they make good RDRAM? I might get some for my old P4...

You should also pay attention to wich chips come in the memory...
HERE is a good dicussion on Winbond BH5 Vs CH5.

It sems the "C" steppings are better for high FSB (500), and the "B" steppings are better for Low Latency at 400FSB, wich is what N-Force chipsets love.

This may hold as much weight as the brand, I believe the Mushkin level 2 PC3500, Corsair and many other brands use these chips too

They also mention 512 sticks Vs 256, it is harder to get the ultra low timings on the 512, and may not reach them at all.

More food for thought...

Well Out of all reviewsI would say go with either Kingston hyperx or Mushkin..I feel that corsair has lost his crown on performance ram..