CORSAIR XMS.2x1GB.DDR433.PC3500 Edit: purchased! Edit: RMA!

[HedgeHocker]

While not on a budget (I dont want budget performance) I'd like to save $ when there's no noteable performance drop and as little gamble (ie: choosing the right week or FAB processor to OC. Fun but can aggrivate the right people) as is possible.

I missed an opportunity to buy the new Kingston HyperX DDR1 PC3200 1GBx2 with the 2-2-2-5 timings from Newegg since it sold out in 2 days! I was hoping to make a more experienced (your experience) descision but found no reviews yet and two days isnt enough time to find the right people to advice... my eyes being literally weary from trying to cattch up and retain a working knowledge of all the inner workings of tech tech tech in a short time frame...

I Am buying tonight so no HyperX ...oh well, hope I won't miss much buying the sticks listed below. The OC better than Mushkin PC4000 (not Redline maybe) ...

I have a question here yes but more asking advice on brands and quality etc.. yeah I read and Search engine - my eyes hurt from it.

My logic with getting the sticks below is this: a good balance between game timings and can OC higher with good timings (way high). It's not PC4000 but it will do those speeds... does that sound correct? If I am makign a missinformed or my education is lacking please step up and speak with me.

I don't want to do this another week... ready for the parts then on to tweaking.
I game online alot. I want to OC my Opteron. My hope is to not sacrifice one benefit to get another. So....

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 433 (PC 3500) Dual Channel Kit System ~ $206.00

Yay or nay? Please say why?

I appreciate this, I think it's obvious. Please no pure brand loyalty unless youve just had good experince I dont want to hear bad remarks about another brand unless its true. It's rather like listening to condom brand loyalty after a while. lol

I'm told that AMD and Kingston arent the best match anyway. I am also getting the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe.

 

[chiselmonkey]

 

[RichPLS]

I am using 2 sticks of 512MB Corsair XMS xpert plus 2 sticks of XMS pro memory, and it is excellent!
Should have no probs, and also will be getting some of the best memory made.

 

[Final8y]

While not on a budget (I dont want budget performance) I'd like to save $ when there's no noteable performance drop and as little gamble (ie: choosing the right week or FAB processor to OC. Fun but can aggrivate the right people) as is possible.

I missed an opportunity to buy the new Kingston HyperX DDR1 PC3200 1GBx2 with the 2-2-2-5 timings from Newegg since it sold out in 2 days! I was hoping to make a more experienced (your experience) descision but found no reviews yet and two days isnt enough time to find the right people to advice... my eyes being literally weary from trying to cattch up and retain a working knowledge of all the inner workings of tech tech tech in a short time frame...

I Am buying tonight so no HyperX ...oh well, hope I won't miss much buying the sticks listed below. The OC better than Mushkin PC4000 (not Redline maybe) ...

I have a question here yes but more asking advice on brands and quality etc.. yeah I read and Search engine - my eyes hurt from it.

My logic with getting the sticks below is this: a good balance between game timings and can OC higher with good timings (way high). It's not PC4000 but it will do those speeds... does that sound correct? If I am makign a missinformed or my education is lacking please step up and speak with me.

I don't want to do this another week... ready for the parts then on to tweaking.
I game online alot. I want to OC my Opteron. My hope is to not sacrifice one benefit to get another. So....

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 433 (PC 3500) Dual Channel Kit System ~ $206.00

Yay or nay? Please say why?

I appreciate this, I think it's obvious. Please no pure brand loyalty unless youve just had good experince I dont want to hear bad remarks about another brand unless its true. It's rather like listening to condom brand loyalty after a while. lol

I'm told that AMD and Kingston arent the best match anyway. I am also getting the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe.

Very good Sticks & are a good match for most Asus mobo`s i have had mine at DDR520 /260Mhz at 2.5-3-2-5 need to get the water cooling on the cpu before hitting that & more again.

 

[HedgeHocker]

I got the memory, rest of the upgrades next month.

This memory is nice as I expected - however my Super Locked Barton sucks.

Looking for an Athlon 2800-MP and selling one of my Bartons.

 

[Hale73]

Try G Skill Extreme Series the DDR500. Corsair RAMs are one of the best(inagurably the best) but they are quite expensive. Bought this RAM, and I was stunned by the performance. The thing about this is you get 500mhz straight out of the box. You won't find hard time to overclock. Just pop it in then see your PC respond like instantaenously. It's even cheaper than the Corsair XMS. It's up to you, but XMS RAM has on of the biggest overclocking headrooms.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231021

 

[chuckshissle]

The XMS series are great ram for performance and overclocking. I used 4x512Mb XMS2 Pro and it performs really well on my overclocking.

 

[dvdpiddy]

Hey he did'nt deserve that it's supposed to be in caps lock.

The XMS series are great ram for performance and overclocking. I used 4x512Mb XMS2 Pro and it performs really well on my overclocking.

Chuck your new avatar makes me laugh my ass.

 

[chuckshissle]

Thanks, that's really a ridiculously good looking male model, me!

 

[GherkinPekul]

I just got a 2GB kit of OCZ Gold ddr500 for $203 at Newegg. It's your money, save that $3. There is a $30 rebate also.

 

[dvdpiddy]

Damn you are funny so is your location.

don't really know, it's dark in here.

:lol: Damn your funny.

 

[HedgeHocker]

Woke this morning after running Hot CPU Pro 4 all night and nothing but blue screens on trying to boot.

Dimm voltage was stock and so were settings... I defaulted the BIOS.

Still blue screens.

Poped my OCZ back in and all is good again....

Oh well, RMA city and I may not get another set of this stuff... maybe I will.

OCZ has a failure rate history also but never a problem here.

Mushkin is very reliable. I have thier 133 SDRAM and 2100DDR. Excellent. Always.

This Corsair has the timings though!

Advice?

 

[linux_0]

Woke this morning after running Hot CPU Pro 4 all night and nothing but blue screens on trying to boot.

Dimm voltage was stock and so were settings... I defaulted the BIOS.

Still blue screens.

Poped my OCZ back in and all is good again....

Oh well, RMA city and I may not get another set of this stuff... maybe I will.

OCZ has a failure rate history also but never a problem here.

Mushkin is very reliable. I have thier 133 SDRAM and 2100DDR. Excellent. Always.

This Corsair has the timings though!

Advice?

I've had every brand fail on me but I do recommend Corsair, OCZ, Crucial in that order.

See the QVL here or @ www.asus.com.tw

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=15&model=375&l1=3&l2=15&l3=148

 

[HedgeHocker]

I got my replacement set from the RMA.

I don't get this at all yet, pelase read on...

I've tested these new sticks in the mobo of intended use, Abit NF7-S rev. 2 which is the one the last set failed on, and I got about 70 errors on one pass with the latest MemTest86. I then ran the sticks by all the memory testing programs i have from Techie's Toolkit to Hirem's Boot CD (they have most of the latest and best mem test tools) ..some came back with errors and some didnt. I dont know the ratio.

I reseated the memory and ran Memtest86 again - no errors!

Ran it again for another pass... errors.

I put one stick in my Asus A7M266 with an Athlon 1.133Ghz I have sitting around and ran memtest a few times per stick - no errors on memTest86.

There is a second NF7-S rev. 2 motherboard upstairs in the living room and I put a stick at a time in there and ran each stick independantly with two passes, no errors. Then I ran them in dual channel and tested - no errors.

My OCZ still works fine with no errors in MemTest86 in this cumputer where I get the errors. Do I have a possible degraded or damages memory controller? What are the possible explainations? The NF7-S rev2 in the living room is newer and hasnt seen much use as a media PC vs this game pc in question.

Memory controller?
Unknown BIOS setting?
Both more than adequate cooling I've even replaced the Northbridge cooling on each knowing that they'd fail (the flaw of this motherboard) - the chipsets should be fine.

I'm at a loss but I don't think the RAM is bad but do you all?

A penny for your thoughts ..and put your two cents in.

Thanks

 

[linux_0]

I got my replacement set from the RMA.

I don't get this at all yet, pelase read on...

I've tested these new sticks in the mobo of intended use, Abit NF7-S rev. 2 which is the one the last set failed on, and I got about 70 errors on one pass with the latest MemTest86. I then ran the sticks by all the memory testing programs i have from Techie's Toolkit to Hirem's Boot CD (they have most of the latest and best mem test tools) ..some came back with errors and some didnt. I dont know the ratio.

I reseated the memory and ran Memtest86 again - no errors!

Ran it again for another pass... errors.

I put one stick in my Asus A7M266 with an Athlon 1.133Ghz I have sitting around and ran memtest a few times per stick - no errors on memTest86.

There is a second NF7-S rev. 2 motherboard upstairs in the living room and I put a stick at a time in there and ran each stick independantly with two passes, no errors. Then I ran them in dual channel and tested - no errors.

My OCZ still works fine with no errors in MemTest86 in this cumputer where I get the errors. Do I have a possible degraded or damages memory controller? What are the possible explainations? The NF7-S rev2 in the living room is newer and hasnt seen much use as a media PC vs this game pc in question.

Memory controller?
Unknown BIOS setting?
Both more than adequate cooling I've even replaced the Northbridge cooling on each knowing that they'd fail (the flaw of this motherboard) - the chipsets should be fine.

I'm at a loss but I don't think the RAM is bad but do you all?

A penny for your thoughts ..and put your two cents in.

Thanks

What you describe is quite strange and if the OCZ was not working on that board I would say the board is bad.

It's starting to sound like your board doesn't like that RAM.

Have you tried updating the system BIOS?

How about setting the RAM to run slower than it should?

400/333 and even lower.

Have you tried relaxing the timings?

I'm thinking it's a compatibility problem I'm pretty sure the RAM is fine and apparently so is the board if it's running with OCZ just fine.

Good Luck :-D

 

[HedgeHocker]

In narrowing the problem I'm finding I'm only getting errors when overclocking past DDR400 ..any (and I mean any) overclocking gives me memory errors in Memtest86. People at Corsair favor the MemTest86 so...

In that second newer identicle ABIT NF7-S rev. 2 upstairs I just now ran tests at a very possible 210fsb (420 dual channel effect) and with stock voltage (shouldnt be any problem) ...errors, lots.

I lowered it to 205fsb and still errors. Thats on two of the same motherboard so either its a compatibility issue (I hope because these are due for my new ASUS mobo) or I keep getting lame sets... these arent the very finest RAM but therye damn good from a good company and I shouldnt be seeing two sets bad.... Newegg did send me a replacement that had no factory seal on the package ..stupid me ..I pay for new and wind up with used. I don't like Newegg.

Yeah that OCZ runs perfect... nForce2/ABIT dig the OCZ.

I should call up Corsair tech support shouldnt I about compatibility.
At least I know the motherboards are fine.

..this stuff should be able to overclock bettert than this. Could be the memory controller isnt bad but it's a generation or two too old - possible.


EDIT: to answer you specificly.

The BIOS is the most recent from ABIT. There are some great custom BIOS available I hear but I'd be scared to death to try them.

Odds are it couldnt be the RAM. I just proved the board is okay bacause there again is another unlikely coincidence. = compatibility


"How about setting the RAM to run slower than it should?
400/333 and even lower.
Have you tried relaxing the timings?"

..that would mean defective to me but yes I was testing at the SPD rate timings, voltage and that gave no errors. Overclocking at all gives me errors BUT I can boot up etc. The last set gave me blue screens though this set doesnt yet.



Any further thoughts?

Thank you

 

[linux_0]

In narrowing the problem I'm finding I'm only getting errors when overclocking past DDR400 ..any (and I mean any) overclocking gives me memory errors in Memtest86. People at Corsair favor the MemTest86 so...

In that second newer identicle ABIT NF7-S rev. 2 upstairs I just now ran tests at a very possible 210fsb (420 dual channel effect) and with stock voltage (shouldnt be any problem) ...errors, lots.

I lowered it to 205fsb and still errors. Thats on two of the same motherboard so either its a compatibility issue (I hope because these are due for my new ASUS mobo) or I keep getting lame sets... these arent the very finest RAM but therye damn good from a good company and I shouldnt be seeing two sets bad.... Newegg did send me a replacement that had no factory seal on the package ..stupid me ..I pay for new and wind up with used. I don't like Newegg.

Yeah that OCZ runs perfect... nForce2/ABIT dig the OCZ.

I should call up Corsair tech support shouldnt I about compatibility.
At least I know the motherboards are fine.

..this stuff should be able to overclock bettert than this. Could be the memory controller isnt bad but it's a generation or two too old - possible.


EDIT: to answer you specificly.

The BIOS is the most recent from ABIT. There are some great custom BIOS available I hear but I'd be scared to death to try them.

Odds are it couldnt be the RAM. I just proved the board is okay bacause there again is another unlikely coincidence. = compatibility

Any further thoughts?

Thank you

Is your OCZ OC'ed?

 

[HedgeHocker]

It will but this type of OCZ is performance and not to overclock, doesnt overclock well. The one upstairs uses Mushkin on a regular basis and I always run that OC'd ...I havent tested the otehr RAM overclocked. That should be interesting also. I'll try it.

 

[linux_0]

It will but this type of OCZ is performance and not to overclock, doesnt overclock well. The one upstairs uses Mushkin on a regular basis and I always run that OC'd ...I havent tested the otehr RAM overclocked. That should be interesting also. I'll try it.

This is just a theory but I'm thinking the board may not be OC'ing too well with this RAM. Sounds more like a bad OC than bad RAM or a bad board.

Have you considered upgrading to S939?

 

[HedgeHocker]

I lowered it to 205fsb and still errors. Thats on two of the same motherboard so either its a compatibility issue (I hope because these are due for my new ASUS mobo) or I keep getting lame sets...

Yes but I'll keep these boards... I cant afford to throw all the money that way all at once, not right now, so it's a step at a time. Thing is I have to hope the RAM will be alright with my new ASUS... I do have the lifetime warranty and I know for a fact this RAM works well in ASUS boards.

What is nice is it'll run at DDR400 at 2-2-2-5 timings. No overclocking stability yet ...think I should just give Corsair a call and ask and keep the RAM a while until the new board gets here?

This RAM is supposed to be able to do DDR 500 at 2-3-2-6 which is nice.

 

[linux_0]

I lowered it to 205fsb and still errors. Thats on two of the same motherboard so either its a compatibility issue (I hope because these are due for my new ASUS mobo) or I keep getting lame sets...

Yes but I'll keep these boards... I cant afford to throw all the money that way all at once, not right now, so it's a step at a time. Thing is I have to hope the RAM will be alright with my new ASUS... I do have the lifetime warranty and I know for a fact this RAM works well in ASUS boards.

What is nice is it'll run at DDR400 at 2-2-2-5 timings. No overclocking stability yet ...think I should just give Corsair a call and ask and keep the RAM a while until the new board gets here?

This RAM is supposed to be able to do DDR 500 at 2-3-2-6 which is nice.




I say keep it, it should work just fine with ASUS boards be they socket A or Socket 939 or S939 from any MFG for that matter.


What kind of board did you order by the way?

 

[MG37221]

My experience with the PC 3500 is that since it's a non-standard speed, you need to manually set your timings including the voltage. Corsair likes voltage a little on the high side ~ 2.75. Or you can set it to defaults, note them and set them specifically. If you use the AUTO, instability arises.

That's my experience. and I never had any luck overclocking my socket A CPUs except that I managed to get my DDR400 XP-3000 to run as an XP-3200. But then I'm not much of an overclocker.

Good luck.

 

[HedgeHocker]

It's at 2.7 since I don't get a 2.75 choice only 2.6,2.7,2.8 ...and Corsair don't like or really need overvolting from what I've read. I have lowered the FSB to 200x2 (DDR400) like I said above and its been fine but overclocking past DDR400 gives me errors in memory ...probably the memory controller which means yeah its incompatible in a way although functional. Thats my hunch.

My old ass ASUS AM266 ran it fine but no dual channel of course and OCing on that thing is like having a superlocked cpu no matter what it is with no multiplier adjusting... plus having to use jumpers ..so I didnt OC the stuff on that board yet but I will and test it altough I may have problems getting it that high.

This Corsair is made to accomidate ASUS so...

I'll be placing an order for the ASUS A8N5X soon. It seems like a good buy if you don't want to SLI and don't mind replacing the northbridge fan - Zalman sets. Less than $100.00 and OCing is supposed to be very good.

Any drawbacks known for that board? I am going crazy desciding on a single or dual core. There are some nice single core A64 bargains and I use the PC to game mostly, download some torrents, recode XVID digitized movies to DIVX so my Philips DIVX player will play them ..and I burn DVD's ...but see I dont do all of that at one time and dont need to. I also have a few PC's around to pass off tasks to so...

 

[linux_0]

The A8N5X should like the RAM :-D

 

[HedgeHocker]

The offical answer from Corsair tech support:

There is a known problem with the nForce 2 chipset and this RAM (maybe others/brands?) so you have to set the timings to 2.5-3-3-6 for it to work properly.

Well its only temporary and I'd defin overclocking my Barton right now!

2533Mhhz so far and seems stable although no Prime95 testing yet.
Playes games with no crashes or errors. Everest is monitoring my temps. Never gone above 49C (hot) but even at load usually 48C which is pretty good isnt it?

My vid card is still holding me back for games.