Which is the fastest memory to use on a rig with the ASUS P5W DH DELUXE mobo and the Core 2 Duo (still haven't decided the model)?
I was recommended the mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit, but aren't the Corsair better?
Mushkin is also a top quality brand. However, you really need to compare modules by the details: latency specs, what voltage was used for those specs, etc.
If you are not planning on overclocking, one or more pairs of DDR2-533 modules (run in dual-channel mode) will give good performance, matching the memory throughput to the FSB throughput. Increasing the memory speed to DDR2-667 may or may not improve performance; increasing the speed even further to DDR2-800 will give some gains, but not major ones.
Within each memory bus speed, lessening the latency seems to give bigger gains than with Pentium D/4 CPUs.
If you plan to OC the CPU, raising its FSB speed from 266MHz, the minimum memory bus speed for good performance will rise along with it. Thus, if you OC the CPU to a FSB of 400MHz (quad-pumped to 1600MHz), you should run the memory at at least DDR2-800 speed (memory bus speed of 400MHz).
