Please help me make a decision on memory

i'm guessing you've got a core 2 duo then judging from your motherboard. if you're using a pentium/netburst CPU (I doubt it) then fast memory is nessecary.

Core 2 duos don't really need fast memory or low latency memory.

ARE YOU GOING TO OVERCLOCK?

If you are I'd just go with the 800mhz or 1066mhz stuff or yeah okay, judging by what you've got (premium stuff) you could show off and get the fastest memory available.
Heck you could use 533mhz cas 4 memory and you would see very little performance increase with memory twice as fast.

Ok if you have the money and you want to have bragging rights then go for the dominator @ 1142mhz, however if you want to go for a fairly good overclock (don't know what CPU you have) just go for some good quality 800mhz cas 4 modules, they'll do just fine  

I agree, that new dominator is total bs, hype in a box (or tray in this case)

Yes g0dman, i do have the Core 2 Duo E6600. So i do want the best memory but don`t want to pay alot extra for a higher mhz that won`t see a good performance difference. I do however think that i would like higher than 800 mhz. This is why i need to decide on the other two modules. After i get some more input from others here on this forum, i can make my final decision in the near future. I hope!  

As for faster ram, get super talent, I have gotten mine to 1164mhz with the same timings as the new dominator, so that right there beats corsair out, and someone else here get over 1200mhz in his setup. Of course, its not a fair comparison because I run am2, and he has a conroe, but since you have a conroe too, expect good results.

That way, you pay for high quality at the price of 800mhz ram


Anything else?

Well i haven`t had any experience with Super Talent, although it may be good memory. I don`t know. Anyways, i've always used Corsair memory and never had any problems with it. So for my new build will come a new Corsair memory different than the last. New generation i guess you can call it. My choice will still be one of those two Corsair modules i mentioned earlier. One of the things i still need to know is if getting the 1142 mhz will be a better choice than the 1066 mhz, and will i see a difference in speed, especially in games. I play mostly newer First Person Shooters. Thanks.[/quote]

I agree with you that corsair was the brand to get from, but their qulaity has been greatly slipping lately is all I'm saying, and I and many others have had great results with super talent

If you must get corsair, go with the 1066, that other is overkill, nothing else to be said about it. As I said, most likely, if you overclock to the max with a very good motherboard, the high you will ever reach is only 530 (again, rd600) mhz on your ram (1:1 fsb:ram)

Unless you are into extreme overclocking many PC2-6400 can run at speeds above PC2-8000+, just make sure what ever you buy has Micron D9.

I recommend Crucial 2x1gig PC2-6400, Crucial is Part of Micron Sales division so you can be sure that you are getting the best over clocking ram. ive had my 2 sets ( 2 different PCs ) at 1104 and 1096 which is very close to PC8888 speeds. you can get these in around the $360 so I believe these are best bang for buck.

It is almost impossible that you can push your CPU up 8888 speeds in a 1:1 ratio or at stock clocks (even for e6300 stock clock 8888 ram running in 1:1 would be 3.9ghz+0 so unless you have some extreme cooling your CPU then the higher speed ram is not worth the $$$


the Unlinked FSB on the 680i gives you very little preformance gains, going any higher you need to drop your timmings after 1142 which you need 1200mhz+ ram to compensate to the slacker timmings.

bah, $369 for only 1100? I bought some $250 super talent that hase gone up to 1164mhz for me with good timings, and above 1200 with a different person (he has intel, I use amd, so I really can't push it above those speeds if I wanted too, as I'm cpu limited)

Though I have been saying all along its a waste with conroes for the high-end dominators, and that the 1066 is more than enough. That's why I recommended ocz, cheap, and can do the required mhz

Why? 800MHz (DDR) matches 400FSB - which is a 150% overclock!
Are you saying you require greater than 400FSB? Man that's greedy, LoL
400FSB with an E6600 gives ~3.6GHz, heheh... fast enough! 8O
For most folks DDR2-667 is great and allows a good OC from 266 to 333.
DDR2-800 will go to 400 (and it is unlikely you will need faster).
That very expensive Corsair memory will support much tighter timings at the reduced 'real-world' speeds though, so you could easily run 3,4,4,10 @ 400MHz, but that's the main benefit from memory with such a high speed rating.
And it is very expensive - yikes!
Regards

its all luck of the draw, when I got some OCZ PC1 3200 it wouldnt break 230Mhz that why I dont use Ocz anymore. You cant gareentee that everyone is going to be able to push their ram that far you may have just gotten one out of a good batch.

What timmings r you running it at? if you drop the timmings 5-5-5-18 you need 1200+ just to make up the preformance loss. 1150 5-5-5-15 beats 1200 5-5-5-18

I appreciate all the responses. I now have another question related to this subject, (Thanks to you guys)   It seems the timings on the Corsairs that i have looked at for each one are as follows: 800mhx = 4-4-4=12, 1066mhz 5-5-5=15 , and 1142mhs = 5-5-5=15. Latencies are 4 , 5, and 5. Now if they were all tested against each other, WHICH ONE WOULD WIN :?: Also if someone would explain the how and why of it, that would be great, Thanks.

Its not 5+5+5=15 read here for info on timings http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ComputingSolutions/...

Try looking at this article for your needs http://www.crucial.com/library/howmuch.asp

5-5-5-15 is usually where you look at for overclocking past 1000mhz.

I would not recommend dropping the timing to 5-5-5-18 as you need to push your ram further to gain back the preformance loss.

eg
You have your ram running at 1150Mhz at 5-5-5-15, but if you can drop the timming to 5-5-5-18 you can push it 1190Mhz, the 1150Mhz ram would run alittle faster in benchmarks but there is very little differance in real world preformance. But if you could push the ram to 1240Mhz @ 5-5-5-18 then it would beat the 1150Mhz ram.

Don't buy anything from corsair below PC2-8500, PC2-8500 and above use the micron D9's, but then lower models are now using Promo IC's that don't over clock well.

Getting the Corsair is a waste of cash, preformance gains are not worth the extra cash, the cheaper PC2-6400 can push 1100Mhz+ which is more than enough for anyones computing needs

The point is, PC2-6400 @ 800MHz is more than enough for anyones computing needs.
I could achieve 1100MHz DDR using a 366FSB and a 2:3 ratio.
Except I run a 1:1 ratio which requires only 732MHz DDR, and I get much tighter 3-4-4-10 timings too.
That memory is showy - like a Ferrari. It's not really faster than 2 Porsches, y'know?
Anyway, knock yerselves out... but save some of that big money for the new vidcards. Did you read that new R600 review?
L8R

I agree that the other guy got kinda lucky with over 1200mhz with 5-5-5-15 timings, but still, these are highly binned D9GKX ICs that in general will provide good timings with good mhz, or just simply very good mhz, they just won't handle voltage as good as D9MGH (but I guess that they don't really need much anyway considering from the results I and the others are getting :wink: )

Ok guys , i have just finished reading a new article about memory at Anandtech, go here -> http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2900&p=1 And i have a much better understanding about speeds and timings. My decision will be an easier one now, thanks to you guys and the article. I will update this post at a later date and let you guys know which memory i get. BTW , that 3 fan memory fan looks kinda nice, don`t you think :?: