Timings and Latency Question

[cmmcnamara]

Ok, I am probably sure that you guys get this all of the time but I am having trouble understanding the whole timing and CAS latencies. I am going to buy a 4GB kit of DDR2-800 RAM but I am unsure of what is the best to get. First off I have three to choose from on my budget, G. Skill at 5 CL, Patriot at 4 CL and OCZ at 4 CL. So first I eliminated the G. Skill, assuming that the Patriot and OCZ are faster because of the 4 CL rating. Next I examined the timings. Patriot is 4-4-4-12 and the OCZ is 4-5-4-18. I am assuming that the Patriot brand is better because the numbers are lower? Or do I have this all wrong? The Patriot is going to cost about $120 and the OCZ will be about $80 because Newegg is having a rebate special on the OCZ. Is the Patriot worth the extra money?

 

[Maziar]

4-4-4-12 is better than 4-5-4-18 (lower means better, so u are right)
if it was 4-4-4-15 and 4-4-4-12 then i would have said go for the one which is cheaper
but its 4-4-4-12 vs 4-5-4-18, so i say go for 4-4-4-12

 

[cmmcnamara]

Ahh ok thank you. I wasn't sure if there was more involved with the timings. I've always bought Kingston RAM in the past and I have heard that OCZ is an excellent brand for memory but although I have heard of Patriot I haven't heard anything about its quality. How does it fair? Thank your for the help by the way, memory is the one part of the computer I'm not as familiar with.

 

[Maziar]

OCZ is a very good brand, and it has lots of RAMs with 4-4-4-x timings like OCZ REAPER,TITANIUM.....
for example i have OCZ REAPER and it has 4-4-4-15 timings + a very good cooling

Patriot is a very good brand too

 

[nel]

the quality of the ram doesn't rely on just timing u also have to look for a good brand.... its kind a retarded to begin with... whenever they talk about how good the ram was..... all they ever talk about is the stupid cooler and not the ram modules itself... they usually give a cooler a scientific names or a bright color that can make you say "WOW, THIS IS THE BEST COOLER" but bottom line u don't even know what u got because you don't even know what MODULES they used