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Striker extreme new ram

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Hi, my ram (4gigs ocz) died awhile ago (like over a year :p ), and I've been using 2x1gb kingston 800mhz ram ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... ).

My graphics card recently died on me(evga 8800 GTS 640) so I've decided to buy a 460gtx hawk, and I'm wondering if I should purchase new RAM as well. If I do buy new ram I'll probably want 4gigs. But, I would like to know if the ram I'm using is suitable (my computer runs slow at times, obviously it could be a number of things ..including the graphics card that just died ..but I feel like upgrading ram will help).

I have my eye on some G.Skill sticks, all 2x2gb DDR2:

$65 800mhz 5-5-5-15
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

$80 800mhz 4-4-4-12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

$85 1066mhz 5-5-5-15
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ALTERNATIVELY, what if I just bought 2 more sticks of the kingston I'm using (to total 4gb) for $30, would that be acceptable or would I notice a performance increase by purchasing some G.Skill ram(or whatever 'gaming geared' ram)? J/w since I'm dishing out $180 for the hawk, I would like to keep costs down, assuming minimal/no performance loss.


SYSTEM SPECS:
Asus Striker Extreme
Q6600
MSI GTX 460 Hawk
1000 watt PSU
XP pro 64bit

Frankly, I'm a bit upset that ddr2 is still so expensive. I would like to know if the cost difference is justified between those sticks, also if you want to suggest any other ram, please do, G.Skill just seems like reliable ram.

I mainly use my pc for gaming. As of right now nothing is overclocked, but I do plan to OC my CPU, and I wouldn't mind OCing my ram if it's worth it.

Sorry for the wall of text, and THANK YOU for reading this and I appreciate any advice -- but please don't respond with simply "buy this", if you could try to answer my questions and perhaps give a reason why I should "buy this".

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Memory Expert

Considering you have 64 bit, I'd rather see you with the full 8gigs that the board will handle. However, money being a concern for now. I'd get the 444 Gskill for now, bookmark it, and pick up another set of those sticks if you plan on keeping the board for more than a couple of years.

So the 4-4-4-12 timings over 555 outweighs the 1066 over 800?
Thanks for the response, 4gb will be enough for now, I can always buy more if I want to (remember I've been using 2gb of mediocre ram for over a year).

I don't think I stressed my foremost concern enough, do I NEED completely new ram? Or will 2 more gb of the kingston do me solid? Also, could I buy say 2 gigs of some G.Skill, and put them in WITH my kingston? I don't think that works, but I'll ask anyway.

Note: I will be playing SC2, HoN, some source engine games, and prob some of the newer 'pretty' games once I get my new gpu.

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Memory Expert

I think you will be better off with the faster timings; remember, you can always overclock the 800 higher, but since your board is already a DDR2 800, I would not expect the 1066 to be OC'd much.
AAHHRRRR, mixing RAM! Well, you can try, but like most people I always suggest getting the exact same type (preferably in matched pairs by the mfgr.), same speed, same maker, same CL, same timings....identical. It may work, it may not. There are all kinds of horror stories about RAM with all the same markings from different mfgr. that worked fine for awhile then unexplained and impossible to diagnose problems and errors began to creep in....frustrating.
It's up to you, but I advise against it.
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Memory Expert

That's fine. Good job.
I pulled up your board's QVL from the ASUS 680i page to make sure the voltage and timings were good, and they are.

Make sure you cover all of your bases when getting rebates...always!
Make photocopies of everything, or scan them into a file onto your HD - that's what I do - bookmark every page you go to because,
I have come to the conclusion that companies only send out the rebate if you inquire about it after their waiting period.
That is a good deal for DDR2 RAM these days.
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