What RAM should I get?

[garry__]

I have this currently for my system that I built myself:

Q6600 GO
HD 5850
EP45-UD3R REV3
and some crappy 5300 ram - 4gigs of it

Was wondering if anybody could recommend the best ram to purchase either from newegg or tigerdirect.

PS. I plan to OC my CPU to at least 3.4 possibly 3.6.

Thanks!

 

[Proximon]

That's a lot of OC, so you should get some margin... let me see...

At stock your CPU runs at 266mhz FSB x 9, or 2.4Ghz

To OC you will raise your FSB to... 3.6Ghz / 9 = 400Mhz

So, some good DDR2 800mhz will be fine. This is the really good stuff, and what I use:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209&Tpk=DDR2%204GB%20800

 

[Hard Line]

when overclocking I tend to get the next fastest ram than default.. so instead of ddr2 800 i would get 1066 your system will feel a bit snappier too esp if you get a nice cas 5 or 6

 

[Mark Heath]

@Hard Line
But sticking in the extra money for even faster RAM'll put up the price too high for something that's old tech.

 

[garry__]

@Hard Line
But sticking in the extra money for even faster RAM'll put up the price too high for something that's old tech.

So you're saying that the 1066 ram would not make any difference than the 800 for my CPU?

 

[Proximon]

Not very much. I see G.skill is still selling this kit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231194&Tpk=DDR2%204GB

It's the same price so just go with that

 

[Mark Heath]

Oooo.. fastest DDR2 I've seen.

Yep, get that.

 

[garry__]

Not very much. I see G.skill is still selling this kit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231194&Tpk=DDR2%204GB

It's the same price so just go with that

Frick frick. I was just about to buy that and switched it to .ca (from cannada) and it says it's not available... grrrrhhhhhh.

 

[garry__]

Only found this for Canada sites, http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=448830 , anybody have any suggestions?

Greatly appreciate all the help guys, thanks!

 

[Proximon]

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/135583/F2%2D8500CL5D%2D4GBPK/G.SKILL/

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/203862/KHX8500D2K24G/Kingston/

Those are the two best prices I could find on quality 4GB 1066 CL5 kits.

 

[garry__]

Best answer selected by garry__.

 

[garry__]

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/135583/F2%2D8500CL5D%2D4GBPK/G.SKILL/

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/203862/KHX8500D2K24G/Kingston/

Those are the two best prices I could find on quality 4GB 1066 CL5 kits.

Alright thanks a bunch. I have two questions if you don't mind

Is there any difference between the three RAM kits performance wise (or anything in general)?

And also, will these work with my current motherboard?

Thanks again!

 

[Proximon]

The voltage requirements for the Kingston are too high. The two G.skill kits seem identical except for heatsinks and price.

 

[garry__]

The voltage requirements for the Kingston are too high. The two G.skill kits seem identical except for heatsinks and price.

Alright looks like I'll go with that.

Do you know if it works with a EP45-UD3P motherboard?

 

[Proximon]

It should not be an issue on such a mature board. Just make your RAM settings manually before switching RAM. As long as the settings are manual there won't be an issue.

The only issue comes in when the board and the RAM don't talk to each other and the board guesses wrong at the default settings.