corsair 3200 or 3700

[Dalma]

Hi,

I will probably choose for msi mainboard, MSI 865PE -NEO2-PFISR (this mobo compared to the NEO2-FIS2R, supports pc3200/3700/4000)

I am not an expert in ram cpu overclocking etc, but i would like to buy a good fast working computer. Overclocking? yea maybe, just through MAT (msi's PAT) and DOT (Dynamic Overclocking). I am not sure whether i am going to manually change stuff etc, but i guess that depends on the configuration. Well here it is:


PENTIUM 4 3.2ghz
MSI 865PE NEO2-PFISR (http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=528)
WESTERN DIGITAL 160GB S-ATA 7200 RPM
Q-TEC PSU 500W Big Fan Low Noise PFC (see: http://www.qtec.info/products/product.htm?artnr=13981)


Now the memory. I have 3 choices here (the price is almost the same...yea i would like to go for pc4000 but that's too expensive now )

TWINX1024-3700PT XMS3700 1024MB 3-4-4-8 2x184 DIMM Platinum

TWINX1024-3200C2PRO XMS3200 1024MB 2-3-3-6 2x184 DIMM Black XMS ProSeries http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/products/specs/twinx1024-3200c2pro.pdf

TWINX1024-3200LLPRO XMS3200 1024MB 2-3-2-6 2x184 DIMM Black XMS ProSeries
http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/products/specs/twinx1024-3200llpro.pdf

It goes from least expensive to most expensive.

Now i guess the mainboard excepts up to 533mhz but the question is, will the difference be great compared to the 3200 Low Latency Pro


One more question: If I would choose the 3200, what overclocking options do i have ?


Thanks in advance !!

 

[Dalma]

thanks for the responses LOL

This is my final configuration:

pentium 4 3.2ghz
Logitech Cordless Desktop MX
Coolermaster Pretorian BLACK
MSI 865PE NEO2-PFISR
CORSAIR CMX512-3200LLPRO
Zalman ZM400B-APS 400 Watt
Plextor DVD 16x48 IDE Intern PX-116A OEM Black
Seagate SATA 160 GB / 7.200.7 - ST3160023AS / 8 MB

 

[Crashman]

You're welcome, I hope that RAM is stable.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Dalma]

why do you say that?

it seems like you have experience with the pro pc3200 from corsair ...? not good?

 

[Guest]

I would say the ram is good, it has a good reputation. Only the LL is pretty useless for the extra bux, lower timmings seams to have less impact then they did in the past... The P4 will benefit more from higher bandwith(higher frequencies) than lower timmings.
With 3200 you wont have a lot of overclocking potential altough you could relax the timmings some and push your ram a bit...

 

[Crashman]

All the major brands except Crucial are using timings so tight on their PC3200 that the stuff often becomes unstable in dual channel mode. The only solutions are to relax the timings manually or increase vDIMM.

Crucial gets around that problem by using slower timings on fairly fast modules, giving them a little extra breathing room at the cost of a small amount of performance.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Dalma]

i do have one more question, not memory related.

Intel is going to release the prescott 3.2ghz very soon.

Should i wait for this one, or just buy the northwood 3.2?

 

[Crashman]

The Northwood will probably perform better, but new steppings for the Prescott means it will overclock better. If you're not overclocking the Northwood is the better option.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>