Recommendations for high speed ram

[allnight]

so i'm building a new system, 2.8c, msi neo2 mobo, and an ati 9600pro, only thing left to buy is the ram...
First off I wanna try and get a 1:1 (ram in sync with fsb).
I've narrowed down my choices to...btw i need a gig of ram to run in dual channel...
OCZ PC-4400 DC kit
OCZ 4200 EL
OCZ 3700 EB
OCZ 4000 EL
Corsair XMS 4000
Mushkin 4000 High Performance
Geil Platinum 4000
Geil 4200

any suggestions would be greatly appericated

the max I want to spend is $300.

 

[HardWareBoss]

Will you be OCing your Cpu?

 

[CrucialLabs]

Depending on weather you are planning on overclocking or not I would go with either OCZ or Mushkin. I have heard good things about both manufacturers.

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[allnight]

I will be ocing my cpu, hence i'll be trying to get 1ram:1fsb. For that to happen, i'd need my cpu running 3.5 ghz. Even if I don't hit that high I want to be able to oc my proc to at least 3.2.

I was leaning towards Geil, but alot of people have been telling me that they like to run at voltages that are too high, around 2.9v. I know that Geil gives warranty up to 2.9v, but that seems that that could be dangerous to the motherboard.
At first I wanted to get the corsair xms 4000, but after I saw some benchmarks. It seemed that corsair couldn't keep up with OCZ and Geil, but the ram runs at a more friendly voltage, 2.7v. If I wanted to get corsair ram that matched the performance found in OCZ and Geil, then I'd have to get Corsair xms4000Pro (the ram chips with the lights), but they cost over $350.

 

[Obtuse]

Actually, for some bizarre reason, the Corsair XMS4000PRO is only $298 for 2X512 on newegg right now. I would suggest you <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-465&depa=0" target="_new">buy</A> it if price was the only thing holding you back.

"If I owned this place and hell, I'd rent out this place and live in hell" - Toombs

 

[Guest]

I really like my OCZ "copper" PC4000 not expensive ultra stable and really fast. THeres an article on anandtech I think they OCed the ram to PC4400 speed or so...
You should hit 3.2 really easily my P4 2.6c is at 33c idle and 40-45 full load. Running prime95 like a charm...

Anyhow all the ram you listed are top notch some are more expensive and a tad faster my advice is get the cheapest of the pack and you should be satisfied....

Edit : on anandtech.com theres an EB review really great OC potential much over PC3700 speed.
Well heres the link <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=2057" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=2057</A>

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-3-3-8, Leadtek FX5900 w/ FX5950U bios@500/1000, 2X30gig Raid0<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by labbbby on 06/17/04 05:10 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[HardWareBoss]

Since you OCing your Cpu. Buy OCZ for better speeds. Of the ones you listed send scottchen a PM. He knows allot about OCZ ram and which would give you the OC you want.

 

[Crashman]

You don't need anything faster than PC3700 to get that CPU to it's max using any normal cooling method.

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[Zeekfu]

I am looking at memory too and people have steered me in like direction. As far as I can see from the two anandtech reviews the ocz 3500/3700 eb perform nearly identically except the 3700eb can go a little further out. I figured I might overclock a bit but not *that* far out. The 3700eb is about $50 more too, I think. The new samsung chip corsair xl 2-2-2-5 modules are out and so is the mushkin 2-2-2 special with the no longer produced bh 6 chip. Those lower timings capture the stock benchmarks but once they start opening them up the lower latencies can't keep up with the higher clocked ram. The ocz 3500eb looks good all around if you can stomach $305 for a gig of ram.

I was thinking corsari c2 for $254 but I noticed this as well <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-219&depa=1" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-219&depa=1</A> for $78 per 512 dimm. That would be $156 for a pair of them. They aren't matched but I guess if I bought two at the same time it would be almost the same thing, he he. Anyone got any ideas on these? They got good buyer reviews on new egg. This is about the cheapest 512 mb 3200 memory I have seen that looks at least semi-reliable. Timings aren't great though.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by zeekfu on 06/18/04 09:36 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Zeekfu]

Is the corsair "pro" ram better? I thought the only difference was the lights.

 

[Guest]

Only the lights totally useless if you dont have a clear side pannel and pretty useless even if you have one.

Id say either get some super low XL 2-2-2-5 or just regular OCZ copper 3700.

You wont see that much of a difference so I say if you shell out extra money go with the best otherwise some PC3700 at 2-3-3-6 or even 2.5-4-4-8 will do real good once you OC some...

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-3-3-8, Leadtek FX5900 w/ FX5950U bios@500/1000, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[allnight]

any corsair ram that you get, will be very reliable, and you can overclock them a bit. The pro version (the one with the lights), is a little faster, and corsair claims that you can overclock them more, but some reviews and benchmarks have shown otherwise.

If you really wanna get a gig at the cheapest go with the c2. After careful consideration I think i'm gonna get the ocz 4000 gold, but might get the 3700eb, thats just as good. Anandtech.com has that nice ram comparsion article, i think theres a link to that in this post already, but here it is anyway http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=2082&p=12.
From the charts you can see that corsair's pro version is better than its other versions, but still lags behind ocz.
The ocz 3700eb had about an above average performance. The geil plat 4000 did amazingly well but the voltages of 2.85 and higher are needed just for it to run it stable at stock speeds. The ocz 4000 gold wasn't in the testing, but the gold version is the same thing as the EL version (i think, correct me if i'm wrong, but the full title of the ram should be ocz enhanced latency dual channel gold
), and the price is about 310 on newegg.com, which is pretty much the same thing as the ocz 4200 EL, which on the anandtech article seemed that it was one of the top 3 ram chips. If you want better ram, you gotta spend at least 350, which that would be the ocz 4200el.

one more thing, i was reading user reviews for the oc 4000 gold on newegg.com, "I have mine at CL 2,2,2,5 @ 2.85v in p4c800-e deluxe". Thats insane! Knowing this gives me a nice fuzzy feeling inside : D.

One more note, becareful about value select ram from corsair or any other company, they are just pc 2100 or pc-2700 ram overclocked. <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by allnight on 06/18/04 12:13 PM.</EM></FONT></P>