how MUCH difference?

buckw1lde

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Aug 6, 2004
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Hi all,
I'm shopping for RAM and have definitely decided on 1GB 3200. However, I'm really curious to know what kind of gaming benchmark differences I would see if buying:

1. Corsair XMS or Corsair Value?
2. Kingston HyperX or Kingston Value?

There is a substantial premium to pay for the higher quality RAM but what will I see in real-world performance differences? This RAM will be running in the following system:

Athlon 64 3500+
Asus A8V (unless someone can suggest a better mobo?)
ATI X800 XT Platinum
120GB WD HD, 8MB cache

Yes, there are some higher end parts in there but I've been fortunate on getting good deals, so I don't have bundles of cash to spend on super high quality RAM. However, I'll be more likely to consider it if the performance differences are huge. What are we talking here? More or less than 5%?Can someone please comment or give me some links for research?

Thanks very much,
buck
 
I always use this example:

You can get 90% of the performance relatively cheap. However, that last 10% will really cost you. (90 & 10 aren't actual numbers, just examples)

Follow this link to see actual benchmarks (You'll see all the RAM is very very close in scores, regardless of timings):
<A HREF="http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040119/index.html" target="_new">http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040119/index.html</A>

Decide how much having the absolute best is worth to you. There isn't a big difference between the ram timings, I think mainly it is more for bragging rights.

Back when I was running a Pentium II 233, I noticed a difference between CS 2 and 2.5. Today you don't really notice any difference.

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>
Overclocking Results: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc2.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc2.html</A>
 

fungicord

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Aug 8, 2004
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Mr5oh, thanks for that THG link. I've been looking all around for good data on the effects of memory timings on Athlon 64 systems. I'm glad to know it's all hype (my wallet is happy, too). This means I can sleep well at night with a single 1GB stick with "inferior" latency and know that I'm not losing performance with it.