Need advice on RAM -- please help.

Kingston RAM or Corsair?

I am going to get a 1 gig of RAM -- my current 512MB's of PC2700 SPECTEK RAM just doesn't seem to cut it anymore. I want to get something faster and in double the quantity. I am unsure, however, whether or not to get Kingston or Corsair. Both seem good, but I was leaning more towards the Corsair. So, do you think Corsair is the way to go, or Kingston?

I have another question. I was doing some more research on RAM and all, and was looking at some of the dual channel RAM. My question is, how exactly would the dual-channel memory be enabled if I my MoBo is capable of dual-channel? Would I have to go into the BIOS, is it automatic, or what's the deal on getting Dual-channel enabled?

Currently I have a P4 2.8C, with the RAM I just mentioned in my first post in this thread, a Maxtor 40 Gig ATA100 (I plan on upgrading this to a SATA in the next few days along with the RAM), an AOpen AX4SG-UN MoBo, Radeon 9800 Pro, and a SoundBlaster Audigy 2. Peripheral wise I have a Logitech Z-5300 5.1 Sound System, a SAMSUNG SyncMaster 151V LCD in the colour black, a Logitech Elite Keyboard Black, and a Logitech MX500 optical corded mouse.

Although, in all honesty, I plan on purchasing an AMD for my next processor. I was thinking I'd like to spoil myself and try an Alienware Aurora - although I do know they are fairly overpriced, I still want to try one out for the sake of trying one out. However, I do not plan on upgrading until the new M$ OS comes out, so I really have a legit need/reason to upgrade and take full advantage of 64-bit processing. Plus, by then, the graphics cards should be a lot better since most of the PCIE bugs will most likely be worked out.

Right now though, my biggest fear is not being able to play Doom 3. I need to play that game like a crack addict needs his daily fix. As long as I can play that, I won't feel the need to upgrade before Longhorn. Why do you ask which processor I plan on upgrading to, though?

Longhorn won' be around 'til 2006 at the earliest - don't even begin worrying about it yet... though most people who visit these forums are pretty likely to want an upgrade well, well before then. Here's a <A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/software/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=44748#44748" target="_new">link</A> about it, from another a forum outside the CPU forum.


<A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=2765&st=0#entry21597" target="_new">My Rigs</A>

Why would you recommend staying away from LL?

you should be ok to play doom3 with that 9800 wait around until you buy a whole new system bc of things like pci-express and SATA-300 instead of 150 those kinda things are expected to be out late04

I have used both Kingston and Corsair in the past, and have not had a problem with either.

I would suggest getting (at least) PC3200 RAM though, as this will run synchronous with your FSB (200MHz).

Spec:
Intel P4 2.4B
MSI 645E Max-U Mobo
1GB DDR333
R9600XT 128MB
SB Live 5.1
WD 60GB
Maxtor 120GB
LG DVD+-R/RW
WIN2K PRO SP4