RAM: speed or quantity?

[jeffsleepy]

Hi, a while back I bought 2 sticks of generic 512MB 2100 RAM for 1 GB total. This is to use with my new SiS 648 motherboard. Now, I'm wondering whether I'd get better performance with just 512MB of 2700 RAM. If so, would one stick of 512MB be better or 2 sticks of 256MB?

Also, where can I get CL2 RAM? I haven't been able to find any yet. And how much of a difference does the latency value actually make? Any help or recommendations is appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Spitfire_x86]

512 MB PC2700 will be better. And DON'T use generic ram.

Corsair XMS memory's are CL2

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[jeffsleepy]

hmm... how come you shouldn't use generic memory? I don't think any of it has failed on me before. Corsair stuff is expensive, especially the XMS stuff =(. Thanks for the advice though, I'll return the 1 GB and get the 512 of 2700. Is there any other CAS 2 memory? Does it even make a difference?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Rob423]

all i have to say is .. You PAY for what you GET...

Corsair XMS is the best memory IMO... you can get a 512 pc3200 cas2 stick for around 175$ a stick @ Googlegear.com or newegg is around 189$... but the memory is worth it.

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[Booky]

You could also get the Crucial 2700, it is rated at 2.5 but runs fine at CL2. As stated before, you get what you pay for, I wouldn't buy generic ram myself but you can do whatever ya want with your money.

Oh, and you will get a nice performance increase with CL of 2 over 2.5, so it is worth it.

Booky

Crap, all the good ones are already taken.

 

[Victory]

generic ram in most situations is fine. Although, a premium memory has guarantee's that generic doesn't. I'm currently using XMS3500 C2. 433 capable at cas 2. I've also had luck this style of ram fail on me. Actually it's a stick a XMS2400, I'm going to send it back a little over a year that I've owned it for free replacement. So the lifetime warranty is worth it.

I've also seen statements from Tom's reviews that running ram as cas2 rather than 2.5 is like running a 2100+ vs a 2000+. As long as it supports more aggressive timings, it's a better quality ram, no matter who makes it. Although brand names, normally offer the better timings, generic, normally doesn't.



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[Karlsbad]

This is kind of off topic, but how do you identify bad ram?

 

[dhlucke]

Oh, you'll know. It'll either not boot, or you'll get some stupid random errors. If it's not the PSU it's probably the memory.

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[Spitfire_x86]

You can run Memtest to identify bad RAM. <A HREF="http://www.memtest86.com" target="_new"> Memtest </A> official site. Download Memtest here

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