4GB Gets Cheap: 9 Dual-Channel Kits Compared

Features
By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Test Setup

We tested every module pair using the following components:

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ComponentBase Settings
CPUIntel Core 2 Duo E8600, (3.33 GHz, 6.0 MB Cache)Overclocked to 4.00 GHz, FSB-1600
MotherboardAsus P5Q Deluxe Rev 1.03GP45 Express Chipset, BIOS 1406 (10/07/2008)
GraphicsGigabyte GV-R487-512H-BHD 4870 GPU (750 MHz), GDDR5-3600
Hard DriveWestern Digital WD5000AAKS, 500 GB7,200 RPM, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16 MB cache
SoundIntegrated HD Audio
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit Networking
PowerCoolermaster RS850-EMBA (850W, ATX12V v2.2)
Software and DriversRow 7 - Cell 1
Operating SystemWindows Vista Ultimate SP1
Graphics DriverATI Catalyst 8.9
Onboard Device DriversMotherboard Driver DVD

Notice that we overclocked our motherboard and processor to FSB-1,600. A combination of this setting and the “400 MHz Boot Strap” allowed us to test our modules at 800, 1066, and 1200 MHz data rates without changing CPU speed. Configuring FSB-1,600 was easy with the overclock-friendly Core 2 Duo E8600 processor, as the resulting 4.00 GHz clock speed accelerated testing without incurring instability.

Because modules that use the same capacity, speed, and timings have identical performance, today’s tests will concentrate solely on the capabilities of each module to achieve high frequencies and/or low latencies at various voltage levels. We used MemTest86 v1.70 to verify stability for each setting.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
54 Comments Comment from the forums
  • randomizer
    Good to see G.Skill finally decided to send some samples.
    Reply
  • JonnyDough
    You can increase how much ram is used for prefetch in XP as well, so that hardly says that Vista is faster than XP once you use more RAM. I for one have skipped the Vista era and am happily awaiting Windows 7. I guess I prefer to keep my $100 in my wallet for awhile instead of giving it to M$ investors.
    Reply
  • V3NOM
    i rofl'd that my cheap Team Elite owned all of them except the ballistix...
    Reply
  • JonnyDough
    Stop using rebates as qualifiers. I was taught in consumer math that if you purchase something with the cost of a rebate figured in, you had better be prepared to pay full price. I think a lot of us here IGNORE rebate pricing, and won't even support it by buying rebated items. Rebates are CRAP, no consumer likes them. They aren't a "discount" they are a marketing ploy to rip people off.
    Reply
  • raider37
    I'm pretty darn happy with my 4GB of XMS2 DDR2-800 RAM from Corsair, all my components are overclocked and work extremely well, plus here in Pakistan only 2 memory companies are widely available (Kingston and corsair) and we all know kingston is overpriced and their modules do not perform as well as Corsairs.
    Reply
  • johnbilicki
    As a regular I feel insulted that my fellow readers and I are expected to except an introduction suggesting that we are mindless consumers no different than the people who trampled and killed a worker at Walmart this past Friday.

    My dual core socket 939 with 2GB of RAM running XP Pro might not get as much FPS as my friend running a quad with 4GB and Vista but my system runs smooth on almost all the same games without dealing with all the constant freezing, errors, glitches, and horrendous boot times plus I don't have to run a page file. A real enthusiast would turn in their grave if they saw qttask in the task manager. Real pride is knowing your rig's software too and mindlessly burning money instead doing a few simple Google queries is what an amateur would do.

    I expect better than this. It does really matter.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    johnbilickiAs a regular I feel insulted that my fellow readers and I are expected to except an introduction suggesting that we are mindless consumers no different than the people who trampled and killed a worker at Walmart this past Friday.
    That sounds like the voice of experience...you were at that Wal Mart? Because it appears that everyone else automatically knew that the introduction was meant to cover the widest range of potential buyers, and not each one of them specifically. Yet you mindlessly trampled into that rant?
    Reply
  • johnbilicki
    CrashmanThat sounds like the voice of experience...you were at that Wal Mart? Because it appears that everyone else automatically knew that the introduction was meant to cover the widest range of potential buyers, and not each one of them specifically. Yet you mindlessly trampled into that rant?
    The introduction slaps everyone in the face by suggesting money is the only solution. Even less experienced people know how to do a Google query.

    "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it." - George Bernard Shaw
    Reply
  • Crashman
    johnbilickiThe introduction slaps everyone in the face by suggesting money is the only solution. Even less experienced people know how to do a Google query."The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it." - George Bernard Shaw
    It suggests that very little money can be a very easy solution to multiple performance issues.

    And you're using a quote to emphasise your cynicism concerning my observation? Thanks!
    Reply
  • johnbilicki
    CrashmanIt suggests that very little money can be a very easy solution to multiple performance issues.And you're using a quote to emphasise your cynicism concerning my observation? Thanks!
    ...and entirely avoids the point of optimizing a system's software just as you have! It's an informal fallacy to suggest you have made some unique observation as I have when all you have done is avoid my point in the simple interest to convince people to spend money instead of simply preventing junk from being loaded in to their existing memory.
    Reply