help with choice of RAM

[joehan]

I am planing to buy OCZ RAM, but they have so many different type
like, Value, Performance, EL, Gold, Premier, Platinum ... etc
Please someone explain to me all those means ....
which one should i get if i am just a avg gamer, and looking for good desktop performance ....

while we at it, what is dual channel (in plain english, please)?

thank you very much ......

[divx]

sdram is 32 bit, ddr ram is 64 bit, however, dual channel makes a pair of ddr running simutenously, thereby effectively increasing the memory bandwidth from 64 bit to 128 bit. In reality, it's not 100% increase, but rather 10% - 70% depending on other variables.

I know socket A boards supports dual channel, not sure about socket 754 and socket 939.

[terrybear]

I think peaple could help you more if we knew if you are buying the ram to build with other parts for a system or if your buying it to just upgrade ur current pc ..

thanks

[Shaner]

Get yourself the cheapest RAM you can find.
You are just an average gamer so you don't need insanely fast RAM.
You're obviously not an overclocker or you would already know the answer to this question (no offence), so you don't need low latency RAM.

So I say save yourself some money, get some general RAM like some Apacer or Samsung. If you really want OCZ though, get the value RAM.
Kingston Value RAM is good, inexpensive RAM as well.

[willy]

Get yourself the cheapest RAM you can find.
You are just an average gamer so you don't need insanely fast RAM.
You're obviously not an overclocker or you would already know the answer to this question (no offence), so you don't need low latency RAM.

Agree.

So I say save yourself some money, get some general RAM like some Apacer or Samsung. If you really want OCZ though, get the value RAM.
Kingston Value RAM is good, inexpensive RAM as well.

Beware of Kingston, according to another thread, Kingston's limited lifetime warranty does NOT apply in Canada

I would go for Samsung or OCZ.

[terrybear]

do NOT get OCZ value ram .. the timings ont hat will not benefit you any as its CAS 3 ......

What you want is a kit of there plain " Preformance " series ram that will give ya Cas 2.5 timed ram. a friend paid $130 for his preformance DDR 400 1 gig dual channel kit. a few weeks ago.

[duckdown]

DO NOT purchase Kingston RAM. Worst company ever, doesn't offer *ANY* warranty here in Canada.

Whoever reccomended Kingston to you is high on crack, avoid them like the plague.

[Cafe_333]

do NOT get OCZ value ram .. the timings ont hat will not benefit you any as its CAS 3 ......

What you want is a kit of there plain " Preformance " series ram that will give ya Cas 2.5 timed ram. a friend paid $130 for his preformance DDR 400 1 gig dual channel kit. a few weeks ago.

I agree, for the price you pay for value ram, a little more can get you some very decent speed ram like the one terrybear described.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index...82&cid=RAM.178

[xKagex]

I agree, for the price you pay for value ram, a little more can get you some very decent speed ram like the one terrybear described.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index...82&cid=RAM.178

Wow, that's a great price on brand name RAM with heatspreaders. I would recommend these, or at least something in this price category. The OP probably doesn't need the heatspreaders, but it's always nice to have the option to overclock in the future.

Dual Channel is not a type of RAM, it's a capability of a motherboard/cpu to run 2 similar sticks of RAM simultaneously. Dual Channel Kits can be a bit misleading in that they are not a different kind of RAM, but rather a "kit" where you can buy both sticks of similar RAM at the same time.

[joehan]

thanks a lot u guys ..... more idea about ram please throw it out there ...

[Cafe_333]

Wow, that's a great price on brand name RAM with heatspreaders. I would recommend these, or at least something in this price category. The OP probably doesn't need the heatspreaders, but it's always nice to have the option to overclock in the future.

The decent latency and speed is reason enough even if he doesn't overclock.
Better than paying the cost of OCZ ValueSeries ram!

[terrybear]

that is the kit exactly I'm talkin about as cafe 333 pointed the link to in his reply.

BUT again as I said .... We can not tell you what kidna of ram ya need unless we knwo the specs of the system u want to put the ram into .. cause ya don't put DDR ram in a SD-Ram system unless it can do both ... elsewise KABOOM !!

[HUH]

Get yourself the cheapest RAM you can find.
You are just an average gamer so you don't need insanely fast RAM.
You're obviously not an overclocker or you would already know the answer to this question (no offence), so you don't need low latency RAM.

I agree on this one since the timings of the RAM is really negligible if you are not going to overclock.

[matkun]

I know socket A boards supports dual channel, not sure about socket 754 and socket 939.

This is incorrect. Socket A and 754 do NOT support Dual Channel.

Socket 939 does.

Also, I was running a pair of the OCZ Premier PDC4001024PDC-K that have been linked, not from CC, but another store a block away from them.

They are great chips for the price. Mine are currently OCed to 480 Mhz (from the default 400), with their default 2.5-3-3-7 timings, and 1T command rate.

I just went and bought a second pair of the same ram yesterday, stuck them in, and now running on 2 GBs of them, still 480 Mhz, and 2.5-3-3-7 timings. Just had to adjust the Command rate back to 2T, since my Venice core can't handle it with 4 dimms.

I very much reccomend that OCZ Premiere kit. Great value considering they are running at almost 500 DDR on default voltage. I got them up to 490 at one time as well, but my motherboard started to get unstable, so had to dial it back down to 240 FSB.

Oh, almost forgot, if you don't like the CanadaComputers service, or just don't want to give them the business, Infonec has them for only a buck more. ($119)

http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php...=detail&id=243

Confirmed in-stock at the downtown Dundas store, since I just bought my second pair there last night.

[cipher]

Agree.


Beware of Kingston, according to another thread, Kingston's limited lifetime warranty does NOT apply in Canada

I would go for Samsung or OCZ.

Do you have a link to this thread?