Dazzling

[soterius]

Buying a new PC is Dazzling!! So many parts, so many options, so many combinations, blablablablabla. Can't they just make it easy for christ's sake?

Anyway, these are my options and I have no clue to which is best:

Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C3DF Dominator 2048 MB, PC6400, 800 MHz, 4, Non-ECC, Kit Of 2. (€267,10)
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4PRO 2048 MB, PC6400, 800 MHz, 4, Non-ECC, Kit Of 2. (€225,61)
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400PRO 2048 MB, PC6400, 800 MHz, 5, Non-ECC, Kit Of 2. (€202)
Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5DF Dominator 2048 MB, PC8500, 1066 MHz, 5, Non-ECC, Kit Of 2. (€200)

The one with the 1066 MHz would seem the best to me, since it has the highest speed. But then why is this one the cheapest of all??? That makes me suspicious... And what's the difference between the other three? They're all PC6400 and 800 MHz...

I just want a good 2 GB memory from Corsair around this price-class but I don't know what makes one better or different from the other. Help please?

FYI: It's gonna be put on a P5K Deluxe/WiFi motherboard along with a Q6600 processor.

 

[lordszone]

as far as i can say that 1066 one has cas 5 which is not much favorable for overclocking, meaning it will overclock lesser than cas 4.

 

[soterius]

Hi and thanx for replying!

Well, I'm not planning to overclock it so with that out of the equation, would the 1066 one be the best?

 

[amddiesel]

Unless you a pro at this you probably wouldnt notcice the difference much in a game 1-2fps probably

 

[soterius]

So what it comes down to is: If I don't plan to overclock my memory, the 1066 one is the best of these in terms of performance. And on top of that, it's the cheapest of all?! Is that really just because of the difference in CAS? So the Dominator with 800 MHz is €67 more expensive than the Dominator with 1066 MHz, even though it has 266MHz more, and only because it has better CAS???

 

[lordszone]

as far as i know, if u dont want to overclock, then u must take the 1066 one.

 

[javimars]

go for the 1064, if you find a faster one try to get it. you will find a BIG difference between 800mghz and +1064mghz.

 

[JMecc]

The CAS is at the rated speed! CAS 5 at 1066MHz is CAS 3.75 at 800MHz.

CAS_800 = CAS_1066 * 800 / 1066 = 3.75 i.e. 4 at 800 and better for OCing.

The TWIN2X2048-8500C5DF Dominator is your best bet.

Jo

 

[soterius]

Hmmm, I'm getting the hang of all this PC-stuff (I'm upgrading from an AMD 2800+ which I bought like 5 years ago!)

Anyway, I've decided to overclock my q6600 (once I can get a hold of one with G0-stepping) to 3 GHz. I've just learned about the process of overclocking yesterday so I figure: I'll put my RAM at 533 MHz to get it run 1:1 with the processor, then put the FSB-speed at 333 MHz. So that means my RAm will then have a speed of 666 MHz, right? So the 1066 MHz of that TWIN2X2048-8500C5DF Dominator wouldn't be fully used... So why wouldn't I just buy one with lower speed?

 

[JMecc]

You can take the timings and multiply them by the speed you want to run over the rated speed. This tends to yield better timings with higher speed rated ram. Mine is 4-4-4-15 DDR2-800, so running at 533 I set them to 3-3-3-10, and if mine was DDR-1066 at those timings I could set them at 2-2-2-8 at 533, which would be even better.
Jo

 

[soterius]

Thanx for the info so far, all of you! You really seem to know what you're talking about and I enjoy learning from everyone here very much

I reckon the TWIN2X2048-8500C5DF Dominator is my best buy anyway, either performance-wise as price-wise (love that word :lol. But even so, I'm curious as to what the benefits are in regard of the better timings it would enable when running at 533 MHz as I'm planning.

How significant are timings really for performance? For example, would the DDR-1066 with 2-2-2-8 at 533 give much more FPS in a game, compared to the DDR-800 with 4-4-4-15 at 533? You did mention better timings are better for OCing....Do you mean OCing RAM, the CPU, or both? And what exactly gets better? Do you mean it allows for higher amounts of MHz for CPU/RAM? Does it keep things cooler? Does it require less voltage?

 

[IceFluffy]

Are u sure your motherboard supports DDR?

 

[JMecc]

Lower timings mean faster data access.

The timings 4-4-4-15 are CAS-RAS-RAS_Precharge-Act_To_Precharge_Delay

When the cpu asks the memory for some data the memory can't start giving any until it has activated the right memory chip (the black boxes on each side of a ram stick) (RAS), it has precharged (Act-To-Precharge), and selected the right column in that chip (CAS). Also when you ask for large data spread over a few columns or chips you have to wait the RAS_Precharge latency while getting the data.

After all that waiting you can recieve data at the ram frequency (533MHz, or whatever you have it set at). Therefore low timings mean less waiting for data. I know nanoseconds don't sound like much but it adds up as this happens constantly and is a big reason why your CPU runs under 100% - it is waiting for your ram to give it the info it needs.

Jo

 

[soterius]

Are u sure your motherboard supports DDR?

P5K Deluxe Wifi should be able to handle it, right?

 

[JMecc]

The P5K Deluxe Wifi exclusively uses DDR2, not DDR. This is good though as DDR2 sets are very cheap now (OCZ Gold & Platinum Sets for $85-$90 CAD in vancouver).

Jo

 

[soterius]

Just wondering when I'll be able to buy some good DDR3 memory for a reasonable price... I heard a few companies have made improvements lately that nobody expected to arrive for quite some time. This will probably cause a speed-up in the whole branch so good DDR3 for a reasonable price might be available sooner than everybody thought until now... But WHEN is it gonna be?

 

[IceFluffy]

You can get DDR3 memory here

http://www.lazercoms.be/winkel/index.php?cPath=38_98



THey also have the motherboard that supports DDR3 here

http://www.lazercoms.be/winkel/product_info.php?cPath=46_99&products_id=462

 

[soterius]

It's DDR3 alright....but over 400 Euro is not a reasonable price to me