Dual-Channel DDR3: Who Makes The Best 4GB Kit Under $150?

[Crashman]

High-end RAM prices have fallen far faster than they have in the mainstream market, enticing mid-budget builders. As 4GB mainstream kits hover around $100, Tom’s Hardware asks the question “How much more can we get for a few dollars more?”

Dual-Channel DDR3: Who Makes The Best 4GB Kit Under $150? : Read more

 

[neiroatopelcc]

And yet I would never recommend anyone to buy memory running faster than 1600mhz.
Add another $50 and buy two cheaper ddr3-1600c9 sets instead. More beats faster.

 

[ksa-_-jed]

the bottom line is there no big different worth the extra money.
I think is better to stick with the 1600mhz

 

[jrharbort]

I'm still glad with my choice to stick with the crucial modules in all my builds for nearly a year now. Nice article, was very informative, but I don't think it will effect my overall choice on future builds.

 

[Guest]

wow those trident's are very impressive.

 

[mr_tuel]

I bought my OCZ 6GB 1600MHz triple-channel kit for $85 last May. It will now cost my ~$160 to buy another :-(

 

[SchizoFrog]

What happened to Corsair and OCZ? This is just another article for you to advertise certain brands, shame on you Tom's...

 

[neiroatopelcc]

I'm sure they're not present in the article, because they simply didn't want to send any modules in time.
Besides, corsair is usually middle of pack, and ocz has compatibility issues on every second motherboard or something. Not the biggest of losses.

 

[madass]

"We recommend G.Skill’s Trident DDR3-2000 specifically for mid-budget overclockers who believe in the importance of memory speeds beyond those we’ve found to be beneficial to program performance."
LOL

 

[idisarmu]

4gb is no longer the optimal capacity. RAM prices are going up component-wise. 4gb of DDR3 1600 was down to about 95-100 dollars at one point, but now the price has gone up $10-15. Meanwhile, the price of 2x4gb kits have gone down from about $420 to $260-300 (This is for ddr3 1333)

I think that if someone is building a new PC, it is now better to invest in 8gb in a 2x4gb kit than it is to invest in 2x2gb. You will eventually upgrade to 8gb anyway (next year or in 2 years), so why don't you just buy the 8gb in 2 sticks for only a slight % increase of Cost/GB

 

[dalta centauri]

Here I am running 4gb of ADATA DDR2 ram at 800MHz and others have 250$ worth of ram in their computers. I think it's time to upgrade
(Darn, 300$ down the tube)

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]dalta centauri[/nom]Here I am running 4gb of ADATA DDR2 ram at 800MHz and others have 250$ worth of ram in their computers. I think it's time to upgrade (Darn, 300$ down the tube)[/citation]

if you have ddr2 what would you upgrade to? unless you have one of those mid 2007 p35 motherboards with both ddr2 and 3, you're probably going to upgrade your platform to support new memory. And honestly that's a waste. It's much more important to have enough memory than it is to have memory speed.

My server system's using 6gb ddr2-667 memory. It needs more amount rather than more speed.

My parents have 12GB ddr3-1600c9 which I've underclocked to 1066 speeds for the sake of stability, and I haven't heard them complain.

And personally I can't notice any real difference between 1333 and 1600 speeds on my low latency modules

 

[Guest]

Before recommending GSkill, you should investigate the countless problems popping up between P55 chipset and GSkill chips (see NewEgg reviews, for example). GSkill is not the only one affected by these "cold boot" issues, but is by far taking the most heat. How about a story on this?

 

[bstm300]

Get pwned by critical toms hardware users!!!!!

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Interesting article.

 

[tainted_peak]

I just hate how last year around this time DDR2 2x2GB of 1066 were around $60 USD. This transition is really killing PC building and the bottom-line for many. 2% to 10% increase in overall performance for an extra $100 isn't worth it when your building sub $500 PCs.

 

[saint19]

This review is a little simple. Where are the Crucial Ballistix and Crucial Ballistix Tracer? both are around $130 on the egg.

We know that G.Skill is a very good manufacturer, but like I say in this review isn't the Baliistix, Ballistix Tracer, Corsair and OCZ.

 

[El_Capitan]

High-end RAM prices have fallen far faster than they have in the mainstream market, enticing mid-budget builders.

Really? When you could get 6GB kits for less than today's 4GB kit prices?

I bought 6 kits of 2x2GB DDR3-1333 CT2KIT25664BA1339's last year for $65 each. They're now $105 each. A better article would be why the prices are so high.

 

[enzo matrix]

What? No Mushkin?

 

[joesapp37]

I saw an article about chipmakers manipulating the market, but it must have been a bad dream. I remember about a year ago I bought a kit of 2x2GB ddr2 dominators for $60... and they are how much now? $160!?!?!

 

[dennisburke]

How can this review be complete without one of the best kits out there, the Corsair Dominator C8 @ 1600MHz...($147.99__$137.99 after rebate)...is it because Tom's could not get Corsair to fork it over for free?

Newegg

 

[cabose369]

I am surprised Mushkin was not included. Generally they tend to have some of the lowest latencies of all memory and they tend to come overclocked on certain models and they are usually the cheapest. I only use Mushkin now and have never had any issues with them!

 

[rakizzta]

price drop???where???? maybe there but not here!!!!prices of DDR3 mems here are sky high!!!!!

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]SchizoFrog[/nom]What happened to Corsair and OCZ? This is just another article for you to advertise certain brands, shame on you Tom's...[/citation]Corsair and OCZ have the advertising money yet never responded to the invitation. Kind of makes you wonder what's going on at Corsair and OCZ.[citation][nom]idisarmu[/nom]4gb is no longer the optimal capacity....why don't you just buy the 8gb in 2 sticks for only a slight % increase of Cost/GB[/citation] Tom's recently reviewed 2x4GB kits, look in the memory articles for more information.[citation][nom]tcgx235[/nom]Before recommending GSkill, you should investigate the countless problems popping up between P55 chipset and GSkill chips (see NewEgg reviews, for example). GSkill is not the only one affected by these "cold boot" issues, but is by far taking the most heat. How about a story on this?[/citation]Tom's Hardware reports actual findings. Tom's Hardware doesn't do ignorant things like sticking the memory in the wrong slots, thus Tom's Hardware doesn't have a stack of memory and a stack of motherboards on its blacklist.[citation][nom]cabose369[/nom]I am surprised Mushkin was not included.[/citation]Mushkin didn't send anything either.

 

[cerealkeller]

More RAM doesn't necessarilly mean better performance. Half of the motherboards I've owned in the past had issues with either OCing, or even running at stock frequencies with all 4 dimms full as opposed to 2 dimms. Maybe if you're stuck running with 4GB or less. I have a 6GB Trident set and if you're not comfortable with OCing, you can set it to 1600mhz and play with latencies. Or, run it at 2000mhz which I've benchmarked and got some significant performance gains from. Several FPS in certain games, which actually amazed me, but it's true. Also, coming from someone who has used primarily Dominator in the past, it's overpriced crap compared to the G Skill. I'm never going back.