The bottom line... Please help!

[Mavicator]

I'm going crazy deciding to use PC-133 or DDR. Is DDR really worth it or am I in for heacaches. I don't want to pay for 2100 so is 1600 good enough? I'll be buying either a 1.2 or 1.33 Thunderbird and may overclock a little. Knowing what type of memory to buy will really help the motherboard selection process!

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Raystonn]

If you are going with an AMD system, you will get a larger speed increase going with a faster CPU and buying _more_ memory than you will going with DDR.

-Raystonn

-- The center of your digital world --

 

[Mavicator]

Thank you sooo much! I've been browsing and posting and reading and getting headaches for the last week trying to decide on my new system and that's the most straight-forward answer I've received so far. Whew!

Basically I can afford 512mb of PC-133, 256mb DDR1600 or 128mb DDR2100. Assuming I'm getting the same processor no matter the type of memory would PC-133 still be a better bet?

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Kelledin]

DDR1600 isn't even worth looking at; 128MB is running pretty lean on capacity. I'd suggest you get PC133.

Kelledin

bash-2.04$ kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

 

[Raystonn]

Yes, 512MB of memory will reduce your virtual memory paging to disk and allow the OS to buffer files from your hard drive with unused memory. The performance increase from this vastly outweighs the pidly speed increase (less than 10%) DDR gives you with current AMD solutions.

-Raystonn

-- The center of your digital world --

 

[Mavicator]

Thank you thank you thank you! Now I guess it's back to the motherboard forum to solve that issue.....

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Mavicator]

One last question if I may. Do any of you have a recommendation on brand of PC-133? I may overclock but not to an extreme.

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Raystonn]

If you can afford it get any brand that supports CAS2.

-Raystonn

-- The center of your digital world --

 

[Mavicator]

Gotcha. I'm not offering free beer in this thread but I can give you my sister.

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Raystonn]

How old is she? (j/k)

-Raystonn

-- The center of your digital world --

 

[Kelledin]

<A HREF="http://www.mushkin.com/" target="_new">Mushkin</A> RAM is extremely good RAM, especially for overclockers. I've heard of a few people OC'ing old Mushkin PC100 to PC150 stable. Against memory of identical specs (speed, CAS latency, et al), Mushkin tends to outperform its competition.

<A HREF="http://www.corsairmicro.com/" target="_new">Corsair</A> RAM is also high quality. Corsair tends to be more on the bleeding edge, especially in regards to CAS2.

Kelledin

bash-2.04$ kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

 

[Mavicator]

From what I gather then, these are the two best options in PC-133:

Corsiar #CM654S256: 133 MHz, 256MB, 32Mx64, 168 DIMM, CAS2, unbuffered, 16Mx8, $110-$120 each

Mushkin: 256MB Mushkin High Performance REV1.5 PC133 222 CAS2 - On sale $109

I have a hard enough time understanding the gazillion types of memory, but the Mushkin site has me even more confused.


-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[kurokaze]

Just to throw my 2 cents in.

What OS are you planning to use?
I've heard that Win98 doesn't make any use of memory above 256MB, so you won't see any windows speed improvement to going to 512MB. However your applications can still use that extra memory.

I'm running SQL Server 7 on my Machine (Win98SE with 256MB of PC133) for some local database work and it has to yet touch my pagefile. On top of that, Sandra reports only 34% memory usage with SQL Server 7 running. So if you want to save a few bucks determine what your needs are first.

 

[Mavicator]

I use Win2k Pro on all my machines.

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Kelledin]

I'd go for the Mushkin DIMMs. They're extensively tested, they're very overclockable, and hey--they're cheaper!

Their specs on paper are just as good as (or better than) the Corsair specs.

The "222" refers to CAS latency, RAS-to-CAS, and one other latency that I can't remember (RAS?). I do know that "222" is the best latency spec you can get.

"REV1.5" is not a standard memory characteristic, it just specifies Mushkin's product revision.

Kelledin

bash-2.04$ kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

 

[Mavicator]

I'm totally confused on the Mushkin site. They have a lot of types of PC-133. There are a couple higher than the one I listed Rev 2 and 3. What the heck do I need exactly? Are the Rev 2 and 3 really going to make my system perform better? I need a clinic! LoL!

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Guest]

Try using Crucial's site at www.crucial.com. You select your mobo's manufacturor and model number and it lists compatible memory products. Then buy whichever brand is cheaper today since they both have good reputations.

 

[Mavicator]

Now if only I could decide on a motherboard! Lol! This forum has informed me well, but made me even more undecided. Sigh.....

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Mavicator]

Forgive me if I'm just blind, but I can't find anything but Crucial brand memory on the Crucial site. You say they sell Corsair and Mushkin?

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[Guest]

Ah, sorry to confuse you. www.crucial.com is the website for the Crucial company so no they don't sell anyone else's RAM. What I meant for you to do was use their motherboard/RAM compatibility check to identify the correct type of RAM you need to buy. Then, when you wander around to other sites looking for the best price, you'll be able to make sense of all the options since you know what you're looking for. Crucial usually has very good prices so you might not need to look far. The three you mentioned (Crucial, Corsair, and Mushkin) are all name-brand memory products with good reputations.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

if your looking to overclock, see if you can find some of that nice 150mhz stuff...
think mushkin make it.

and im interested in your sister too. what is she going for? lol

ThePoo!

 

[Mavicator]

Well I was going to give her away since I didn't have any beer to hand out like that other fellow but since she's so in demand I shall start the bidding at $50 and a GeForce 2.

-- If you recycled your computer, would you get enough money to buy a pizza? --

 

[blah]

my cusl2-c+800eb works with crucial's 256mb at 160 without hickups...

Post, we'll do the "search"...