Value vs. Expensive ram...

[CaPtAiN_InSaNo]

I've been reading alot on the Value ram which people are saying oc's so well. I figured there is some misleading information mixed in with the good information.
Its all FSB, the reason that they are getting high overclocks with value ram(which is really sweet) is because they are lowering the actual FSB so when it is oced the FSB is not as high as with expensive overclocking memory. So in some games where the game is strictly graphics bound it will run the same as the Expensive system, but other games where it is processor and memory intensive the more expensive ram will be faster, while the value ram system may have same CPU oc it does not have the same FSB oc or latency settings(which have a significant affect on A64 systems) which will limit its performance. So saying the overclockers ram is a waste of money is not true. You are getting a noticeable benifit from it, its like buying CPU's, haveing the fastest is going to cost 2x more than haveing the second fastest and in most cases you wouldn't notice, but there are some where it is deffinately noticeable if you are running close to the 60 FPS barrier, that extra performance could keep you from going under 60. So i think it would be fair to say that the value ram is like the 6800 Gt, its the best bang for your buck, but not the absolute fastest and the overclockers ram is like the X850XT, in alot of games you would not notice a huge difference, but there are those few exceptions where you'll be praised for haveing it. Hay, i have the "waste of money" expensive overclockers ram, so I must defend it when its criticized.

Asus A8V Deluxe(rev. 2.00) / A64 3000@2.4(266FSB, Mult. 9x) / 1024mb OCZ DDR533 / BFG 6800GT@405/1100 / Baracuda 120GB / Lian-Li PC-65 / Syncmaster 700NF / Antech True 380<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Captain_insano on 01/24/05 02:03 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Squick]

Captain, this is the post that made my mind up to go with the value ram:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1475190&enterthread=y

Bottom Line:

Some Games = very slight benefit to using expensive high bandwidth TCCD or expensive LL ram Like Ballistix over value ram. Winrar sees major benefit though, 41% top to bottom.

LAME, Cinebench, ScienceMark, PiFast, Superpi, POV-Ray, DVDShrink shows no or infinitesmal boost above Value ram.

And I wanted to see just how high my ram could go, so I reduced my HT to 3X, left the memory ratio at 1:1, and I was able to crank the $140/gig Muskin memory up to ~245Mhz before it was unhappy. Then when I put in place a ratio I was able to take the FSB up to 260 putting the memory at ~215Mhz stable and was getting much higher benchmark results then at 2.45Ghz.

So paying twice the price for ram that makes almost no difference was not a good idea for me. And looking at your system, you could have went with an A64 3200 or even a 3500 depending on exactly which OCZ memory you have, instead of the 3000. It appears you got just about the same FSB as me, so do you think the extra 200Mhz on the CPU would make up for the 30Mhz less on the memory?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Squick on 01/24/05 08:16 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[CaPtAiN_InSaNo]

You get what you pay for. My ram is GUARANTEED to its oc, not only that, but warranty is an excellent reason for high end ram. I previously had 4x256 DDR533, but as you know A64's do not oc worth crap with 4 dimms filled, my stystem was haveing all kinds of problems, so I contacted ocz and they REPLACED my ram with the new mem listed in my updated specs below(power supply isn't here yet). Would they do that with the value ram? I highly doubt it. So there are other factors to consider other than just pure performance which leads to the high prices, also it was never considered that a game running at 74 fps will probably not go below 60 fps while a game running at just barely 60 fps will go below in heavy action, so again its worth it if you have the money. If it comes between memory and a video card by all means get the video card and get cheaper memory, but if you already have a super duper graphics card and you still have enought to get the expensive memory it is worth it. So its more circumstantial, not one is a waste of money and one is not.

Asus A8V Deluxe(rev. 2.00) / A64 3200 / 1024mb OCZ DDR500 (2.5-3-3-8) / BFG 6800GT@405/1100 / Baracuda 120GB / Lian-Li PC-65 / Syncmaster 700NF / OCZ Power Stream 420<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Captain_insano on 01/25/05 04:32 PM.</EM></FONT></P>