2 gigs or 4 gigs of ram

garry · 8th October 2006, 1:35 AM

Hi im going to order the Asus P5WD64 and the E6700 conroe,with the ram i have decided to get the Corsair TWIN2X 8888C4DF Dominator http://pcmaniacs.com.au/product_info...oducts_id=3258

Would it be better to get 2 gigs of fast ram like the Corsair 8888C4DF Dominator with 4-4-4-12 timings or for the same price get 4 gigs of slower ram with 5-5-5-15 timings Corsair TWIN2X 8500C5 DDR2 2048Mb http://pcmaniacs.com.au/product_info...oducts_id=3069

Do you think i would get more gains out of having more ram or faster timings.

FumblesMcStupid · 8th October 2006, 3:07 AM

WinXP32 has problems with 4GB of memory. Anyways you would only get 4GBs if you needed it. 2GB is heaps.

garry · 8th October 2006, 3:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FumblesMcStupid

WinXP32 has problems with 4GB of memory. Anyways you would only get 4GBs if you needed it. 2GB is heaps.

Thanks yeah i didn't know that about xp,although i am mainly getting this new pc im building ready for vista,thats mainly why i was wondering if 2 gigs would be enough.

I am going to get all the parts except the graphics card,wait until the DX10 cards come out in a few months then finish building the pc so i spose i wont really even be using this new pc for windows xp.

Whisper · 8th October 2006, 4:34 AM

If I was buy a top of the line, brand spanking new computer, I would be tempted to go for 4GB's so I didn't have to upgrade the RAM or touch the computer for a significant amound of time.

2GB is going to be the norm soo enough and power users and games are going to use all of it and you will end up finding that things run better with 4GB instead of 2GB, just like things run better now with 2GB instead of 1GB.

terrastrife · 8th October 2006, 5:32 AM

WinXP handles '4Gb' of memory fine. well, 3.6Gb and the rest to PCI Buffers.

if you manage to USE all 2Gb of ram, then yes, 4gb would be the way to go. I find myself using all 2Gb in very few occasions only (massive games which takes more then 1.3GB of ram + ftp server, most games use between 700-1000Mb which isnt a problem with a lot of background tasks still going)

garry · 8th October 2006, 6:09 AM

Thanks for your replys yeah i am leaning more for getting 4 gigs now since the pc will mainly be used for vista when it comes out.

If i went for the 4 gigs of the Corsair TWIN2X 8500C5 with slower timings of 5-5-5-15 do you think those slower timings would make the pc feel slowish compared to if i got the faster 4-4-4-12 timings of the Corsair TWIN2X 8888C4DF Dominator,im just not sure how much timings effect the pc the way it runs,is 5-5-5-15 still a good timing,would it overclock very well.
I am not even sure what sought of speed gains i would get from buying expensive ram like the Corsair TWIN2X 8888C4DF Dominator,but i figured if i get descent ram i shouldn't have any trouble overclocking.

infiltraitor · 8th October 2006, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrastrife

WinXP handles '4Gb' of memory fine. well, 3.6Gb and the rest to PCI Buffers.

thats more a motherboard problem i think.
my server sees the entire 4GB with no problem.
granted im running Server2003 EE but as you say, its PCI buffers etc that do it, the mobo in my server has an option to shift those up to a higher point and allows you to see all the RAM.

Wet Sandwich · 8th October 2006, 12:09 PM

Do you need ram that's that expensive? That monster makes the gskill HZ 800mhz set look cheap at $460+. It will overclock to 1ghz+ anyway so save yourself around $1000?

garry · 8th October 2006, 1:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenn_styles

Do you need ram that's that expensive? That monster makes the gskill HZ 800mhz set look cheap at $460+. It will overclock to 1ghz+ anyway so save yourself around $1000?

Thanks i was looking at the gskill HZ 800mhz but i just wasn't sure if i should get 800gz or 1066gz,when i build this pc.

I wanted to do it right this time because the current p4 3.2 pc with 1 gig of expensive geil ram and this $100 gigabyte cpu cooler i build nearly 4 years would never overclock very good,like the best i could overclock the p4 was 5% which makes the cpu from 3200 up to about 3350 or something like that,its running stock now though because even at 5% it froze every now and then,so i want to build a really over clockable pc this time withough having to worry about windows not even booting if i try to overclock it at 10% like my current machine.

The only parts i have so far is the cooler master 830 stacker case,enermax galaxy 1000 psu and the big typhoon cpu cooler and I'll get the E6700 cpu next week to, i was just waiting around to see if the cpu prices came down or not.,and i just decided to get the Asus P5WD64 WS over the Asus P5W-DH so its really only down picking good quality overclocking ram now.

Subcommandante · 8th October 2006, 1:56 PM

I only have one gig, but I would certainly be tempted to go for four...especially if the RAM has activity lights = sexy.

Wet Sandwich · 8th October 2006, 1:57 PM

All I can say is it's great stuff, remember 533mhz ram is all you need for stock speed so 800mhz is 50% FSB overclock space.

I have my E6300 overclocked by 70% limited only by the motherboard. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

wesley5781 · 8th October 2006, 2:10 PM

If you get ram that fast it's quite possible you'll be fsb limited by motherboard, so if you do you'll need to pair up with the best motherboard out there i assume that's not a problem if your willing to fork the best ram out there, vista itself is more resource demanding which is coming out in a few months, so like somebody above mentioned 2 gigs is gonna be norm for enthusiasts, i'd definitely see the benefits of going to 4gig ram in the coming year, it would not be a waste if you decide to go that route, if you can get 4g ram that can do ddr-1000 i think that would be more than enough to get the most of your motherboard. At the moment there aren't many boards that will guarantee fsb that will sync with your ram unfortunately.

garry · 8th October 2006, 2:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenn_styles

All I can say is it's great stuff, remember 533mhz ram is all you need for stock speed so 800mhz is 50% FSB overclock space.

I have my E6300 overclocked by 70% limited only by the motherboard. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

So you overclocked your E6300 by 70% with the gskill HZ 800mhz,yeah that sounds like it does the job really well, i am probley better of just getting 4 gigs of the gskill HZ 800mhz rather than the 4 gigs of the cheaper corsair TWIN2X 8500C5 1066mhz ram since the gskill has faster timings.

garry · 8th October 2006, 2:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wesley5781

If you get ram that fast it's quite possible you'll be fsb limited by motherboard, so if you do you'll need to pair up with the best motherboard out there i assume that's not a problem if your willing to fork the best ram out there, vista itself is more resource demanding which is coming out in a few months, so like somebody above mentioned 2 gigs is gonna be norm for enthusiasts, i'd definitely see the benefits of going to 4gig ram in the coming year, it would not be a waste if you decide to go that route, if you can get 4g ram that can do ddr-1000 i think that would be more than enough to get the most of your motherboard. At the moment there aren't many boards that will guarantee fsb that will sync with your ram unfortunately.

Yeah i think i have made a good choice with the motherboard Asus P5WD64 WS,i seen chainbolts thread on this motherboard and he said it was the best conroe motherboards he has used so that was good enough for me anyway,so i decided to grab that.

Yeah if i got 4 gigs of ram i wouldn;t be able afford 4 gigs of the Corsair 8888C4DF Dominator with 4-4-4-12 timings and i would have to go for the cheaper Corsair TWIN2X 8500C5 but i was worried the 5-5-5-15 timings would slow things down,are 5-5-5-15 timings still ok,would you buy ram with those timings or would you try to get ram with faster timings.

schplade · 8th October 2006, 9:41 PM

with all ram/memory related size issues refer to this level of importance

size>speed>timings

this guide is only for general purpose as there are some specific programs that require tighter timings etc for better performance.

also the size of ram is only important until you stop using it all and it just becomes redundant, with windows xp while gaming i haven't seen my usage go anywhere near 2gb.

8th October 2006, 1:35 AM	#1
garry Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Port Kennedy 6172 WA Posts: 2,362	2 gigs or 4 gigs of ram Hi im going to order the Asus P5WD64 and the E6700 conroe,with the ram i have decided to get the Corsair TWIN2X 8888C4DF Dominator http://pcmaniacs.com.au/product_info...oducts_id=3258 Would it be better to get 2 gigs of fast ram like the Corsair 8888C4DF Dominator with 4-4-4-12 timings or for the same price get 4 gigs of slower ram with 5-5-5-15 timings Corsair TWIN2X 8500C5 DDR2 2048Mb http://pcmaniacs.com.au/product_info...oducts_id=3069 Do you think i would get more gains out of having more ram or faster timings. __________________ Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition,AX1200 Gold,ASUS Maximus V Extreme,Intel Core i7 3770K@ 4.2ghz,16GB,Mushkin 993997 32GB 2133MHZ PC3-17000 Ridgeback Redline,OCZ Vector 256GB,Corsair Hydro H80i,Logitech G700,Logitech K800

8th October 2006, 5:32 AM	#5
terrastrife Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: ADL/SA The Monopoly State Posts: 15,973	WinXP handles '4Gb' of memory fine. well, 3.6Gb and the rest to PCI Buffers. if you manage to USE all 2Gb of ram, then yes, 4gb would be the way to go. I find myself using all 2Gb in very few occasions only (massive games which takes more then 1.3GB of ram + ftp server, most games use between 700-1000Mb which isnt a problem with a lot of background tasks still going) __________________ D90/35mm1.8/SB900 Main/X58-USB3 F5/4GHz i7 950/48GB RipjawsZ/GTX 670/SSD 520 Series unRAID5/X2 4000+/30TB/16 Disk MidiTower/NeoHE

8th October 2006, 6:09 AM	#6
garry Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Port Kennedy 6172 WA Posts: 2,362	Thanks for your replys yeah i am leaning more for getting 4 gigs now since the pc will mainly be used for vista when it comes out. If i went for the 4 gigs of the Corsair TWIN2X 8500C5 with slower timings of 5-5-5-15 do you think those slower timings would make the pc feel slowish compared to if i got the faster 4-4-4-12 timings of the Corsair TWIN2X 8888C4DF Dominator,im just not sure how much timings effect the pc the way it runs,is 5-5-5-15 still a good timing,would it overclock very well. I am not even sure what sought of speed gains i would get from buying expensive ram like the Corsair TWIN2X 8888C4DF Dominator,but i figured if i get descent ram i shouldn't have any trouble overclocking. __________________ Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition,AX1200 Gold,ASUS Maximus V Extreme,Intel Core i7 3770K@ 4.2ghz,16GB,Mushkin 993997 32GB 2133MHZ PC3-17000 Ridgeback Redline,OCZ Vector 256GB,Corsair Hydro H80i,Logitech G700,Logitech K800 Last edited by garry; 8th October 2006 at 6:21 AM.

8th October 2006, 2:10 PM	#12
wesley5781 Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: melbourne Posts: 220	If you get ram that fast it's quite possible you'll be fsb limited by motherboard, so if you do you'll need to pair up with the best motherboard out there i assume that's not a problem if your willing to fork the best ram out there, vista itself is more resource demanding which is coming out in a few months, so like somebody above mentioned 2 gigs is gonna be norm for enthusiasts, i'd definitely see the benefits of going to 4gig ram in the coming year, it would not be a waste if you decide to go that route, if you can get 4g ram that can do ddr-1000 i think that would be more than enough to get the most of your motherboard. At the moment there aren't many boards that will guarantee fsb that will sync with your ram unfortunately. __________________ Trades:aiya_au,dukkie,headkicker,astroboy777,neo_r anga,predder,andrew357,spoonmugen,super kermit,scream,Tasty_Vito,ScytheX,Tox

8th October 2006, 3:07 AM	#2
FumblesMcStupid (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: 3142 Posts: 1,059	WinXP32 has problems with 4GB of memory. Anyways you would only get 4GBs if you needed it. 2GB is heaps.

8th October 2006, 12:09 PM	#8
Wet Sandwich Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2,356	Do you need ram that's that expensive? That monster makes the gskill HZ 800mhz set look cheap at $460+. It will overclock to 1ghz+ anyway so save yourself around $1000?

8th October 2006, 1:57 PM	#11
Wet Sandwich Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2,356	All I can say is it's great stuff, remember 533mhz ram is all you need for stock speed so 800mhz is 50% FSB overclock space. I have my E6300 overclocked by 70% limited only by the motherboard. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

8th October 2006, 9:41 PM	#15
schplade Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 173	with all ram/memory related size issues refer to this level of importance size>speed>timings this guide is only for general purpose as there are some specific programs that require tighter timings etc for better performance. also the size of ram is only important until you stop using it all and it just becomes redundant, with windows xp while gaming i haven't seen my usage go anywhere near 2gb.