OCZ DDR500 GOLD...G.SKILL DDR500??

[Echonode]

Hey all! Ok, so just purchased some stuff for my new system...

Amd 64 4400
Western Digital 250gb sata2 16MB hard drive
Thermaltake Silent 560W PSU
Sapphire Radeon x1900xtx 512mb vivo
Thermaltake Armor Black Case

Was originally gonna go for the 4800 but...figured the 4400 would suffice, huge proce difference like!

Ok, so now all I'm short is the mobo and the memory. Been talking to some of you already, thinking of going for the msi nf4 diamond plus, but it's quite expensive!

Need advice on the memory, have my eye on the OCZ pc4000 ddr500 GOLD EDITION 2gb(2x1024 kit), NOT XTC edition. Have read some reviews on these, seem good enough. Anyone recommend these? Or perhaps the G.Skill pc4000's??

I'm into gaming and I've never overclocked before, not really anyway but am willing to give it a shot just out of curiosity...

[wind_comm]

g.skill rules.

[Echonode]

Indeed or so I have heard. The G.Skill ddr500's are nearly 30euro cheaper than the ocz ddr500's... probly because G.Skill haven't been around for as long... the ocz's also have the Gold heatspreaders...making them look cooler, but dp the OCZ's have any advantage over the G.Skill's??

Hmmm...just looking there...Mushkin's extreme Performance ddr500's might be an option... anyone?

[wind_comm]

if you look at the G.skill OCing reviews, you'll see the heatspreaders don't matter, and if you look at the thermal conversion tests (errr something like that) then you'll see a heatspreader like the XTC or the new mushkin one is much more effective because it doesnt trap the hot air. tho OCZ kind of doesnt apply it correctly.

yo 30 euros cheaper? whoa...any chance I can get some of that lol?

[Echonode]

Ya man, http://www.shop4memory.com/products/ddr-ram.asp#pc4000

Good prices plus free shipping for me...Ireland. Hmmm... so... which wud u recommend out of the three?

Think the mushkins have tighter timings

[wind_comm]

they're all pretty good. put the three names in a hat and get somebody to pick one out.

[GottaLoveAMD]

If you're getting a 2GB kit, you're not going to be able to get much over 260Mhz...if that. It doesn't matter which kit you use. I haven't seen any 2x1GB kit go over maybe 270~275Mhz. Get the one that you think is the best. I can say that OCZ's tech support is excellent, but I haven't dealth with G.Skill's. Other than that, check the prices and the timings and go with whichever looks the best to you. Either would be good in my opinion.

[Echonode]

Sure the crucial ballistix pc4000's reach 300? Look it up. Ya, not goin for crucial anyway, not available for me.

Think I'll go ahead with the mushkins. Haven't heard anything bad bout um yet.

Cheers for all the help guys, got three threads running at the mo!

NICE ONE!

[sadtherobot]

I've never overclocked before, not really anyway but am willing to give it a shot just out of curiosity...

If you are getting DDR500, you'll be doing some form of overclocking, unless you make use of the Rev.E memory multipliers, but that would cause the RAM to run asynchronous to the bus. Running anything asynchronously generally creates more latency, which, for the Athlon64/X2/FX is usually bad, since the integrated memory controller was designed to lower latencies, why do you think it does so well in games?

I'd suggest going with 1 of the 5 or more (there are a number of manufacturers that offer them now) low-latency 2GB kits that run at 2-3-2-5 1T, it will probably be much easier to configure and you won't have to deal with any form of overclocking if you don't want to.

[Echonode]

Which is more important for gaming tho, better timings or higher frequencies? Well any of the ddr500#s I've been looking at have latencies of 3... timings on the mushkin being 3.4.3.8 ... If I wanted cl2 I'd have to go for lower speed, like the corsair xms pc3200?.... which would be better?

Also,

there are a number of manufacturers that offer them now) low-latency 2GB kits that run at 2-3-2-5 1T

Which ddr500's do this?

[GottaLoveAMD]

Sure the crucial ballistix pc4000's reach 300? Look it up. Ya, not goin for crucial anyway, not available for me.

Think I'll go ahead with the mushkins. Haven't heard anything bad bout um yet.

Cheers for all the help guys, got three threads running at the mo!

NICE ONE!

Ummm? AMDZone did a 2GB kit shootout. Here is the graph of the maximum overclocks that they got. The Crucial there is the Ballistix PC-4000. Apparently, it wouldn't go past its rated speed!

[Echonode]

http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=262

crucial ballistix pc4000's

[GottaLoveAMD]

Interesting, however overcocks are never guaranteed and every chip overclocks differently. Also, companies sometimes send exceptional "review samples" to sites, so you can't always expect them. It's best to look multiple sources.

[Echonode]

Ya. I just bought the OCZ ddr500 gold's there. Got um for 265euro on http://www.shop4memory.com. They will be fine for me.

So here's my final system, everything bought(except monitor, but that can wait a few weeks I guess)

Amd 64 4400
Sapphire Radeon x1900xtx
OCZ pc4000 Gold 2x1024MB
250gb WD SATA2 16MB
DFI NF4 SLi-D
Thermaltake Armor case
Thermaltake silent 560W psu

Shud be a very nice gaming rig.Watcha think?

Cheers for all the help!