Buying memory...
Discussion
www.crucial.com/uk
You cant go wrong with this place. Pretty cheap, very easy to find exactly the ram you need and über speedy (free) delivery.
Cheers, P
You cant go wrong with this place. Pretty cheap, very easy to find exactly the ram you need and über speedy (free) delivery.
Cheers, P
i use corsair RAM and it works well, you can get it from the usual suspects; Scan, Komplett, Dabs etc.
As for the speed there are two factors, speed and latency (CAS etc.).
For speed at least match the speed of the CPU FSB.
For latency it's up to you, for gaming lower latecy may get you a few fps here and there but it doesn't make a huge difference, so you'll have to ballence it with the extra cost.
You don't mention the CPU or chipset but i'm assuming it'll be dual channel so matched memory is recommended. Also the more chips you have the (slightly)slower the preformance (i.e. comparing 4x256Mb with 2x512Mb, assuming dual channel)
Hope that makes sense
As for the speed there are two factors, speed and latency (CAS etc.).
For speed at least match the speed of the CPU FSB.
For latency it's up to you, for gaming lower latecy may get you a few fps here and there but it doesn't make a huge difference, so you'll have to ballence it with the extra cost.
You don't mention the CPU or chipset but i'm assuming it'll be dual channel so matched memory is recommended. Also the more chips you have the (slightly)slower the preformance (i.e. comparing 4x256Mb with 2x512Mb, assuming dual channel)
Hope that makes sense
mr_yogi said:
You don't mention the CPU or chipset but i'm assuming it'll be dual channel so matched memory is recommended. Also the more chips you have the (slightly)slower the preformance (i.e. comparing 4x256Mb with 2x512Mb, assuming dual channel)
Not bought the motherboard/processor yet
probably be an AMD XP2600+, leaning towards a board with VIA or possibly SiS chipset, max FSB of 333MHz. DDR is dual channel right?NiceCupOfTea said:
DDR is dual channel right?
No, DDR is just faster(twice as. hence Double Data Rate) than SDRAM. Modern chipsets use two separate memory channels to double the memory bandwidth. However I don't think any Athlon XP chipsets used dual channel as there was no need, because the Athlon XP has a max FSB of 400Mz, and you can get DDR-400 (PC3200) which matches that perfectly.
Podie said:
Rule #1: NEVER buy cheap memory...
I'm not sure that's good advice, depends how cheap
I've built lots of systems with cheap RAM from reputable companies, so called "Major" memory, which i guess just means unbranded, and they've been fine. Abviously if the machine is gonna take a pasting like a file server which is on 247 then buy better quality RAM, but i've never had any problems with the more affordable RAM in the past. The only reason I've gone with Corsair now is because I wanted the low latency stuff. Also I can imagine the lastest and greatest cheap RAM might not be the best choice as the process will be new but PC2700 or 3200 is so old hat I would have no questions over using "Major" memory for a desktop PC.
mr_yogi said:
Podie said:
Rule #1: NEVER buy cheap memory...
I'm not sure that's good advice, depends how cheap
I've built lots of systems with cheap RAM from reputable companies, so called "Major" memory, which i guess just means unbranded, and they've been fine. Abviously if the machine is gonna take a pasting like a file server which is on 247 then buy better quality RAM, but i've never had any problems with the more affordable RAM in the past. The only reason I've gone with Corsair now is because I wanted the low latency stuff. Also I can imagine the lastest and greatest cheap RAM might not be the best choice as the process will be new but PC2700 or 3200 is so old hat I would have no questions over using "Major" memory for a desktop PC.
Some boards are VERY picky... some of the Shuttle boxes (for example) which are aimed at the budget / home user market are often targets for unbranded stuff... but this can (and does - I've seen it!) lead to problems. In fact, Shuttle's recommended memory is scarily expensive... type in "blue screen on shuttle SK43G" for a laugh...
Podie said:
mr_yogi said:
Podie said:
Rule #1: NEVER buy cheap memory...
I'm not sure that's good advice, depends how cheap
I've built lots of systems with cheap RAM from reputable companies, so called "Major" memory, which i guess just means unbranded, and they've been fine. Abviously if the machine is gonna take a pasting like a file server which is on 247 then buy better quality RAM, but i've never had any problems with the more affordable RAM in the past. The only reason I've gone with Corsair now is because I wanted the low latency stuff. Also I can imagine the lastest and greatest cheap RAM might not be the best choice as the process will be new but PC2700 or 3200 is so old hat I would have no questions over using "Major" memory for a desktop PC.
Some boards are VERY picky... some of the Shuttle boxes (for example) which are aimed at the budget / home user market are often targets for unbranded stuff... but this can (and does - I've seen it!) lead to problems. In fact, Shuttle's recommended memory is scarily expensive... type in "blue screen on shuttle SK43G" for a laugh...
(totally agree - never buy cheap stuff)
GregE240 said:
Podie said:
mr_yogi said:
Podie said:
Rule #1: NEVER buy cheap memory...
I'm not sure that's good advice, depends how cheap
I've built lots of systems with cheap RAM from reputable companies, so called "Major" memory, which i guess just means unbranded, and they've been fine. Abviously if the machine is gonna take a pasting like a file server which is on 247 then buy better quality RAM, but i've never had any problems with the more affordable RAM in the past. The only reason I've gone with Corsair now is because I wanted the low latency stuff. Also I can imagine the lastest and greatest cheap RAM might not be the best choice as the process will be new but PC2700 or 3200 is so old hat I would have no questions over using "Major" memory for a desktop PC.
Some boards are VERY picky... some of the Shuttle boxes (for example) which are aimed at the budget / home user market are often targets for unbranded stuff... but this can (and does - I've seen it!) lead to problems. In fact, Shuttle's recommended memory is scarily expensive... type in "blue screen on shuttle SK43G" for a laugh...
(totally agree - never buy cheap stuff)
Wasn't unbranded though... it was Kingston ValueRAM...Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff