Value ram

[jollyjohn]

G'day

Is there a great deal of difference between Kingston Memory and Kingston ValueRAM? apart from the price. I read it comes with a lifetime guaranty, but does it perform?

Thanks

John

[dbanimal]

I thought the ValueRAM had a bit higher latency. I've actually had great luck with GSKILL memory and it's not a bad price.

[jollyjohn]

Thanks mate

[zoobie]

i second gskill...no probs for 4 years

[fritzi93]

I thought the ValueRAM had a bit higher latency. I've actually had great luck with GSKILL memory and it's not a bad price.

Yeah compare the CAS latency. The lower the better. I just recently had to replace the RAM (DDR2) in my HTPC, going from latency of 5 to 4, same speed, same size dual channel memory. The speed was that recommended by the MoBo manufacturer.

Response has gotten noticeably "snappier".

[EDIT] Oh yeah, the new RAM is G-Skill. This:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231051

[jollyjohn]

Yes. That sound good, however I need two X 4GB for an Asus P5G41C-M-LX MB. and G-Skill apparently doesn't have 4GB modules. If someone can give me a part number or code I could search it here Downunder.

Thanks for your input guys

John

[redwudz]

It looks like that MB uses 'DDR3 1333(O.C.)/1066/800 DDR2 1066 (O.C.)/800/667', so you would need DDR3 1066 or DDR3 800. I'd go with the 1066 unless you want to go into BIOS and make some timing adjustments, then it looks like you could use 1333 speed.

From that RAM listing, it looks like the MB has a two RAM slots each for DDR2 and DDR3. DDR3 is a better choice, as the prices are about the same. Make sure the MB sets the voltage correctly for the DDR3 as most run at 1.5VDC, while DDR2 commonly runs at 1.8VDC or higher.

I'm assuming you are using a 64bit OS, as a 32 bit OS can't address that much RAM. It's limited to about 4GB max. I also don't see any matched modules for 1066 RAM that size, so dual channel may not work, but that only gives you a few percent improvement in performance. But here are a few choices for 1333 RAM that are dual channel: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006050%2060...2%20x%204GB%29

There are several from G.Skil listed. You would need to check your motherboard manual to see what settings are needed for 1333 RAM. Maybe it will OC the RAM on it's own to adjust to 1333, but I would check with something like CPU-Z after it's up and running to make sure it's running at the proper speed and settings. I would also check the MB manual to make sure the RAM is compatible, but most newer MBs aren't as particular about RAM as they used to be.

CPU-Z: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

[jagabo]

Overclocking memory isn't worth it in my opinion. Although you can write a benchmark to show the overclocked memory is significantly faster, in real world applications (like video encoding, gaming, etc.) the gains are typically less than 1 percent.

The one exception to this is when you have a computer whos memory clock is locked to the CPU clock. To overclock the CPU you have to overclock the memory too.

[redwudz]

Most motherboards I use, I can adjust the RAM clock independently and I don't OC the RAM as most times you have to adjust voltages, timings, etc., and you run the risk of overheating the RAM and damaging it or shortening it's life. It can also make it very unstable and result in BSODs.

But OC was perhaps a poor choice of words in my previous post. Some MBs are set by default to a lower speed RAM, such as 1066, and can use 1366 RAM, but you need to set that speed manually in BIOS for it to operate at it's correct speed and timings.

I didn't really look that closely at the MB mentioned, but the info seems to indicate that it can use 1366 RAM, OC'd. I interpreted that as meaning the RAM will work, but the BIOS settings may have to be changed for 1366 operation. The 1366 RAM would be running at it's normal speed, but the RAM settings would be OC'd from the default 1066 settings, not the RAM itself. A few MBs need some adjustments to recognize and correctly utilize some RAM modules. Most MBs I use automatically adjust for RAM speeds by reading the info from the RAM modules.

On the other hand, you should be able to 'underclock' the 1366 RAM to 1066 and still get very good performance. This would likely be the default settings on the motherboard and would probably require no BIOS adjustments. The advantage there is that 1366 RAM is more commonly available, especially in dual channel sets than the 1066 is. And the price is about the same.

[deadrats]

G'day

Is there a great deal of difference between Kingston Memory and Kingston ValueRAM? apart from the price. I read it comes with a lifetime guaranty, but does it perform?

Thanks

John

it seems you live in australia, i don't know what prices are like over there but here in the u.s. there's stores in some areas called microcenter (i'm sure there's similar stores in other parts of the world, think of what comp usa should have been) and i can get some good ocz ram, 4 gig stick, ddr 3, for $40, i've used both kingston's valueram and their higher end sticks and found all of them to be crap, i will never again buy any kingston ram, especially "valueram".

[bendixG15]

Well we all have our own experiences.

I have used Kingston RAM in several computers for many years with good success. But then I do not overclock my stuff.

[jollyjohn]

G'day

Thanks again for your assistance that I appreciate very much.

I found: http://www.mwave.com.au/search.asp?CartID=mAU@2FC4PVWUYOJO9IISKMGW72RFHUFIRYDME4N22L8K...D-8GBRL&page=1

+A$10.00 shipping. Latency seems to be a little high. What do you reckon?

I have emailed newegg asking about shipping Downunder for the same order.

I'm not interested in OCing. Just need good memory to do some cac/cam work, sometimes rather complex, if the OS crashed in the process you lost whats not saved, and we are all human.

Yes redwudz I will be installing W7 Ultimate.

For CPU I decided Intel® Pentium® Processor E6500 $87.56
(2M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 1066 FSB). I'm open to suggestions around that price tag.


I'll keep you posted and thanks for your help

Regards

John

[redwudz]

Latency of CAS 9 is common for DDR3 RAM. That RAM should work fine.

[jagabo]

Memory speed makes little difference in most real world applications:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/memory-scaling-i7,2325.html

The results are obvious: going from one memory speed to the next, e.g. from DDR3-1066 to 1333, does not provide major benefits. Even the replacement of slow DDR3-800 RAM by DDR3-1600 memory will mostly yield disappointing results.

[deadrats]

@john

i just check newegg, for practically the same money that the e6500 costs you can get the X3 445, which is a better overall processor, if you're willing to go about $25 u.s. dollars more you can step up to the quad core X4 840, a decent am3 motherboard can be had for about $50 (u.s. dollars), so if you're on a budget, you can put together a pretty good amd based system for under $200 (cpu/motherboard/ram), don't know how shipping will effect that estimate though.

[jollyjohn]

G'day

deadrats,

I already have the MB. Newegg has emailed me back and they do not ship internationally and only accept credit cards from US banks. Besides, My CAM software is not compatible with AMD nor Mac systems.

There is another thing, the box only takes 9.6" X 9.6". The Asus P5G41C-M-LX MB is 9.6" X 8.5", a little narrower but the holes for the screws are the same dimension and distances as the base plate.

Thank you all for your comments and assistance.

Regards

John

[dbanimal]

Best of luck!

[RabidDog]

I have nearly the same Mobo (p5p41d) with DDR2 ram ( crucrial ballistix 2x1gb). , and while I agree that overclocking your ram has very little value, I did notice with this chipset that the "response" of the system was faster than previous mobo, supposedly because the ram was working in Dual channel mode. It should have been working in dual channel mode on previous Mobo and was exactly the same ram .. but noticeably better feel. Makes me like ASUS mobo for my next buy.

[jollyjohn]

That is nice to know. At the moment I'm waiting for my order of parts to arrive. CPU, RAM, PSU. I'll keep you posted. Thanks

[jagabo]

You always want to use dual channel (or triple channel on motherboards that support it) memory. Otherwise you are severely limiting memory bandwidth.