Continued from ASUS P5Q PRO vs GIGABYTE EP45-DS3
Okay… I have selected a motherboard already. It’s time to choose a pair of memory modules to fit in my motherboard. There are DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules in the market now. New product like DDR3 memory should be faster than DDR2 memory, right? Not exactly. DDR3 memory has higher latencies than DDR2 memory. Besides, I checked on lot of review, DDR3 does not provide much improvement to games. And it is very pricey now. I selected 4GB PC 6400 DDR2 in my system. Note – Windows XP 32bits and Windows Vista 32bits can only use up to around 3GB memories. Therefore, I am planning to get 64bits operating system. Or just stick to 32bits OS with 3GB RAM.
Corsair Twin2X4096-6400C4DHX is one of my selected memory choices. I used to pick the correct performance/price ratio. 800MHz PC6400 DDR2 memory price is the best for the moment. Memory speed is not a big concern to me because I have unlocked CPU multiplier Intel Core2 Extreme quad-core processor QX9650. If you are not using unlocked CPU multiplier processor, then memory speed might be stopping you from overclocking. I like Corsair Twin2X4096-6400C4DHX because of its Dual-path Heat Exchange (DHX) Technology. With it, the memory modules are much cooler.
Kingston KHX6400D2LLK2/4G is another option to choose. Kingston is well known to produce good quality memory modules. Kingston has heat spreaders on KHX6400D2LLK2/4G too. But I still prefer Corsair Dual-path Heat Exchange (DHX) Technology.
By the way, Corsair Twin2X4096-6400C4DHX is priced at RM350 while Kingston KHX6400D2LLK2/4G at RM380. Which memory modules will you select then?
Continued on Cooler Master CM 690 (RC-690) chassis
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My dream computer system
1. Overclocking your bus speed provides significantly more improvement than just multiplier alone.
2. You’d need at least a DDR 667MHz. You’ve selected a 400MHz DDR2 module, so ideally, your bus speed should be 1600MHz instead of the default 1333MHz.
3. Both the memory modules you selected are ‘high performance’ ones, with low latencies. It’s been proven again and again that these provide <5% (0%-3%) performance for a very high cost. Why not just go for regular DDR2 800MHz instead of ‘HyperX’ and all that nonsense?
4. It’s also a fact that heatsinks on memory don’t do nothing except for showing off. Memory don’t run hot enough to do any damage.
5. If you save on RAM, you’ll have more cash for getting a good PSU and also a good air-cooler for your awesome CPU. Or maybe a Radeon HD4870x2 🙂
6. Windows XP/Vista 32-bit *can* address more than 3GB of memory via /PAE switch, but reports vary on whether you gain anything from it.
7. Still, it’s better to just stick with plain 32-bit OS. Why? Limited drivers, software (games) support for 64-bit OS.
Yup. Overclock FSB will increase all the system speed. But that’s overclock everything. I don’t want that. Hmm… Maybe I will try that. 😛
Heatsinks on memory don’t do anything except for showing off? Sure? It should help a little bit. No at all? 😕
Overclocking the FSB no longer overclocks all the other peripherals (PCI/SATA/IDE,RAM). That was long ago la 🙂
In fact, some can be tweaked separately (they have their own clocks) or some are smart enough that if your FSB is too high, they’ll clock lower so as to remain closer to the original spec.
Yup, heatsinks on memory don’t do nuts. They don’t run hot enough without heatsinks anyway. Try touching your RAM when they’re running. They feel warm, but they won’t burn your hands.
I think you can look for articles in Anandtech, especially with regards to ‘premium RAM’. Basically, they found that the low latency, heatsink equipped RAM is more like a hug con job… er… marketing campaign. Spend money elsewhere like hard drive (never too big or too fast hehe), better monitor, heatsink for your CPU (now, that’s important), PSU or whatever. Just not premium (priced) RAM that do nothing except look cool. Heck I’d even spend good money on wireless mouse and keyboard rather than RAM 🙂 Or even… gasp… original Windows hahahaha
Haha… Too long did not use desktop. Overclocking did improve a lot since then. LOL
The first time that i tried overcloking over a year ago, my CPU got overheated and got fried.;’*