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Best DDR2 PC2 6400


ringfinger

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Hey guys... as you probably all know by the 'Best Socket T Mobo' thread thats been here for weeks I'm building up a new Intel machine on a P5WD2 Premium mobo and still cannot decide on the best RAM to get. To me, it makes sense to get 800MHz RAM as the board natively supports it and plus thats the FSB on the P4 650 I'm getting. I'm thinking about either the Crucial Ballisitx BL2KIT6464AA804 2 x 512 @ 4-4-4-12 or the Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X1024A-6400 @ 5-5-5-12. Both almost the same price. Suggestions?? Trials and tribulations?? Other brand better?? Thanks guys! :thumbupNewegg.com's PC2 6400

Edited by ringfinger
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No I haven't yet. All I lack is the RAM and the Raptor. I think I have made up my mind on the Corsair though. Unless for some reason I can get proof that the Ballistix is better than the XMS2. Although I'm still not sure on the timings. In some places I see 5-5-5-15 and in others I see 5-5-5-12. And is there really that much of a noticable difference between a 3 and 5 CAS latency?? The age old latency vs. speed battle!

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I would go for the crucial. I have allways been happy with them. Corsair is more f a store brand. I wish there was a good way to tell the difference. 1 thing you could always do is ask a video edit. I am assuming your are using something like avid? Don't forget to cool your ram. If you had simular systems you could always test them with a benchmark but, that would be expensive. Also if your bios supports it you can make ram adjustments.

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The Crucial Ballistix has tighter timings and so will have lower latencies. This translates to slightly faster RAM. :) They also have a lifetime warranty, which I personally have never had to use. I use Crucial RAM in nearly every system I build. I even use it in my mission critical servers at work due to their proven reliability.

As for the Raptors...you may want to do some reading up on them. I have a pair of 36GB Raptors in my system and while they are fast I believe a pair of NCQ capable drives would outperform them. Raptors are also not native SATA drives...WD uses a PATA to SATA converter on the drive PCB.

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@rjz ... This will actually by first system I've built. I am a college grad in network security and cryptography, but never have really gotten hardcore when it comes to hardware. So far I have purchased: ASUS P5WD2 Premium mobo, P4 650 3.4/2M/800MHz, Antec performance TX640B case and a Plextor PX-740A burner. I got a 19" Samsung LCD along with a Radeon X300 SE for $300 from a friend all brand new. The only things I lack like I said are the RAM and HD.

@nmX ... I have been going back and fourth like I said, I know the Ballistix has tighter timings and will most likely be the better buy since they are both almost exactly the same price. As far as the Raptors, I didn't know they weren't a TRUE SATA drive?? Is there performance loss due to the PATA/SATA conversion?? This is another thing I have been debating on as my mobo supports TCQ (Tag Command Queuing) which is supposed to give better performance than NCQ drives. So, its either the Raptor or a bigger size TCQ drive.

So all in all, I am really still only stuck on which HD to get.

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@nmX ...
nmX is my clan tag. :)
I have been going back and fourth like I said, I know the Ballistix has tighter timings and will most likely be the better buy since they are both almost exactly the same price.
I'm not sure if you're aware but they even have PC2-8000 now. Run it at the 6400 speeds and you may get better than the 4-4-4-12 timings.
As far as the Raptors, I didn't know they weren't a TRUE SATA drive??  Is there performance loss due to the PATA/SATA conversion??  This is another thing I have been debating on as my mobo supports TCQ (Tag Command Queuing) which is supposed to give better performance than NCQ drives.  So, its either the Raptor or a bigger size TCQ drive.
Definitely go with a couple of NCQ/TCQ drives. You'll get more bang for your buck.

It's hard to pass up a Western Digitial 250GB SATA "II" drive with 16MB cache for $122 shipped. :)

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nmX... I was aware that there is now PC-8000, I think that the 6400 will due just fine for me, no need to get too insane. So you think I should go with the 250GB Caviar huh? You think 2 of these will be faster than a Raptor if in Raid0 on my system?

u need 2 1G rams...hahah

???

Edited by ringfinger
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