Drin

Hey everyone!

I've been having problems (that would be an understatement) hitting 4.0GHz stable on my AMD 940 BE. While OCCT is somewhat stable at that speed, prime95 is an entirely different story, leading me to believe that my RAM is holding me back. I'm currently using 4x1GB sticks, and although they are great performers, I'm starting to think it’s putting too much stress on my IMC. The two sets are also from two different revisions.

So I'm in the market for a new 2x2GB kit, and from what I've heard, tight timings are more important on an AMD platform than higher clocks. There are not too many 2GB kits that are rated to run at 4-4-4-12 or similar timings while at 800 so that should make my choice fairly easy. However, I've heard that some kits that run at 1066 or higher with timings of 5-5-5-15 would actually run 4-4-4-12 at 800. So I have no idea which kits would be best, and that's where I need advice!

Another issue to consider is that I have to use ram that has normal/standard height heat-spreaders, any of the larger ones would not fit under my heatsink. I actually have a pair of 4-4-4-12 reapers lying around, but there is no way they would fit.

All ram kits are limited to the ones available here:

http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products...&bid=2&id2=111

I've already ruled out the patriot kit, even though it looks like it's a good set it's far too tall.

I'm currently tossing up between:

- OCZ titanium kit at 4-4-4-15 or
- Crucial Ballistix kit at 4-4-4-12
- Team Dark kit at 4-4-4-12 (out of stock)
- Geil 2x2GB kit at 4-4-4-12

Sorry for not linking directly, the website is always a pain with hotlinks (will The ballistix kit would appear a better choice than the OCZ set, but I've heard that some sets have a very high failure rate, so I'm not sure if I should use them. I've heard good things about the Team Dark set, but they are out of stock and I'd have to pre-order them. If there are other kits I should consider on that page, let me know!


I'm hoping some of the RAM pro's (acoma_andy, 18 is #1) will come in here and advise me as well, as I'm really not that good with ram. All responses are welcome though, and quick responses are appreciated too as I'm hoping to buy a kit tomorrow or on monday!

__________________

Tator Tot

I'd go for the OCZ sticks if you can.

Though, you can go up to DDR2 1066 for RAM speed on any Phenom (or Kuma) chip.

From the pickings, and what I know about good sticks, you should grab these GeIL or these Team sticks.

__________________
Check Out My Sammich!
Aumotocnic"An unfortunate member of the overclock.net insomnia club"
Missouri Overclockers
The ß₤ứə Çřёώ
The Red Tide ATi Owners Unite
nVidia's Gr33N Machine

Drin

Ah cheers for the quick reply!

Was just wondering, is that geil set the infamous black dragon series? There's no mention of it on the umart page, which I find odd if it is.

Also, would those kits run at 4-4-4-12 timings at 800? Or would it still be more beneficial to run them at the higher speeds, with looser timings?

Just wondering, since I've heard that AMD platforms prefer tighter timings. However, I'm not sure at which point (if any) it's more beneficial to have a higher clock speed, at the expense of timings.

I'll definitely keep those in mind though, thanks!

__________________

Drin

Hmmm, I seemed to have missed the geil somehow. ACcording to the geil website, I don't think these are part of the black dragon series, as it seems they are only available in 2x1GB 4-4-4-12 or 2x2gb 5-5-5-15 offerings.

These however are rated at CAS4, so I'm wondering what they are:

Geil DDR2 4G(2x2G) PC6400 800Mhz CAS4

Gah, I believe the ones linked above is the same kit as reviewed here:

GeIL DDR2 EVO ONE

And that the heatspreaders would be too tall, damn

__________________

Tator Tot

As for the DDR2 800 vs DDR2 1066 question:

In my experience, you get much higher memory bandwidth with 1066, and the sacrifice in timings is made up by the gain in bandwidth and speed.


EDIT:
Quick Note - If you are running 4 sticks of RAM, you can only go up to DDR2 800mhz in speed because of the K10/K10.5 IMC

__________________
Check Out My Sammich!
Aumotocnic"An unfortunate member of the overclock.net insomnia club"
Missouri Overclockers
The ß₤ứə Çřёώ
The Red Tide ATi Owners Unite
nVidia's Gr33N Machine

Swiftes

You looked into the G Skill PI/PI Black? Very good ram, use Elpida/Powerchip IC's and is good for around 1200Mhz.

However the best DDR2 at the moment is the OCZ Blade LV [Low Voltage] They come in 1066/1200Mhz flavours and only require 1.8v to run that. They are Elpida IC's and are the best bang for buck atm.

__________________

The only real power comes out of a long rifle.

One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.

31337

The G.Skills I have are great and stable.

__________________

We Are Gr33n Machineß₤ứə Çřёώ The Samsung Owners Club MICHIGAN OVERCLOCKERS

Drin

Thanks for the suggestions, and I did have look into some of the G skill sets, but a lot of them seemed to have very tall heat spreaders. Unfortunately the OCZ blade LV's have quite a large heat spreader that would not fit, and although some LV platinum’s use the same IC's with a normal heat spreader, they are not sold in Australia or that store to my knowledge. I saw acoma_andy's results, and they are impressive!

It's looking like I'll probably have to choose between those 3 kits listed above, unless anyone else can post another recommendation from the site I listed. I'm tempted by the Team Dark ram, or the ballistix - I just hope the ballistix are not using the IC's which supposedly have a very high failure rate.

Any additional info such as model number, how tall their heat spreaders are etc? That suggestion is a bit vague!

Yeah I may have to consider ddr2 1066 kits as well, which then widens the number of kits available. It also means more research however!

__________________

robbo2

OCZ DDR2 4G(2x2G)PC8500 1066Mhz Platinum(2P10664GK)

Those would be my pick considering the height an such. I have some giel ram just 1gig 1066 sticks an i can't say I'm to happy with them. Lots of BSOD when I try overclocking with them.

__________________

Drin

Cheers Robo And that's a pity about the geil, as I was considering this set as well now:

http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=111&bid=2&sid=300 42

Fits the specs, low height as well. I know they use different IC's to the 1gb sticks, but I'm still wary if people said they've had bad experiences with teh brand. Don't like the colour personally either, but its not like I can see it anyway, fans cover them up.

Keep the suggestions coming guys, and if anyone has any experience with any of these sets, please let me know!

__________________