which type of RAM for 8 GB upgrade?

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n604
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2008/05/16 15:03:57 (permalink)

which type of RAM for 8 GB upgrade?

Hi

I'm running windows xp x64
My motherboard is an Abit IN9 32X-MAX.
(I also have an Abit IP35 Pro, which I heard is better for music production)

right now I'm using 4 x 1Gb OCZ platinum 2 pc6400 800Mhz RAM.
I want to upgrade to 4 x 2Gb. But there are so many different kinds of OCZ RAMs. What's the difference?
There are ones for gaming, and for overclocking, etc... Which is the best for music production?
Or if not OCZ , what other brand is the best? And why?

Thanks.
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    losguy
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    RE: which type of RAM for 8 GB upgrade? 2008/05/16 15:17:37 (permalink)
    Surest bet is to go with what the MOBO maker recommends for that MOBO, especially if they have tested and pre-qualified that combination. Lately, your chances are good that if it worked with two sticks, it's also work with two more sticks of the same model.

    If you can't get a recommendation from the MOBO maker, you can sometimes find recommendations form the memory manufacturer. Corsair is pretty good about that, but OCZ is not too shabby either.

    You really shouldn't mess with overclocking RAM, and hence, premium RAM that's overclocked. A good performance value is to go for "low latency" branded RAM at a given speed grade. therwise, pick the highest clock that's supported by your CPU and MOBO.

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    kwgm
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    RE: which type of RAM for 8 GB upgrade? 2008/05/16 17:49:41 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: losguy

    Surest bet is to go with what the MOBO maker recommends for that MOBO, especially if they have tested and pre-qualified that combination. Lately, your chances are good that if it worked with two sticks, it's also work with two more sticks of the same model.

    If you can't get a recommendation from the MOBO maker, you can sometimes find recommendations form the memory manufacturer. Corsair is pretty good about that, but OCZ is not too shabby either.

    You really shouldn't mess with overclocking RAM, and hence, premium RAM that's overclocked. A good performance value is to go for "low latency" branded RAM at a given speed grade. therwise, pick the highest clock that's supported by your CPU and MOBO.


    This is good advice. As far a RAM for gaming, etc, this sounds like marketing nonsense.

    First, RAM is packaged in a specific pin configuration, which is compatible with a particular family of motherboards. Your mobo will accept only one kind of package -- this is specified in the book. I just happen to have the IP35 Pro book sitting next to me -- it uses the 240-pin DIMM package, and has 4 slots, for a maximum capacity of 8Gb. It supports unbuffered, non-ECC Dual Channel DDR2, 667 or 800 memory.

    In plain English, this means that the mobo uses DDR2 ram (the 240-pin), so you want to look for DDR2-667 or DDR2-800 RAM sticks.

    DDR2 RAM packages also list maximum data transfer rate as a PC???? number. For instance, DDR2-667 ram is also labeled PC2-5400, and DDR2-800 is labeled PC2-6400

    The third number you need to know about is the CAS Latency. CAS specifies the column address strobe timing, which is basically an indicator of how quickly data can be read from the memory cells, so a lower number is better. CAS Latency is abbreviated as CL, so you'll see ram rated as CL3 or CL4 (CL3 is better). Generally you'll pay more for a lower CL value.

    DDR2 RAM also has an "Additional Latency" value (AL) that works with CL to indicate the write latency. Gen erally, you don't see this advertised, but again, lower is better.

    Finally, those 4 digits you'll see (4-4-4-12, for example) are further latency specs, the first one is actually the CL value. If you want to know what these mean, I'll refer you to a website like Toms' Hardware or Hardware Secrets.

    For your ABit IP35, it will perform well with DDR2 800, CL4 RAM, like This from Crucial or this from Corsair


    --kwgm
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