Overpriced Memory Not Worth It!

[Allen]

Have any of you read that article in Custom PC about DDR Memory? Very interesting...

The Crucial memory was only 2% slower than the Mushkin and OCZ memory and the likes but cost half as much! I just bought 512MB of PC3200 memory for £40, I wonder how much it would have cost if it was Corsair or OCZ or something! And I wonder how it will compare in RL(tm) rather than on paper. LOL!

They reckon that timings have virtually no (visible) difference to their benchmark results which I find quite amusing! All you guys seem to be set on timings and how 'tight' you can get them, when Custom PC say that upping the BUS speed will have more of an effect!

Just wondered what your comments would be on it. Obviously those who have already spent nearly £300 on 1GB of LL memory will argue that it's better than other memory, but they're just the same as those who spend £300-400 on an LCD and claim it's better than a CRT!

[Flibb]

I bought cheap stuff as well, the geil 3200 standard (think it was £48 at the time for 512)but I dont OC. Did custom pc try overclocking? just wonder if having higher spec stuff would give a noticeably better result on an OC. Then again the price difference would need to give a very big speed increase. I havent tried overclocking yet as I need to keep my PC quiet, probably could push it a bit more but am unsure of the real world benefits.
Flibb

[Allen]

Hmm, I can't remember. I'll read it again at lunch time (can't read it at my desk!). I don't think they overclocked any of them, but overclocking is done via the BUS which is what they said would provide more of a performance hit anyway.

I would assume though that the cheaper stuff would not overclock as well as the expensive chips!

[quimico]

Could you put a link to that article, I don't find it. Thanks

[Allen]

It was in this month's Custom PC magazine so won't appear on their website till next month. It's only £3.50 though and well worth it IMHO!

Even less if you subsribe like me! £15 every 6 months...

[blockers]

Well if i had the money i would still by Corsair pc3200LL RAM. however as i dont i am stuck with my samsung pc2700, which can just about get pc3200 speed anyway...

Will

[Allen]

What we've done is gather up six PC3200 modules that should be of interest to those who don't care about overclocking and will therefore need RAM that can run at the same speed as their CPU FSB (400MHz).

I think that explains it then, Flibb.

[Allen]

Originally Posted by blockers

Well if i had the money i would still by Corsair pc3200LL RAM. however as i dont i am stuck with my samsung pc2700, which can just about get pc3200 speed anyway...

Will

1GB of Corsair LL memory is £222 inclusive, yet the Crucial stuff is only £129 inclusive... so for an extra £100 you're getting a 2% increase in performance!

Mad if you ask me, but everyone is different.

[quimico]

I'll look into that, cheers

[Agent]

Will crucial run at 480mhz FSB ?

Didn't think so

Although i totally agree, the difference between crucial and some of the other RAM has barely noticeable and will often only show in benchmarks. Put a game on and you'll get a few FPS at most more.
At the end of the day, its all about bragging rights, myself included here (i own these).
To the average user, there is no point in getting super expensive RAM. Maybe 1% of the computing market actually requires this RAM as they are enthusiasts.

[Allen]

Originally Posted by Agent

Will crucial run at 480mhz FSB ?

Do most people need it to run that fast though?

I agree, enthusiats may want the fastest brand for whatever reason they have (your's obviously being bragging! ) but for the average Joe public user like me we are led to believe that the expensive stuff is needed for better performance in games and other real life application.

What I found funny is that the setup with the Crucial PC3200 RAM got 45.7fps in Wolfenstein: ET and the same setup with Corsair PC3200 RAM got 46.2fps. A whole 0.5fps increase for £100! LOL!

[Enverex]

The whole point of this expensive RAM is for overclocking. Thats like them buying in 4 opterons and saying "Oh, this is useless, they barely give any performance increase in games at all compared to a Barton 3200+" when the whole point of it is for the server market.

Basically, they are buying RAM which as a specific purpose, not using it for that purpose, and saying it's pointless.

What a stupid article.

[Agent]

Originally Posted by Big_Al

Do most people need it to run that fast though?

Nope, like i said, bragging rights
Also having such a high FSB helps mewith SETI, video encoding (a lot !) and 3D modeling

[Agent]

Originally Posted by Enverex

The whole point of this expensive RAM is for overclocking. Thats like them buying in 4 opterons and saying "Oh, this is useless, they barely give any performance increase in games at all compared to a Barton 3200+" when the whole point of it is for the server market.

Basically, they are buying RAM which as a specific purpose, not using it for that purpose, and saying it's pointless.

What a stupid article.

Didnt they overclock the RAM then ?
It does seem a bit silly if they didnt as a average user wouldnt buy such RAM to run at stock.

[Enverex]

Originally Posted by Agent

Didnt they overclock the RAM then ?
It does seem a bit silly if they didnt as a average user wouldnt buy such RAM to run at stock.

What we've done is gather up six PC3200 modules that should be of interest to those who don't care about overclocking and will therefore need RAM that can run at the same speed as their CPU FSB (400MHz).

[Agent]

And they needed an entire article to prove that running different brand RAM, at the same speed will have almost no difference ?

Right.