Asus P4C800, what RAM???????

[Pyramus]

Hi all,

I am new to this so I hope somebody out there can help me. I am building my first pc. I already have my case and psu. (see below)

The spec will be as follows:

Case: Q-Tec Midi Tower ATX TL-MD, Silver Transparent.
PSU: Q-Tec PSU 400WP DUAL FAN GOLD
CPU: Pentium IV 3.2 ghz PC800
Motherboard: Asus P4C800
Sound: Audigy 2
RAM: ???

Now I know to go for DDR 400 PC3200 but which ones are good and not too expensive. I know most use Corsair or Crucial but they seem very expensive.

I found TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB Dual Pack Kit w/two matched PC3200 CL2.5 DDRs which is only 90 euros ($111)

Are they crap?? Which PC3200 RAM should I get?????? PLEASEEEE HELP ME!

[mike_w]

If I remember rightly, Q-Tec are rubbish. Go to scan.co.uk instead and get yourself a CWT.

I have TwinMOS RAM and it works great but its with Winbond. As far as I know they're good if you're on a budget. If you have money to burn, get Corsair RAM, especially if you're intending to overclock, but otherwise TwinMOS is fine.

Hope this helps

Mike

P.S. What are the prices of all this? Where from? And what is your budget? And what's the exhange rate from Euros to Pounds?

[Pyramus]

Thanks for the reply.

Well I hope Q-tec aint rubbish. Its too late anyway, they arrived yesterday. I can always change them a few months down the line if they are that bad.

1euro = 0.673882 GBP

I am getting the P4C800 motherboard for 166 euros and
the Pentium 4 3.2 for about 270 euros
I am going to wait about a month for the graphics card as I believe some new ones are coming out in the next few weeks and hope to get a GF FX 5900 if it comes down in price

I am from Ireland and everything is very expensive here compared to USA and UK.

Is Corsair just a name or are they really that much better?
Is 2 by 256 DDR better than 1 by 512?

Thanks

[mike_w]

If you want to get a good graphics card, I think you'd be better off getting an ATi Radeon 9800 (Pro), especially for the new DirectX9 games that'll be arriving soon.

In my opinion, Corsair are only worth it if you are intending to do some overclocking.

If your motherboard can run Dual Channel (sorry, know nothing about P4s or their motherboard), then you'd be better off getting 2x256mb. Also, that way, if one breaks, then you can still use the other.

And as for the Q-Tec PSU, I have heard horror stories of PSUs damaging PC parts, although I'm sure there have been plenty of people who have used them for months with no problems. Use at your own risk!

Mike

[skattrd]

If you're getting a p4 3.2 and want to overclock you'll be wanting faster than pc3200
Twinmos is good value for money RAM and generally quite decent, but if you can afford it corsair is gr8 (I use corsair myself)

[Pyramus]

I probably wont be overclocking. Not for a while anyway. I haven't a clue how to. Maybe after some time if I get a bit more nerdy and geeky I might.

The Asus P4C800 supports Dual DDR alright. So I think I will go for the 2 by 256!!

Is there any particlar corsair your recommend? There are a few.

[mike_w]

http://www.cpucitystore.co.uk/catalo...roducts_id=131

That's not the cheapest price I could find, just the first site I went on.

Mike

[Pyramus]

Cool, great!! Thanks alot.

They aint dual ddr though. But I should find some on that site.

Hope they deliver to Ireland

[skattrd]

Twinx is the dual stuff LL is low latency for tight timings

[DeludedGuy]

Stay away from Q-tec! I have some nice crucial ram, not too expensive, but it performs well.

[Pyramus]

Whats wrong with Q-tec?????

Are you just referring to the PSU??? The case looks ok to me!!

[steve threlfall]

Whats wrong with Q-tec?????

Are you just referring to the PSU??? The case looks ok to me!!

The case is fine the PSU however

Qtec psu's are well know for blowing up and taking the rest of the machine with them they are the dodgy dave of psu's. Just do a search here for q-tec and you will see what we mean. As advised above go for a cwt from scan- rebranded antecs iirc which are brilliant psu's

TwinMos is great ram as long as you get the winbond memory (fantastic for overclocking). If your not overclocking then you cant go far wrong really- decent quality TwinMos or Crucial memory wont cost the earth and still gives you the option to overclock. Definately get 2*256 or 2*512 though so you can make use of dual channel memory.

[Pyramus]

Thanks Steve......good advice.