Best Corsair RAM for Asus P4C800-E ?

[solrak]

WARNING: HUGE POST, BUT PLEASE HELP ME!!


Hello everyone,


I just put this system together:

Cooler Master ATC-201B-BXT Aluminum Case
MB ASUS P4C800-E DELUXE CANTERWOOD
POWER SUPPLY ANTEC TRUE430 ATX RETAIL
CPU P4/2.6CGHz,800M 478P/512K HT RETAIL
DDRAM 1GB TWINX1024-3200LLPT CORSAIR RETAIL
FD 1.44MB|SAMSUNG SFD321B/LBL1 OEM
HD 120GB|WD 72R WD1200JB 8MB-CACHE%
CDRW 52x24x52|SMSUNG SW-252BENB% BK
DVD|SAMSUNG 16X SD-816BEPB BLK%
SOUND BLASTER|AUDIGY 2 PLATINUM RETAIL
SND ACCES|FACEKIT->AUDIGY2 PLATINUM
(still using my old Geforce3 for now, plan on upgrade next month)


ISSUE:

The system looks great, runs fine, and I have detected no problems yet. (CPUZ shows I'm running at FSB 200.5 2.5-3-2-6)

HOWEVER, I bought TWINX 3200LL CORSAIR RAM thinking it was the best I could get for my ASUS P4C800-E MB.

Then, over the past few days I read that the best RAM for a P4C800-E is 3500C2 CORSAIR, regardless if it was not TWINX. ARGH!!

Then, I read other opinons on different RAM types as well. ARGH!! X 2

Then, I found out I had missed the Asus site MB specs where they recommended using 3500C2!! ARGH!! X 3


SO... I gave up on the research and decided to ask you well informed individuals:

Is the TWINX 3200LL RAM the best Corsair RAM for my P4C800-E?

If not, which other Corsair RAM should I buy?

Why?


CONSIDER THIS:

I don't know if this matters, but I may or may not overclock my machine. I bought all this stuff with the intention to overclock, but I might wimp out.

I highly value stability, quality, and performance, and will pay more to get it.

To narrow things down for myself and everyone else, I will only buy Corsair RAM.

I need to make a decision soon, so I can RMA the RAM if necessary... not that I'm trying to rush you.


Budget-Wise:

I bought TWINX PC-3200LL 2-3-2-6 at $312.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the following alternatives are available...

1GB of (NON-TWINX, two separate sticks) PC-3500C2 2-3-3-7 is doable at $352.

1GB of TWINX PC-3700 3-4-4-8 is definitely doable at $320.

1GB of TWINX PC-4000 3-4-4-8 is almost too expensive at $380.

http://www.corsairmicro.com/xms/xms_modules.html


I'm pretty much a noob at the whole system building and overclocking thing.

I would greatly appreciate any and all the help I can get, as things like RAM timings are still a bit confusing to me.

Also, forgive me if I am stating anything overly obvious.

Let me know if you need more info.

Thank you.

[fondie]

well, for a start, you could try setting your RAM timings to the one's Corsair specify ie. 2-3-2-6. although you could probably go further and reduce this to 2-2-2-5 and it should still work fine. these setting are all changed in the BIOS.

1. if you aren't overclocking then you don't need any faster RAM, putting in any of the other sticks won't make your system faster at all!

2. if you are going to overclock, then you still don't necessarily need any faster RAM, you can set the FSB to run faster than the memory, by using a divider like 5/4, this would give you a CPU speed of 3.4Ghz (depends on your cpu and your cooling as to whether you can reach this) while retaining the RAM at 200Mhz ie. it's rated specification. also you could try overcloking the RAM, the sticks you have might well be able to run faster than the other sticks you mentioned for all you know, especially as the the higher rated sticks of RAM seem to tend to be opimised for high latency, and really you want to keep low latency timings on your memory.

3. i did read that Corsair PC3200LL and PC3500 use exactly the same chips and PCB's just their SPD settings are different, so therefore they should be able to overclock the same, whether this still holds true or not i'm not sure

so, if your not planning to overclock, don't even think about bothering to change your ram

if you are planning to overclock, then you may not necessarily need to overclock the RAM if you don't want to, and if you do then try overclocking the memory you currently have, if you find it is insufficient then you could consider investing in some other stuff.

[luke313]

It isn't worth it to get the faster ram mate. Even if you do overclock, the pc3200 stuff will do a good enough job for you. Even though Asus may recommend that you buy the biggest, fastest memory out there, you do not need that. Corsair is good stuff, the ram you have already is good enough.

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by solrak

I bought TWINX PC-3200LL 2-3-2-6 at $312.

Many ppl have been claiming that XMS3200-LL (twinx or not) use the same chips as XMS3500 cas2, but are configured with tighter memory timings ... it makes sense to sell the same RAM quoted to run faster at default FSB (400 / PC3200) for those non-overclockers, and then offer a higher FSB rated variant to satisfy the overclockers.

It makes perfect marketing sense, whether it's strictly true I don't know for sure.

But the long and short of it is .. you will probably be able to push your 3200LL as far as the chip will go so be happy

[acidrainy]

Plus you have a gorgeous case to admire it all in

[solrak]

Yar! I love my case!

Thanks for the responses.

FYI

Without changing anything else, I up'd my FSB from 200 to 250. CPUZ showed me running at 3.25Ghz, but my timings went to 3-4-4-8.

I got brave and went straight to 272 FSB, but my PC wouldn't boot.

I set everything back to default, then tried Turbo performance acceleration. I got a checksum error. Bah!

Then I just set everything back to default, and my PC booted normally.

After playing some BF 1942, I decided to mess with my timings manually.

Without changing anything else, I set my RAM to 2-2-2-6, rebooted, and got a blue screen memory error.

I tried 2-3-2-6 and I got a "cannot find OS" error.

Hmm... I thought these were supposed to be 2-3-2-6?!

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by solrak
I tried 2-3-2-6 and I got a "cannot find OS" error.

Hmm... I thought these were supposed to be 2-3-2-6?!

have you upped the memory voltage - I know I can't get anywhere near the performance at stock voltage than by upping it to 2.9v

[solrak]

I haven't messed with the voltage.

I'm kind of afraid to do it too, since I read that increasing voltage would decrease the lifespan of my pc.

True?

Maybe I can mess with it a little, just to check?

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by solrak
I haven't messed with the voltage.

I'm kind of afraid to do it too, since I read that increasing voltage would decrease the lifespan of my pc.

True?

Maybe I can mess with it a little, just to check?

The physical lifespan of memory far far exceeds its usable lifespan (i.e. the number of years service it gives before it becomes completely obsolete) and therefore even if you are curtailing the physical lifespan a tad, you are unlikely to infringe upon the usable lifespan ...

... at least in my own experience (and that of friends associates etc...) I've been running components out of spec since day one and I've never had any fail through overclocking.

The only worry, as I see it, is running cheaper components way out of spec - but then you are likely to kill it outright there and then rather than decreasing the lifespan.

One of the basic premises with electrical components is that if you are making a part perform faster than it is specc'ed to perform (eg overclocking it) then you need to up the voltage to increase the signal strength to ensure stability (up to a point).

[fondie]

I have to wonder how your memory timings have *magically* changed when you increased the FSB but anyhow,

are you still running the FSB synchronously with the memroy ie. a 1/1 divider so the FSB and memory are running at the same speed?

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by fondie
I have to wonder how your memory timings have *magically* changed when you increased the FSB but anyhow,

are you still running the FSB synchronously with the memroy ie. a 1/1 divider so the FSB and memory are running at the same speed?

... if you leave memory on SPD they do change in accordance with the FSB on some/most BIOSes - it does this to protect the memory when running out of spec.

[fondie]

but in it's first post he says the timings are 2.5-3-2-6, which surely aren't the SPD settings? are they?

[solrak]

Well guys,

I have -Use RAM timings according to SPD- enabled in BIOS, and CPUZ shows 2.5-3-2-6.

/shrug

Plus,

This sounds so noobish, but I didn't find anything called "divider" at all last night.

I called a buddy of mine and he told me, "Keep looking you fool! it has to be there!"

I swear, I could not find something like it.

I'm at work, or I'd go look and tell you what actually is there. :/

[fondie]

ok, the Asus BIOS appears not to specify it as a divider specifically, but you should have a BIOS screen that looks like this :-

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?im...lfMl8zX2wuZ2lm

you need to check the DRAM Frequency. if you could tell us what this is set to, i'm not sure what settings will be available to you either, so have a check.

[solrak]

Everything on that screen is set to default, meaning the DRAM Frequency is set to Auto.

I believe you can disable the auto feature and change whatever it is manually.

I'll make sure to look it up as soon as I get home.

Btw, I did read about someone else's motherboard autodetecting this type of RAM at 2.5-3-3-6. He didn't say much else, other than he was disappointed.

[solrak]

I have DRAM frequency set to AUTO.
Available settings are:
AUTO
266
320
400


FYI
With all settings on default, I set my FSB to 250 again and got:
Core Speed: 3.25 Ghz
RAM frequency: 166.7
RAM Timings: 2-4-4-8


Also, I tried the following...

Everything set to default, except
set AGP/PCI 66/33
set RAM 2-3-2-6
increased DRAM voltage to 2.75

... but I only got a checksum error.

I don't think I'll mess with the voltage again until I really know what I'm doing. Heh.