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Thread: RAM Advice

  1. #1
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    Question RAM Advice

    Hi,

    I am looking for some DDR2 Ram for an E6600 machine I am putting together. It's driving me insane. I previously had a watercooled Athlon 64 which gave up the ghost a month back and want to build another watercooled machine some time soon. (Going to go air cooled and buy the watercooling later to save some cash in the short term)

    The million dollar question is (actually about £250) do I fork out the cash for 8500 or save some money on 6400? There is about £90 difference between the two but don't want to regret the decision later on when I come to install my watercooling goodies. I am not looking for an insane overclock but would like to get the FSB up to where watercooling would be required.

    Help would be appreciated

  2. #2
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Why not just put a divider on the RAM so you can keep upping the fsb?

  3. #3
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    • alexpollard's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi/AP
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.2Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Corsair DDR2 6400 C4
      • Storage:
      • 2 x Samsung Spinpoint 500Gb & 1 x LaCie 500Gb External
      • Graphics card(s):
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    Quote Originally Posted by kalniel View Post
    Why not just put a divider on the RAM so you can keep upping the fsb?
    Could do. Not familiar with the Bios of C2D motherboards but I now know you can. Cheers.

    Would the decreased ram bandwidth hurt my performance dramatically. From what I understand the Ram bandwidth is higher than the C2D FSB can handle anyway as it is quad pumped?

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    Dominator 800Mhz is plenty fine!

  5. #5
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    • alexpollard's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi/AP
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.2Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Corsair DDR2 6400 C4
      • Storage:
      • 2 x Samsung Spinpoint 500Gb & 1 x LaCie 500Gb External
      • Graphics card(s):
      • BFG 8800GTX 768Mb OC
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      • Corsair HX620W Modular
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marcvs View Post
    Dominator 800Mhz is plenty fine!
    Is it any better than the XMS2-6400C5 TwinX? Would the Dominator clock any higher or is this just marketing hype? I do like the look of them though. Custom PC didn't rate them (the non dominator pair) in their last RAM comparison.

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    Quote Originally Posted by alexpollard View Post
    Is it any better than the XMS2-6400C5 TwinX? Would the Dominator clock any higher or is this just marketing hype? I do like the look of them though. Custom PC didn't rate them (the non dominator pair) in their last RAM comparison.
    CustomPC didn't 'rate' them (PC8500 Dominator) because thet were £75 more than the A-Data, which overclocked slightly higher (1.18 vs 1.16), but they did get the 2nd highest speed rating after the A-Data out of the whole bunch. I just got a 2Gb set of Dominator from SCAN at pretty much the same price as the A-Data Vitestra which can be difficult to get (CPC could not the following month when building their Dream System), and they look great!

    I think CPC felt, probably rightly, that other lower specified, less costly Corsair RAM was better value and generally just as good. I nearly got the A-Data (Play and MemoryC have (had?) them, but decided to stick with SCAN.

    Edit: Ooopppsss sorry, I just spotted the "non Dominator".... my mistake.....
    Last edited by EtheAv8r; 08-01-2007 at 10:39 PM.
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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by alexpollard View Post
    Could do. Not familiar with the Bios of C2D motherboards but I now know you can. Cheers.

    Would the decreased ram bandwidth hurt my performance dramatically.
    Nope - you won't even notice it.

  8. #8
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    • alexpollard's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi/AP
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.2Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Corsair DDR2 6400 C4
      • Storage:
      • 2 x Samsung Spinpoint 500Gb & 1 x LaCie 500Gb External
      • Graphics card(s):
      • BFG 8800GTX 768Mb OC
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      • Corsair HX620W Modular
      • Case:
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      • Internet:
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    Cheers ppl.

    Think I will use the extra cash for the 6600 and get some XMS2 6400 instead of the 8500. It's one or the other at the moment and I think the extra processing power and the extra cache comes up trumps.

    Might even put that Scan finance to the test...

  9. #9
    Flat cap, Whippets, Cave. Clunk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by alexpollard View Post
    Hi,

    I am looking for some DDR2 Ram for an E6600 machine I am putting together. It's driving me insane. I previously had a watercooled Athlon 64 which gave up the ghost a month back and want to build another watercooled machine some time soon. (Going to go air cooled and buy the watercooling later to save some cash in the short term)

    The million dollar question is (actually about £250) do I fork out the cash for 8500 or save some money on 6400? There is about £90 difference between the two but don't want to regret the decision later on when I come to install my watercooling goodies. I am not looking for an insane overclock but would like to get the FSB up to where watercooling would be required.

    Help would be appreciated
    PC2-6400, on an E6600 will give you an overclock of 3600mhz without overclocking the ram at all. The chances of your E6600 hitting 3.6 for day to day running are low. Even with quality watercooling, you still need an excellent chip that doesnt need much extra voltage.

    Also, Im not sure what motherboard you have, or are getting, but I dont know of any c2d with working dividers that allow you to run the memory slower. The 975 boards have this option, but I dont think they work, or at least they didnt
    Quote Originally Posted by Blitzen View Post
    stupid betond belief.
    You owe it to yourself to click here really.

  10. #10
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    • alexpollard's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi/AP
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.2Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Corsair DDR2 6400 C4
      • Storage:
      • 2 x Samsung Spinpoint 500Gb & 1 x LaCie 500Gb External
      • Graphics card(s):
      • BFG 8800GTX 768Mb OC
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX620W Modular
      • Case:
      • Antec P160
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung 22"
      • Internet:
      • ADSL24 8mb (well, 2mb mostly...)
    Quote Originally Posted by Clunk View Post
    PC2-6400, on an E6600 will give you an overclock of 3600mhz without overclocking the ram at all. The chances of your E6600 hitting 3.6 for day to day running are low. Even with quality watercooling, you still need an excellent chip that doesnt need much extra voltage.

    Also, Im not sure what motherboard you have, or are getting, but I dont know of any c2d with working dividers that allow you to run the memory slower. The 975 boards have this option, but I dont think they work, or at least they didnt
    I will probably be getting a P5B-Deluxe. Eventually I will get a triple rad watercooling setup.

  11. #11
    Flat cap, Whippets, Cave. Clunk's Avatar
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    P5B doesnt have downward dividers, only upwards, but you will be fine with pc2-6400 ram.

    Regarding the triple rad, choose your case wisely as there arent many that will fit a triple rad inside and still leave you room to move.
    Quote Originally Posted by Blitzen View Post
    stupid betond belief.
    You owe it to yourself to click here really.

  12. #12
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    • alexpollard's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi/AP
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.2Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Corsair DDR2 6400 C4
      • Storage:
      • 2 x Samsung Spinpoint 500Gb & 1 x LaCie 500Gb External
      • Graphics card(s):
      • BFG 8800GTX 768Mb OC
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX620W Modular
      • Case:
      • Antec P160
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung 22"
      • Internet:
      • ADSL24 8mb (well, 2mb mostly...)
    Quote Originally Posted by Clunk View Post
    P5B doesnt have downward dividers, only upwards, but you will be fine with pc2-6400 ram.

    Regarding the triple rad, choose your case wisely as there arent many that will fit a triple rad inside and still leave you room to move.
    Tell me about it! Was looking at the Silverstone TJ07. It can accommodate the triple at the bottom with a minor amount of modding. Am still torn between spending the watercooling cash (including the stupidly expensive case) on a faster processor better graphics card and a more powerful PSU... Oh well, guess this is the fun of computer building

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