# 2GB DDR2 - Crucial ? Kingston ? Corsair?



## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

I am planning to go for Corsair pc2-5400 2GB RAM for my core 2 duo e6600 system. i will be buying the ASUS P5N32-E SLI motherboard. i also plan to buy a 8800GTX card (mostly from EVGA).

i believe that having a 675Mhz RAM will gimme enuf room for overclocking, if ever i intend to. 

I have already checked for the compatabilty for the motherboard on the corsair website.

But i would like to know if corsair is the rite brand for me, and if 675Mhz will be a bottleneck for my system.


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## PanamaGal (Jun 3, 2006)

Can't go wrong with Corsair. However, that board will handle the 800MHz speed. I'd recommend you go with that, especially for what it seems you plan to do with it and that 8800GTX, namely, game.


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

I have to agree with what PanamaGal relayed to you. Go for the 800MHz speed.


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## speedster123 (Oct 18, 2006)

From a report:

Cons: You will need those setting to get the RAM to work. Many people having trouble with 4 x 1GB mem config.

Other Thoughts: Currently have 4 x 1GB running at 4-4-4-12 700Mhz (instead of 800) with Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 

Also i read the ram voltage needs to be set on 2 volts minimum and that a bios update should be inacted immediatley.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi,

If you are planning on overclocking, then 800 MHz RAM is the way to go, but if you aren't, then a dual channel pair of RAM faster than 533 MHz will make a minimal difference if any compared to 533 MHz RAM. This is because the FSB bandwidth will be a bottleneck.

Any of the brands listed will be fine. I use mostly Corsair, Kingston, OCZ, and Patriot. But G. Skill, Mushkin, and Crucial are also good.

Make sure you have a decent power supply for that computer. If you are going with one 8800GTX, you need a minimum of a quality 750 w PSU. If you will be going with dual 8800GTX cards, you will need a minimum of a quality 950 w PSU.


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

i plan to overclock it a bit, maybe from the default to 3ghz or something like ttht. hopefully there shud be minnimal risk involved in such a small overclockin, therefore i decided tht the 533 Mhz might be a little too less.

plus if i need to make the ful use of the GTX, do yu think overclockin is a necessity.

why have people suggested i go for the 800MHZ, how will the e6600 without any overclockin be able to make use of the extra bndwidth??

and if i do go with more thn 533 Mhz ie. 675 Mhz , how much overclocking wil be required?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

What do you plan overclocking for? If you want to improve performance in games, overclock the video card but not the processor. If you want to improve performance in multimedia encoding, photo editing, or intensive calculations, overclock the processor.

The multiplier on the E6600 is 9, and the base bus speed is 266 MHz. Overclocking is fairly friendly, you have to increase the bus speed by 66 MHz to 333 MHz. With this amount of overclock, though, I would definitely be looking at 800 MHz RAM, especially since it is only maybe ~$15 more for a dual channel kit of 2 GB. :smile:

Take a look at this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590

It has been tested compatible with the P5N32-E SLI and has a nice rebate on it. :grin:


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

hye matt

thnks alit for replyin

the thing is, im a multimedia designer...

so i use alot of softwar like photoshop and ilustrator 3ds max and video editin software like adobe after effects n premiere..

but i think jus fr tht overclockin the cpu mite not be necesary as the e6600 is powerful enough..

but m into hardcore gamin as well, tths y im goin for the 8800gtx...so i jus don want my cpu to be a bottle neck n thts y i was wundern abt wat ram speed to go for....

the 800Mhz looks good, its affordable and it delivers...so i think ill be goin for tht...

thnks alot..


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Look carefully.. is the MB you're planning on buying a P5N32E-SLI PLUS or P5N32E-SLI ?

I suspect it's the first one.



hemants said:


> hye matt
> 
> thnks alit for replyin
> 
> ...


For them multimedia apps RAM/FSB/CPU is a bottleneck. For the games, it's GPU.

In that case, you would see a good increase in perf. when oc'ing. If you get a good cooler, like a Tunic Tower 120 (etc) then 3GHz should be no problem at all, cool. That board will do 333FSB easy. If you OC to 333x9 = 2997MHz CPU frequency.

That's 1332FSB (333 quad pumped = 333x4)

So you can run the RAM at high clocks too. Depends what you're after, linked and unlinked. Timings on the board can do DDR2-1GHz at 4-3-4-4 T1 if you spend time tweaking it enough with a set of Corsair Dominator PC2-6400.

Yup Corsair RAM is excellent. :wink:


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

the thing is...i wanna consider the evga nforce 680i motherboard..coz it has gottn a lotta great reviews...

and dyu really think i wud need extra coolin for reechin 3ghz on the e6600??


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Yes. I would look at something like the Zalman 9500, or even better the 9700. If you have it facing the right way, you can easily make it to 3.0 GHz. :smile:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

ok thnks


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

You're welcome. Post back when you get the new parts.


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

i was thinkin..tht insted of gettin all the parts individually , maybe itll be safer if i go for a pre-asembled pc from Dell ..considerin itll be the first time i will be buildin the whole PC from scratch ... even though it costs a lot more

i chkd out their singapore site.. n they hav the option of 2gb 667Mhz DDR2 ram, but nuthin slower.. so do you think itll be a good idea to overclock the procssor to somethin like 3Ghz to have the 1:1 ratio for the FSB n RAM speed?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

When you overclock the CPU, you are also overclocking the RAM. That results in instability if you have RAM slower than the memory bus. I would go for the DDR2 800 MHz RAM.

BTW, you can't overclock with Dell computers. If you are new to building, you can get a barebones kit to start off.


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

so why do they prvide only with 667Mhz and above..the FSB RAM speed ratio is not 1:1..

does tht make a diff..isnt the bandwidth goin to waste..

eheh..i feel like ive askd this q a 100 times...

but y wud a company liek dell prove users with a procesor with 1066 FSB and 667Mhz RAM?


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

The default FSB is 266.5MHz quad pumped (x4=1066) and thus DDR is 533MHz. 

If you keep the same FSB and just change the multiplier on any CPU, the RAM will still stay at DDR2-533 and so will the FSB.

But the E6600 (x9) and most C2Ds are multiplier locked. If you can't change the multi then the FSB increase will be the only way to OC. 

Once you move the FSB upto 333x9 =3GHz, at 1:1 you will be running DDR2-667. So it's quite fine.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Just a note, the X6800 has an unlocked multiplier, so you can use that method to overclock that CPU.


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

but matt sed i cant overclock a dell pc...


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Well we don't know if you want a Dell yet... ? - just some info for C2Ds basically.

Like if you were to get a barebones kit instead, or get it all assembled from someone but choosing your own parts (etc).

And I *highly doubt* you'll get a P5N32E-SLI nForce 680i if you buy brand new now, but rather the P5N32E-SLI PLUS given in its place, which is *not* 680i chipset but 650i/570i combo and most people, even reviewers were confused about this due to ASUS's deception and misinformation.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I would go for the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 instead. Gigabyte has a better LGA775 reputation, and this board is solid. If you aren't going as high end, take a look at the Abit AW9D and AW9D-MAX, which are also good boards. And don't forget the GA-965P-DS3, which is also solid.


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Abit boards are exceptional, the AB9 QuadGT has just come in from them and is even better than their previous offering. And Gigabyte support is much better than ASUS which counts tremendously on user experience.


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

kalim..

the asus board in question is avaialble from mwave.com.. thts where i intend to get my parts from..if not directly singpore...

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA23303&RSKU=BA23303


hardwarezone.com provides prcilists for downlaod of shops in singapore.. i have seen tth board in almost all the plces ive seen...

matt... 

the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 is costs $120 more thn the asus one..and the ABIT IN9 32X MAX WIFI nVIDIA nFORCE 680I SLI ..costs $100 more

..y so??

and dyu think ill be able to fit the gefore 8800 GTX card in the GA-965P-DS3 comfortable n hav place for allt he other components i need??


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

You could always go for the Abit AW9D-MAX. I would spend the extra money on that one over the standard AW9D because you get all solid capacitors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127011

The GA-965P-DS3 also has solid capacitors. You can easily fit an 8800GTX in there because you have three PCIe x1 slots and three PCI slots for other devices.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128042


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

i can defiantely condsider the Abit AW9D-MAX, only reason i was goin for the nforce 680i bord was bcoz it was ment for the 8800GTX...or maybe im worng..

but is the Abit AW9D-MAX prefered ove rthe evga nforce 680i?

will it be able to handle the crucial ballistix 2GB 800Mhz tht i jus bot?

i need to know what poweersupply will be best fro my system:

e6600, 8800GTX, 2 GB 800Mhz, 320GB hard disk, motherbord mostly evga nforce 680i

also the casing... wat to go for..please suggest somethin..

thnkyu so much


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

The Abit board will handle an 8800GTX very nicely. You just won't have the option of SLI. All the other stuff will also be fine on this board.

This would be my PSU of choice for that system.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104026


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

ok thn..

ill go for the Abit AW9D-MAX , ive ckd n the RAM is compatable.

tht powersupply u mensioned is not readly avalible in singapore

i have chkd various shops' pricelists...thermaltake toughpower 750W powersupply is available, please see n let me know if it will do

im pretty sure there will be others available, ill have to do some searchin once i go there..


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

hemants said:


> i have chkd various shops' pricelists...thermaltake toughpower 750W powersupply is available, please see n let me know if it will do
> 
> im pretty sure there will be others available, ill have to do some searchin once i go there..


This is what you're after - any two of those, preferably the >700W model for room and expansion: http://www.genius-asia.com.sg/eg/products_enermax-infiniti.htm


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

wow kalim..thnks alot for doin all tht reserch work.

i wil definately try to get ttht one.. hopfuly findin the place shudnt be a problem..

thnks soo much..


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

ahahah jus chkd the simgapore map..

my college is jus 10 mins away from tht shop!!

mujhe bahut chinta ho rahi thee...kee achhi power supply nahi milee to fir itna sub kucch kharidne ka faida he nahi hoga..

lekin abhi thhek hai, its super close to Sim Lim square, theres a shop there where im getin the rest of the parts form..

now i jsu have to wait to get ther...

i hope i can assemple all of this on my own...


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Well it's good to know that the shop is very close by to where you'll be. :grin:

Assembly is simple. Follow the MB manual. If you have any problems with it, just post back. :wink:


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

thnks alot kalim...

"fortunately" my computer has given me enuf problems fro me to actaully ahvin to replace eech of the componenet myslef...

but ive never installed a processor before.so thtll be a first..and on top of tth im suposed to install a processor cooler as well...

also the G80 graphics card is supposed to have sum connectors which go directly to the powersuplly.. my gefrce 5200 n the 6200 hav not given me experience in tht field either...

hopefully...shudnt be too much of an issue..ill try to get it assembled from a pro..if its cheep...otherwise..id hav to do it on my own..

will definatley post bak if i need help..

again...

thnkyu sooo much


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

also..

the 2GB ballistix 800MHz Ram tht i bot.. will not in anyways harm my pc rite?

considering the FSB of the e6600 n all tht..

i do plan to overclock the processor if i think i need the boost, but using it..as it is is not in anyway damagin the other components??


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

The RAM will do fine, you can even push it to DDR1000 pretty easily and nothing will be damaged. It's a well known good stick of RAM, no components will be damaged by a 3GHz CPU OC at all. :grin:

Yes, the 6-pin connectors for the GTX are an ease- they are "PCI-E" connectors from the PSU, just snap on with a breeze.

Processor simply drops in the right way round- just don't force or touch the underside pins with your hand. Apply only a tad bit of thermal paste on it. Guide for your CPU can be found here: http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_dual_wcap.pdf

HSF also fits with ease. Once you have it and take a look over the included instructions, you'll see. 

Additionally protect the components from *E*lectro*S*tatic*D*ischarge and keep them away from clothing, carpets, paper clips, screws (until fixing it all up), and keep your hand touching a bare unpainted metal piece every now and then (like on a case).

You're very welcome hemants. :smile:


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

ok.. thnsk alot..

the pdf will be useful wen i get the processor..

thnkyu..


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

i knw ths is not the right place to post Case enquiries but pease see if u can help me pick one

my config (again) : e6600, 8800GTX, 2 GB 800Mhz, 320GB hard disk, motherbord mostly evga nforce 680i, powersuply - 720w 

Asus TM951 Casing w/o PSU...................59
Asus TM831 Casing w/o PSU...................59
Vios 2119 / 6918 450W PSU + 1 Fan...............59
BST-2036 Casing........................................39
CT-320 Case with 2 Fan.............................69
CT-228 450W 24Pins + 3 Fan w/Side Window...85
XP-7788 450W 24Pins + 12cm Fan (Black)......75
i-cute 5566 420W 24Pins + 12cm Fan (Black)..75
i-cute QH01 450W PSU w/Side Window.....109
Antec Solo Black Case w/ 12cm Fan...................208
Antec Nine Hundred 1x 20cm + 3 x 12cm Fan...215
Antec Sonata II Piano w/450W PSU (Black) .......229
Antec P180 2 x 12cm Fan (Black / Silver)........259
Antec P182 Super MID Tower.................275
Antec P182SE Super MID Tower (Special Edition)...349
CoolerMaster Elite 330 12cm Fan+Side Window..59
CoolerMaster Elite 340 12cm Fan+Side Window..59
CoolerMaster Centurion 541 Micro ATX Case......69
CM Centurion 5 w/Side Window (Silver/Black)...69
CM Centurion 5 w/Side Window ( Blue)..89
CM Centurion 534 w/Side Window (Black)........89
CoolerMaster Mystique 632Steel 2 x 12Fan...149
CoolerMaster Mystique 632 Alu 2 x 12Fan......199
CoolerMaster Stacker 831 Alu w/Side Window..359
CoolerMaster Stacker 832 Alu w/Side Window..368
Lian-Li PC-A07 Alu 2 x 12cm Fan (Black)...........149
Lian-Li PC-007 Alu 2 x 12cm Fan+Side Window ..149
Thermaltake Soprano DX VE7000BWS Black..219
Thermaltake Soprano DX VE7000SWA Aluminium..249
Thermaltake Tsunami Alu. w/Side Window....205
CaseTek 1007-2B M ATX w/250W 24Pins...90
CaseTek 1007-9C M ATX w/250W 24Pins...95
Enlight 7472 Slim w/250W 24Pins...........95
TK-8750 MATX 450W 24Pins PSU + 1 Fan......85


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Try finding the ones *without* a PSU, as it'll be cheaper and you don't need the PSU.


hemants said:


> Antec Nine Hundred 1x 20cm + 3 x 12cm Fan...215
> Antec Sonata II Piano w/450W PSU (Black) .......229
> Antec P180 2 x 12cm Fan (Black / Silver)........259
> Antec P182 Super MID Tower.................275
> ...


Added: Thermaltake Armor Extreme. :wink:

Any one of those will do perfect for me, but Thermaltake Armor, Mozart and the CM Stacker being my preferences after testing them. Mainly because you can have varying configs and yet keep them for optimal cooling, fitting and look.


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## hemants (Nov 20, 2005)

thnks for tht..

now where do post my query regardin the lcd monitor?? besides the obvious 5ms to 2ms diffrence...

Samsung 22” 225BW (WideScreen) 5ms/DVI..489
Samsung 22” 226BW (WideScreen) 2ms/DVI..588

Viewsonic 22” VX2235WM (5ms) DVI/WideScreen...499
Viewsonic 22” VX2245WM (5ms) DVI/WideScreen...649
Viewsonic 22” VX2255WM DVI/Wide (1.3M Wedcam)..579

LG 22” L226WT(WideScreen) 2ms/DVI (3000:1)...585

Philips 22” 220WS8FB (Black) 5ms/DVI........549


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