Well I have decided I am going to get some more memory, I currently have two 512mb Corsair Value DDR Chips installed (My mobo only has 2 RAM slots), but I want to upgrade them to twin 1gb chips. Now I've already decided on Corsair but what kind should I go for? XMS, XL or XMS2? XL is described as "Corsairs flagship DDR memory XL is the worlds fastest PC3200 with 2-5-2-2 timings" But XMS2 says it is DDR2, so should I go for XL or XMS2? Because I already think that XMS doesn't compare, or does it? I'm a little lost here.
Unless you currently use DDR2 now, then you won't be able to use DDR2 without a new mobo. So XMS2 is not really viable. I'm not so sure with Corsair branding but having faster rated RAM (i mean mhz or PCxxxx) will let you overclock more.
Well one of the chips I've got my eye on says it's 200MHz (400MHz DDR). You can buy 2gb but it's two of these in a pack (1gb each), so would that be adequate for overclocking?
Since its a good Corsair brand, you can expect reasonable overclocking at least. i think as long as you have a CAS latency of 2.5 or less then its ok.
I've used Corsair Value Select before in my last system, and its not amazing for overclocking, and it runs at CAS3.0. I really wouldn't go for Corsair Value Select, go for GeIL Golden Value range, their memory is usually equally priced to that of Corsair Value Select, or cheaper.. and it has tighter timings and is much better at overclocking, read any reviews on the net comparing them..
Well I found some GeIL Value chips, BUT, there aren't any single 1gb chips, there's a pack of two but the CAS latency is 3. There's a pack of two 512mb chips which has a CAS latency of 2.5, which just basically brings me back to where I am now, just with the same amount of memory with better overclock potential, should I replace what I have with the GeIL equivalent or should I stick with what I have? I reason though, that if the GeIL has a lower latency then I should be able to overclock better than I do now, but will have the same amount of memory, though I don't really think I need more than 1gb memory at the moment, or do I?
OCZ is good for overclocking, can take my 166 stick all the way to 200 that I know of. Without errors.
Well, I looked on overclockers.co.uk for OCZ, found that it's WAY more expensive than GeIL. The same 1gb with CAS 2.5 costs about £250 with VAT, whereas GeIL costs £105 with VAT for the same thing. I think I'll go for the GeIL Value option, bringing the total cost of my entire upgrade to a nice £300 or so.
Well, I dont know if you made a decision or not, but I have Corsair XMS Ram and stock, it is almost 4 times faster than Kingston Value Ram. Anyway, im pretty satisfied with it and its stable and fast. I've never tried to OC so i dont know how that does, but its cas latency is 2-2-2-5. Anyways, you just might want to take a second look at the Corsair Xms "Xtra low latency" Ram.
I've decided that I'll go for 1gb of GeIL ram in twin 512mb chips, thanks for everyone's help. :good:
