Memory advice for GA-EP35-DS3L

[wiggywinger]

First of all if ive posted this in the wrong place, please accept my appologies

Hi,
I have now completed my first wave of a planned upgrade to my system with the next to follow mid next year given i'l have enough cash to do it.(DM kindly advised me on my other posts regarding this..TYVM).
Heres my set up:-

Thermaltake Xaser V9000SWP case
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L Motherboard
E6600 Core 2 Duo
Nexus FLC-3000 R2 Socket LGA1156/1366/775, AM3/AM2 cooler
Kingwin 800W Mach1 PSU
Asus EAH 4730 card
2 x Sata 300Gb Hard Drives
2 x Sata Dvd/RW
4 x 512 no name DDR2 PC2-4300(266MHz)

ok, given that my next major upgrade is a good 6 months away(Motherboard bundle,possibly with I5 and 4Gb DDR3 memory)
I still have a bit of spare cash and would like your opinion on some memory upgrade now.

1. I have about £60 to spare to buy 4Gb of DDR2

2. Would this give my system a noticeable boost?

3. Should I go for 2 x 2GB or 4 x 1GB

4. Should I go for a better make or a cheaper higher clock ( I assume that the higher MHz the quicker it is)

 I am planning to do a little playing about with mild overclocking till I get my next upgrade, Im on windows XP but I have a upgrade of windows & 64 bit pro and I do like to download the latest demo's to play though I am just a casual gamer

Any advice would be most welcome

Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

Hi again

Firstly I would buy a decent make of memory like Corsair or Crucial and make sure whatever model you go for it is on the compatibility list of either the manufacturer or Gigabyte. If you purchase  good quality memory you are much safer all round even if it is not the cheapest, because if there are any problems you will get it swapped out without worries  and it is likely better quality chips.
 
Also I would go for 2 x 2 Gb sticks as you will have less problem with the settings and it will let you upgrade later if you want to.

You will need 4 GB if you intend to upgrade to Win7 64 bit.

Hope this helps

[wiggywinger]

Thanks DM and 'Good Morning'

So if I buy 2 x 2GB of good quality sticks which are on the compatibility list with the max Mhz thats within my budget im on the right track?

Will I notice a boost in speed in my system when multi tasking and gaming?

I think the memory ive got at the mo is pretty poor, I feel they are stemming the potential of the rest of my pc at present, and I can always resell what I buy when I upgrade next year (they seem to hold there resale value on Ebay from what ive seen).

Thanks again DM

ps-And you know when I get them, my next thread is going to be about setting them up in the Bios with the timings and how to mildly overclock them lol

[Dark Mantis]

Good Morning to you too

I look forward to your next upgrade and all the fun that will entail

[Lucky23]

Gskill is a good ram. Ive been using it for around 2 years in my GA-P35-DS3L and i also used it on a GA-EP35-DS3L which was in the comp i built for my cousin

[wiggywinger]

ok..im back to the DDR2 option again..lol
anyways..Ive seen these that seem a good price and I can afford
will they fit my board and most importantly are they any good?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4Gb-OCZ-ReaperX-Edition-EB-Pc2-6400-800Mhz-4-4-3-/290496074821?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_MemoryRAM_JN&hash=item43a2ea5445

or these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Transcend-2x2GB-DDR2-PC2-6400-Desktop-PC-MEMORY-RAM-NEW-/110600916016?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_MemoryRAM_JN&hash=item19c0540c30

[Dark Mantis]

Neither of the two sets of memory is on the Gigabyte QVL, but you will need to check the QVLs of the manufacturers to see if the motherboard is on theirs.

[wiggywinger]

Ok DM  

Ive been on the crucial website to be safe and these are the memory compatible with my Mobo :-

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=GA-EP35-DS3L&pl=Giga-Byte&cat=RAM

So which is the best for me?

is the top one worth the extra £20 (I want the 2x2GB)

heres my system i'l be running :-

Thermaltake X-aser mid tower case
Intel E6600 CPU
Nexus FLC-3000 R2 Socket LGA1156/1366/775, AM3/AM2 cooler
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L MOBO
Kingwin 800W Mach1 PSU modular Quad rail
Asus EAH 4830 Graphics card
2 X 300GD sata Hard Drives
2 x sata dvd/rw

I am using Windows XP Service pack 3 at the mo but I have Windows & Pro 64 Bit to upgrade to when my upgrade parts are all fitted

I will be mildly overclocking using the auto clock on my Mobo initially, but then I may try manually using the overclocking guide on here and of course picking your brains lol

Hoping for about 3-3.2 on my CPU.

Many thanks in advance

Wiggy

[Dark Mantis]

That's more like it! Much better idea to buy from one of the big manufacturers because you will get the backup if you need it and lifetime warranty. You wouldn't have got this buying through Ebay.

The top kit is definitely better especially if you are planning to overclock as it comes with a heatsink fitted which will help keep the memory cooler and the specs are better. It will run at tighter timings and at a slightly increased voltage which is always good as far as OCing goes for stability.

[Lsdmeasap]

The 5th kit (2x2GB 800Mhz Ballistix) will work as well, if you would rather not spend that extra money. 

They can also run the same speed and timings as the top 1066 kit.

[Dark Mantis]

The 5th kit (2x2GB 800Mhz Ballistix) will work as well, if you would rather not spend that extra money. 

They can also run the same speed and timings as the top 1066 kit.

Surely Lsdmeasap, the top kit would be better for the OP if he's going to be overclocking?

[Lsdmeasap]

They both will run the same, really!

The 1066 kit can do 444-12 @ 800

And the 800 kit can do 555-15 @ 1066

So they are basically the same, this applies to MANY quality 800/1066Mhz kits.

Also the 800Mhz kit already has a 1000Mhz SPD Profile as well, so you know they are good to go.




Both will do well over 1066Mhz anyway, I've ran them at 1200Mhz 

My review on the 800Mhz kit here if anyone wants to have a look
http://forums.tweaktown.com/memory/30086-crucial-ballistix-memory-stability-testing-review.html

[Dark Mantis]

Now I understand where you are coming from. Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

[Lsdmeasap]

Ya, I was just trying to save him a bit of money since he seemed concerned about the prices.

They are both really great kits, but yes the 1066 kit may be able to reach 1300Mhz for example with the 800Mhz kit only being able to do 1250 (Both examples and guesses)

At 800 or 1066-1100 or so though, they will be identical, which is why I made the suggestion

[wiggywinger]

Ok so what your saying the dif between the two is pretty minimal, especially as i'm not going to exteme overclock settings on my PC.

Having said that, the dif between the two is only about £8.50 and if I buy through Quidco I get 7% cashback
And also when I upgrade to my I5 bundle next year the resale value of ram seems to be quite good.

So, its decided, i'l put all my new bits together with my old ram and Windows XP till the end of the month- PAY DAY 
Then buy the Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500  and install Windows 7 64 Bit ( I had a lot of compatability issuews with W7 64 Bit when I first installed it at the back end of last year, but I had a basic system then and i'm sure Microsoft have been working round the clock to fix compatibillity since then!!!! 

Anyways thanks very much for all the input and comments off both DM and Lsdmeasap in helping me decide and at the same time improving my knowledge on Ram.

And be rest assured theres a good chance my next post will be about OVERCLOCKING HA HA