Which memory for Striker Extreme?

SwampThing

With the imminent price drop of multi-code processors (around the 20th April) I'm thinking I'll hold off my order until them and maybe look at t a QX6700.

I'm goign to build on a Asus Striker Extreme mobo.

Anyway, what memory would you recommend for this build. I'll be putting 4GB in and that'll be it for as long as I can see. I use VMWare hence the large RAM requirement.

I had originally picked this - http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=312368

What say you people in the know?

8T8

If you have the money to burn go with the BallistiX kit if not just get regular RAM.

You'd pick up the 4GB in total by buying two DDR-2 533 1GB packs for just about the same cost as the single 2GB BallistiX kit.

SwampThing

Is it not a case of 'you get what you pay for' with RAM?

I'm thinking long term here - I don't intend upgrading the memory unless I have to.

Am I not paying for performance and stability?

8T8

Well latency isn't really that big of a deal with DDR-2 and the premium price it carries isn't really worth it unless you can easily afford it as it will only make you do well in synthetic benchmarks.

As for the brand both are Crucial so there should be no problems with stability at all. If you have video encoding work to do the quad core coupled with DDR-2 800 may benefit from that so that is at least worth considering.

You could get 4 1GB Twinmos DDR-2 800 sticks for €240 which I think is the best value for money.

SwampThing

Thanks - I'll certainly consider that.

Skittle

Hey SwampThing,
I too am considering building a quad-core machine around the Asus Striker Extreme motherboard. I was thinking of getting initially 1 x 8800 GTS 320Mb graphics card and upgrade later on. What other components are you considering using? Just so I can get an idea of what's a good case and power supply...

Many thanks...
Skittle

SwampThing

Skittle, I was going to start off with one 8800GTS 320MB and add another later on. I'm going for 2 x 150GB Raptors and 2 x 320GB whatever - RAID 1 both sets. I've a Zalman CPU fan already.

I also have an OCZ 520W PSU that I think will do the job, but I have to say, I'm a little worried about all those drives and especially if I put in a second 8800. I'll try it and see - if it becomes unstable before overclocking, I'll have to take the pain and build a small ESB substation in the case

I'm going to take Khannie's advice on the case and go for the Antec 900 - I was thinking of the Kandalf LCS but building the liquid cooling system as well as the PC is just too daunting - big girls blouse that I am.

Anyway, good luck with the build!

joshcork

Have you looked up the approved/tested RAM list from the ASUS website for that MOBO that can give you a little piece of mind for RAM.
But that Ballistix stuff look very cool as long as it works with the motherboard.
http://www.asus.com/999/download/products/1439/1439_10.pdf

Skittle

SwampThing, I was thinking of going with an 800w power supply just because of the SLI thing alone.

SwampThing

Yeah, I think you're right. I'm only trying the 520 becasue I have it - brand new, unopened. More than likely I'll have to get something bigger, but I'll try it anyway.

josh - I'll deffo check out the memory, thanks for the heads up.

SwampThing

sanity check - is this http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4CCD the same Striker Extreme that supports quad core ( as in this baby http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4BLY)
- the site says different...

josh - man, thanks for the memory info - seems you'll save me a mild aneurysm when it comes to building.
I'll opt for this instead - http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/ureviews/2Gb_Mushkin_DDR2_XP2_6400_4_4_3_10_Dual_Channel_kit/index.html

SwampThing

OK - just spotted this...

http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/4Gb_OCZ_DDR2_PC2_6400_Vista_Upgrade_Kit-5_6_6_15-2x2Gb/index.html

€326 for 4GB of RAM - but is it likely to cause trouble with that motherboard?

That memory is not on the approved memory list josh posted but is it really likely not to work? How do I tell?

astrofool

Kingston also have/had a 4GB kit becoming available. I thought I saw it on overclockers.co.uk but it seems to be gone from there now. (gonna be my next upgrade )

joshcork

I'm sure that most RAM would work on the board its just with that list your sure there will not be any issues at installation. The main thing would be the speed, max you can have on that board is PC-6400.
That last bit of RAM the OCZ looks cool I'd expect it to work alright a good bit slower than the Muskin stuff but its size that matters more than speed. Not sure about that mother board you have there the specs look quite the same but I can't say for sure.
One more thing to know is that if you have more than 3GB of RAM in Windows you'll need the 64 bit versions of that OS, I don't know of a walk around for this. It's basically down to the amount of numbers the 32 bit versions have available for addressing, I'm sure its more complicated than that. But no one mentioned it so far and it's something that can get overlooked, then your in windows and wondering where a gig of RAM went.

Stephen

8T8 wrote:

You could get 4 1GB Twinmos DDR-2 800 sticks for €240 which I think is the best value for money.

*jaw drops*

I really built my e6600-based PC at the wrong time last year - 2x1GB of DDR2-533 cost about €300 at the time

8T8

Stephen - Yes it really has dropped at first DDR-2 800 was very expensive but since they have ramped up production is has really come down in price a lot faster. In fact you can recommend DDR-2 800 now as standard if not on a tight budget.


SwampThing personally I'd steer clear of the OCZ RAM the timings aren't all that much of an improvement anyway along with the ludicrous made for Vista marketing as Vista doesn't give a fig what type the RAM is uses.

SwampThing

8T8 - normally I'm a sucker for marketing, but this time I'm basing the purchase on an article I read, stating that the OCZ Platinum range of memory worked flawlessly with the Striker. http://www.maxitmag.com/maxit-reviews/motherboards/asus-680i-striker-extreme-motherboard-review.html

I'm probably overly paranoid about starup issues when I build. Are the timings that bad? If it's not too much trouble, what would ou recommend, memory wise? I was looking on dabs.ie and memoryc.ie.

Thanks.

8T8

Well I would go with the 4 1GB Twinmos modules personally but if you want the OCZ modules then go for it but it's timings aren't really low latency stuff like this is 4-4-4-12.

Anything from Crucial or Kingston is generally always compatible if you want to play it really safe.

TonyM.

Be carefull if you are overclocking running above 2.20v will burn out your ram.