Value Select vs. XMS, what does the price difference get you?

Subject: Memory | December 6, 2005 - 02:54 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Legion Hardware takes a look at high performance XMS and Value Select RAM from Corsair with something different in mind.  They run some tests to see if putting all that money into high FSB and low latency RAM is actually worth it for the casual gamer, who doesn't really like overclocking.

"At the end of the day it's best to work out what your needs are. For general usage XMS memory is

pretty much a waste of good memory, the same even applies to users that spend a fair bit of time

gaming.

Crucial's take on DDR2

Subject: Memory | November 28, 2005 - 12:58 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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DriverHeaven has posted a review of Crucial's Ballistix PC2-8000.  While it might be a little early to plan an AMD rig around it, there are plenty of Intel systems just begging for these sticks. 

'It took quite some time for DDR-2 to take a considerable piece of the market, but eventually it did. Although AMD seems unwilling to support it up to today, most Intel based systems seem to require it, especially after the release of the latest chipsets which do not support DDR at all.

Who cares about stock speeds anymore?

Subject: Memory | November 23, 2005 - 06:43 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Sure most DDR modules are running about 400Mhz out of the package, nowadays it's about the timings.  Take the Geil RAM that NGOHQ reviews for example.  The CAS timing of 1.5 allows a lot of room to loosen the timings, and bring the speed up significantly, which allows for much better performance overall.  Even if you don't plan on overclocking, the tight timings on this RAM won't slow you down.

"GeIL is a modest manufacturer that was founded in 1997.

7 800Mhz RAM Modules Compared

Subject: Memory | November 18, 2005 - 01:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Legit Reviews has grabbed 7 different companies 800Mhz DIMMs, and put them all to a test to see who is fastest, the best overclocker, and which has the best price for it's performance.  Give it a read.

"Legit Reviews has recently had the opportunity to look over SEVEN PC2-6400 memory kits from some

of the most popular enthusiast brand lines here in North America. Our three memory kits came from

A-DATA, Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, Mushkin, OCZ, and SyncMAX.

Stuff your stocking with silicon

Subject: Memory | November 16, 2005 - 02:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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RAM choices are plentiful this year, and I don't just mean the choice of companies.  With several ranges of performance, and DDR2 as well, it can be hard to figure out what kind of memory to base your system around. Think Computers can help, with a comparsion of 3 companies offerings, at various speeds and timings.

'Tis the season for you to go and spend your hard earned money on things you most likely don't

need, or the person you are getting it for doesn't need either, but we still do

Memory loves company

Subject: Memory | November 8, 2005 - 12:02 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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I can't say I've heard the name TeamGroup before, but according to InsaneTek, that's because I live in North America.  The components they use to make the DIMMs will be familiar to all, and the timing isn't bad at all; 2-2-2-5 at 200MHz.  Get the full review at InsaneTek.

"TeamGroup is not well known here in the States, but they do have reputation overseas.

NVIDIA Selects Corsair as its First Certified SLI Ready Memory

Subject: Memory | November 4, 2005 - 09:56 AM | Ryan Shrout
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Fremont, CA (Thursday, November 3, 2005) — Corsair® Memory, Inc., a worldwide leader in high performance memory and cooling products for enthusiasts and overclockers, today announced that it has became the first company in the memory category to receive the NVIDIA® SLI™ Ready certification. Recognized as the performance memory of choice for enthusiasts, Corsair added to the SLI Ready certification program by creating a new memory category to amplify user experience.

Timing is ... not quite everything

Subject: Memory | November 3, 2005 - 06:05 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The Tech Report sits down with RAM of 2 different timings ... 

2-2-2-5 and 2.5-4-4-8, and also ran them at 1T and 2T.  Read the review to see what impact the timing of these DIMM's had on system performance.

"THESE DAYS, SEEMINGLY every major memory module manufacturer is producing fancy low-latency

DIMMs. These DIMMs are equipped with tricked-out heat spreaders and come in a variety of different

colors, making them easy to pick out in a crowd.

2 Gigs big, 1T fast

Subject: Memory | October 31, 2005 - 06:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Corsair's newest, their TWINX2048-4000PT Platinum Series gets a workout at Think Computers.  They are impressed by the timings, and the speeds they could get when manipulating the the timings.

'Hot off the heels of the last Corsair review, we have another Corsair review for you. Corsair has

done it again, they are leading the pack in memory technology advancements, by releasing yet

another quality high performance memory product.

High Speed, Low Latency, Easy Overclocking

Subject: Memory | October 28, 2005 - 07:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Having a high FSB isn't the only way for memory to excel. Overclockers Online looks at OCZ's PC4000 2GB EB Platinum Edition.  This set of dual channel RAM is set to very low latency right out of the box.  Either leave it alone, and enjoy the performance, or find your own overclocked sweet spot with this kit.

"Gone are the days when the best performance is provided by 1GB kits of memory.

OCZ's memory is going for the gold

Subject: Memory | October 26, 2005 - 01:40 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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OCZ's 500Mhz, 2GB dual channel kit, the EL DDR PC-4000 1024MB Gold Edition Dual Channel, performs well straight out of the box, and better once you overclock it.  Even better is the lifetime warranty that comes with it.  Red & Blackness Mods puts it through the paces, check out the review.

"Todays games have started to require more power and one of the main things is ram. 1Gb or ram is

required these days and 2Gb is almost recommended.

256, 512, 1024 & 2048, what does more RAM do to gaming

Subject: Memory | October 21, 2005 - 06:31 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Legion Hardware runs a series of test benchmarks using differeny amounts of RAM, both single and dual channel.  See what the tests say about the effect of gobs 'o RAM on your Frames Per Second and load times.

"Given we now know 1GB of memory is the sweet spot, how much faster is 1GB than 512MB or even

256MB in today's games? There are still a huge amount of gamers out there fragging away with just

512MB of memory.

Which DIMM shines brightest?

Subject: Memory | October 19, 2005 - 11:49 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Legit Reviews has a 3 way overclocking memory kit comparison, between A-DATA, Kingston, and Mushkin. All of the kits are PC2-6400/DDR2 800MHz, but they all have different timings, and different voltages.  See which of the 3 you like best.

"The Mushkin eXtreme PC2-6400 modules loaded Windows at 1060MHz on the first try. Although we

later found that 1060MHz was unstable this was an impressive achievement. After RST Pro2 testing

we found that 1042MHz was 100% stable on our 2GB memory kit...

Golden Emperor International Ltd (GEIL) RAM

Subject: Memory | October 17, 2005 - 11:51 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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GeIL may not get the attention that other RAM manufacturers get, but they are certainly still working away at improving their products.  The PC2-4300 Ultra DDR2 Dual Channel Kit HardwareZoom reviews is not only low latency, but has a huge heat spreader that can't hurt your efforts at overclocking.

"Specialised in memory modules design and manufacturing, GeIL has been making high performance memory modules since 1997.

It's a Corsair Double Feature

Subject: Memory | October 12, 2005 - 06:30 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Guru3D looks at 2 of Corsair's top of the line RAM kits.  You can choose the 667 MHz DDR2 with some very firm 3:2:2:8 timings, or the 800Mhz DDR2 with 5:5:5:12, just make sure you read the review before you do.

"As you all probably know, Corsair is well known manufacturer with it's primary focus on a

Kingston Launches 667-MHz DDR2 SO-DIMM Memory

Subject: Memory | October 11, 2005 - 06:15 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Fountain Valley, CA (October 11, 2005), Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of ValueRAM DDR2 667-MHz (PC2-6400) memory modules to support next generation notebook and mobile systems. The new Kingston ValueRAM 667-MHz DDR2 unbuffered SO-DIMM modules are available in 256-MB, 512-MB and 1-GB capacities, shipping immediately in limited quantity.

Corsair's paired 1GB CAS 2 sticks

Subject: Memory | October 11, 2005 - 01:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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TECHGAGE has a review of Corsair's 

TWINX2048-3500LLPRO, with stock timings of 2-3-2-6-1T.  The overclocking test proved that while you cannot hold the CAS of 2, you can certainly get a great deal more bus speed out of them.

"We have just posted a new review of the Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO modules, which are the worlds first 2GB kit to have a CAS latency of 2 at these speeds.

1 GB vs. 2 GB - The benchmark war

Subject: Memory | October 6, 2005 - 01:54 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Legion Hardware runs some tests using SiSoft, Doom3, F.E.A.R and BF2, to see what the benchmark differences are between using 1 GB or 2GB.

"Recently, Corsair released a PDF document showing quite a considerable gain in Battlefield 2 performance when moving from 1GB to 2GB's of system memory. While I do believe their findings and comments to be accurate there are a few points that need to be clarified. Firstly I feel the system Corsair put together for this presentation was somewhat unbalanced.