Best RAM for 2.8GHz P4

Hi,

I'm going to transfer the older 2.2GHz P4 and DDR2100 RAM out of my P4P800
Dlx Asus, and put it into a backup system.

On the P4P800 Dlx, I'm planning to put in a new P4 and new RAM, in part to
take advantage of higher FSB/Memory synchronization. The 2.8GHz P4 seems to
be at the sweet spot pricewise on the 800FSB P4s at the moment.

Assuming I do go for the P4 2.8GHz processor, I'd probably want to do a
minimal (~15% -20%) overclock with stock cooling. Presumably I'd want to go
with DDR3200 RAM in a couple of 512MB sticks however other speeds of DDR or
use of 4x 256MB sticks remains an option.

Any suggestions for the "best" RAM to buy for this scenario?
Price-performance is an issue but I don't want generic RAM, and if I have to
spend a few extra bucks so be it. Mobo does not support ECC RAM.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions -----

ken

Two ways to go, depending on how much you want to spend.

The low road is quality low-latency PC3200, which you can run at a 5:4
cpu:memory ratio. With the cpu on an fsb of 250, a 2.8 would be overclocked
to 3.5 ghz and the ram would still be in spec at 200. (Though you may need
to replace the stock cooler beyond 3.0.) Naturally, you could underclock the
ram slightly if your cpu couldn't go that high, or you could go with a 2.6
that would give you 3.2+ at the same settings.

The high road is PC4000, which will allow you to run 1:1 at 250 for the
highest possible bandwidth at a premium price. In between are PC3500, which
would give you 3.0+ @ 1:1 with a 2.8, and PC3700 which would give you 3.2+
ghz.

There are some good memory reviews collected at www.amd.board.com by speed
spec. Also www.anandtech.com offers some info on brands and compatibility.

My rig:

Abit IC7
P4C 2.4 @ 275x12=3.3 ghz
4x256 Buffalo Tech PC3700 (Winbond BH5) @ 5:4, 220 mhz, 2,3,2,6.

"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm going to transfer the older 2.2GHz P4 and DDR2100 RAM out of my P4P800
Dlx Asus, and put it into a backup system.

On the P4P800 Dlx, I'm planning to put in a new P4 and new RAM, in part to
take advantage of higher FSB/Memory synchronization. The 2.8GHz P4 seems
to
be at the sweet spot pricewise on the 800FSB P4s at the moment.

Assuming I do go for the P4 2.8GHz processor, I'd probably want to do a
minimal (~15% -20%) overclock with stock cooling. Presumably I'd want to
go
with DDR3200 RAM in a couple of 512MB sticks however other speeds of DDR
or
use of 4x 256MB sticks remains an option.

Any suggestions for the "best" RAM to buy for this scenario?
Price-performance is an issue but I don't want generic RAM, and if I have
to
spend a few extra bucks so be it. Mobo does not support ECC RAM.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions -----

ken

Very helpful information; I do appreciate it!

ken

"Skid" wrote in message
news:usIzb.300421$9E1.1524485@attbi_s52...
Two ways to go, depending on how much you want to spend.

The low road is quality low-latency PC3200, which you can run at a 5:4
cpu:memory ratio. With the cpu on an fsb of 250, a 2.8 would be
overclocked
to 3.5 ghz and the ram would still be in spec at 200. (Though you may need
to replace the stock cooler beyond 3.0.) Naturally, you could underclock
the
ram slightly if your cpu couldn't go that high, or you could go with a 2.6
that would give you 3.2+ at the same settings.

The high road is PC4000, which will allow you to run 1:1 at 250 for the
highest possible bandwidth at a premium price. In between are PC3500,
which
would give you 3.0+ @ 1:1 with a 2.8, and PC3700 which would give you 3.2+
ghz.

There are some good memory reviews collected at www.amd.board.com by speed
spec. Also www.anandtech.com offers some info on brands and compatibility.

My rig:

Abit IC7
P4C 2.4 @ 275x12=3.3 ghz
4x256 Buffalo Tech PC3700 (Winbond BH5) @ 5:4, 220 mhz, 2,3,2,6.

"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm going to transfer the older 2.2GHz P4 and DDR2100 RAM out of my
P4P800
Dlx Asus, and put it into a backup system.

On the P4P800 Dlx, I'm planning to put in a new P4 and new RAM, in part
to
take advantage of higher FSB/Memory synchronization. The 2.8GHz P4
seems
to
be at the sweet spot pricewise on the 800FSB P4s at the moment.

Assuming I do go for the P4 2.8GHz processor, I'd probably want to do a
minimal (~15% -20%) overclock with stock cooling. Presumably I'd want
to
go
with DDR3200 RAM in a couple of 512MB sticks however other speeds of DDR
or
use of 4x 256MB sticks remains an option.

Any suggestions for the "best" RAM to buy for this scenario?
Price-performance is an issue but I don't want generic RAM, and if I
have
to
spend a few extra bucks so be it. Mobo does not support ECC RAM.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions -----

ken

chances are though the PC4000 isn't really any faster than the low latency
PC3200 because they have to relax the timings so much on the PC4000.

"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
Very helpful information; I do appreciate it!

ken

"Skid" wrote in message
news:usIzb.300421$9E1.1524485@attbi_s52...
Two ways to go, depending on how much you want to spend.

The low road is quality low-latency PC3200, which you can run at a 5:4
cpu:memory ratio. With the cpu on an fsb of 250, a 2.8 would be
overclocked
to 3.5 ghz and the ram would still be in spec at 200. (Though you may
need
to replace the stock cooler beyond 3.0.) Naturally, you could underclock
the
ram slightly if your cpu couldn't go that high, or you could go with a
2.6
that would give you 3.2+ at the same settings.

The high road is PC4000, which will allow you to run 1:1 at 250 for the
highest possible bandwidth at a premium price. In between are PC3500,
which
would give you 3.0+ @ 1:1 with a 2.8, and PC3700 which would give you
3.2+
ghz.

There are some good memory reviews collected at www.amd.board.com by
speed
spec. Also www.anandtech.com offers some info on brands and
compatibility.

My rig:

Abit IC7
P4C 2.4 @ 275x12=3.3 ghz
4x256 Buffalo Tech PC3700 (Winbond BH5) @ 5:4, 220 mhz, 2,3,2,6.

"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm going to transfer the older 2.2GHz P4 and DDR2100 RAM out of my
P4P800
Dlx Asus, and put it into a backup system.

On the P4P800 Dlx, I'm planning to put in a new P4 and new RAM, in
part
to
take advantage of higher FSB/Memory synchronization. The 2.8GHz P4
seems
to
be at the sweet spot pricewise on the 800FSB P4s at the moment.

Assuming I do go for the P4 2.8GHz processor, I'd probably want to do
a
minimal (~15% -20%) overclock with stock cooling. Presumably I'd want
to
go
with DDR3200 RAM in a couple of 512MB sticks however other speeds of
DDR
or
use of 4x 256MB sticks remains an option.

Any suggestions for the "best" RAM to buy for this scenario?
Price-performance is an issue but I don't want generic RAM, and if I
have
to
spend a few extra bucks so be it. Mobo does not support ECC RAM.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions -----

ken

I very much appreciate the answers I've gotten in this thread.

Let me make the question a bit broader, because after overclocking the ATI
Radeon 8500LE AGP card in this system, I'm becoming more satisfied with what
the current system.

I've ordered a Dell i875 based SC400 server as a backup machine with the
most basic, cheapest configuration (Celeron 2.0, 128MB of ECC RAM DDR3200).
I might want to delay taking stuff out of the main box for now, and instead
get 256MB x2 sticks of DDR3200 to put in the new cheap Dell, which by the
way apparently has little potential for OC'ing. I'd toss the original 128MB
of ECC RAM and get non-ECC for these two sticks.

My thinking is that I could get some sort of very common DDR3200 non-ECC
stuff to put in the Dell box for now, but later I could transfer it over to
new box, buying two more of those sticks (at the later time) for the new box
to make a total of 1 gig in the new box. At that later time I'd get either
a 2.6 or a 2.8 P4 for the new box and move the old FSB400 2.2GHz P4 and old
DDR 2100 Crucial RAM into the Dell box (are you following me!).

So, what I'm asking is, what not-too-expensive DDR 3200 RAM in 256MB sticks
would you buy, that would have modest (say 15% max 20%) ability for
overclocking with a 2.6 or 2.8 P4, without too much heat production and with
rock hard stability??? Is there anything out there that would enable me to
do this upgrade in stages?

Thanks very much in advance and I apologize for the confusing way I've
stated this question!

ken






"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm going to transfer the older 2.2GHz P4 and DDR2100 RAM out of my P4P800
Dlx Asus, and put it into a backup system.

On the P4P800 Dlx, I'm planning to put in a new P4 and new RAM, in part to
take advantage of higher FSB/Memory synchronization. The 2.8GHz P4 seems
to
be at the sweet spot pricewise on the 800FSB P4s at the moment.

Assuming I do go for the P4 2.8GHz processor, I'd probably want to do a
minimal (~15% -20%) overclock with stock cooling. Presumably I'd want to
go
with DDR3200 RAM in a couple of 512MB sticks however other speeds of DDR
or
use of 4x 256MB sticks remains an option.

Any suggestions for the "best" RAM to buy for this scenario?
Price-performance is an issue but I don't want generic RAM, and if I have
to
spend a few extra bucks so be it. Mobo does not support ECC RAM.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions -----

ken

The good thing about buying Crucial/Micron is that it's cheap,
conservatively rated and consistent. It's available direct from Crucial for
just under $50 a stick shipped. It's not the fastest, but it's compatible
with most anything and will be there when you want more.

Before you lock in based on your plan below, make sure that Dell can take
the parts you plan to plug in later. Not only are those boxes almost
impossible to overclock, they are often difficult to upgrade.

"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
I very much appreciate the answers I've gotten in this thread.

Let me make the question a bit broader, because after overclocking the ATI
Radeon 8500LE AGP card in this system, I'm becoming more satisfied with
what
the current system.

I've ordered a Dell i875 based SC400 server as a backup machine with the
most basic, cheapest configuration (Celeron 2.0, 128MB of ECC RAM
DDR3200).
I might want to delay taking stuff out of the main box for now, and
instead
get 256MB x2 sticks of DDR3200 to put in the new cheap Dell, which by the
way apparently has little potential for OC'ing. I'd toss the original
128MB
of ECC RAM and get non-ECC for these two sticks.

My thinking is that I could get some sort of very common DDR3200 non-ECC
stuff to put in the Dell box for now, but later I could transfer it over
to
new box, buying two more of those sticks (at the later time) for the new
box
to make a total of 1 gig in the new box. At that later time I'd get
either
a 2.6 or a 2.8 P4 for the new box and move the old FSB400 2.2GHz P4 and
old
DDR 2100 Crucial RAM into the Dell box (are you following me!).

So, what I'm asking is, what not-too-expensive DDR 3200 RAM in 256MB
sticks
would you buy, that would have modest (say 15% max 20%) ability for
overclocking with a 2.6 or 2.8 P4, without too much heat production and
with
rock hard stability??? Is there anything out there that would enable me
to
do this upgrade in stages?

Thanks very much in advance and I apologize for the confusing way I've
stated this question!

ken






"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm going to transfer the older 2.2GHz P4 and DDR2100 RAM out of my
P4P800
Dlx Asus, and put it into a backup system.

On the P4P800 Dlx, I'm planning to put in a new P4 and new RAM, in part
to
take advantage of higher FSB/Memory synchronization. The 2.8GHz P4
seems
to
be at the sweet spot pricewise on the 800FSB P4s at the moment.

Assuming I do go for the P4 2.8GHz processor, I'd probably want to do a
minimal (~15% -20%) overclock with stock cooling. Presumably I'd want
to
go
with DDR3200 RAM in a couple of 512MB sticks however other speeds of DDR
or
use of 4x 256MB sticks remains an option.

Any suggestions for the "best" RAM to buy for this scenario?
Price-performance is an issue but I don't want generic RAM, and if I
have
to
spend a few extra bucks so be it. Mobo does not support ECC RAM.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions -----

ken

"Skid" wrote in message
news:qv1Ab.308027$9E1.1549028@attbi_s52...
The good thing about buying Crucial/Micron is that it's cheap,
conservatively rated and consistent. It's available direct from Crucial
for
just under $50 a stick shipped. It's not the fastest, but it's compatible
with most anything and will be there when you want more.

Before you lock in based on your plan below, make sure that Dell can take
the parts you plan to plug in later. Not only are those boxes almost
impossible to overclock, they are often difficult to upgrade.


Hi Skid,

I think this is great advice and something I've worried about. I think I'm
going to cancel the Dell order and keep what I've got for the near term.
Ever since I OC'd the ATI 8500LE, the whole system seems much faster and
snappier. Now I'm not a gamer, so my needs are less than those of many on
this board.

But for now, I've got a P4P800 Dlx with a very stable OC of 2.2GHz P4/DDR
2100 Crucial 512MB x2, running at FSB of 460, vCore of 1.68, and processor
speed of 2.55 MHz. 11 passes of Memtest86 show zero errors. The ATI is
OC'd slightly more than 20% as regards core and memory also. I can live
with this sytem as is for the time being.

Thanks for all your help.

Ken

Tweaking what you've got is always the cheapest and most trouble-free route.
Live long and prosper.

"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
"Skid" wrote in message
news:qv1Ab.308027$9E1.1549028@attbi_s52...
The good thing about buying Crucial/Micron is that it's cheap,
conservatively rated and consistent. It's available direct from Crucial
for
just under $50 a stick shipped. It's not the fastest, but it's
compatible
with most anything and will be there when you want more.

Before you lock in based on your plan below, make sure that Dell can
take
the parts you plan to plug in later. Not only are those boxes almost
impossible to overclock, they are often difficult to upgrade.


Hi Skid,

I think this is great advice and something I've worried about. I think
I'm
going to cancel the Dell order and keep what I've got for the near term.
Ever since I OC'd the ATI 8500LE, the whole system seems much faster and
snappier. Now I'm not a gamer, so my needs are less than those of many on
this board.

But for now, I've got a P4P800 Dlx with a very stable OC of 2.2GHz P4/DDR
2100 Crucial 512MB x2, running at FSB of 460, vCore of 1.68, and processor
speed of 2.55 MHz. 11 passes of Memtest86 show zero errors. The ATI is
OC'd slightly more than 20% as regards core and memory also. I can live
with this sytem as is for the time being.

Thanks for all your help.

Ken

"Skid" wrote in message
news:2u4Ab.33220$_M.142061@attbi_s54...
Tweaking what you've got is always the cheapest and most trouble-free
route.
Live long and prosper.


No matter what it cost, you've already paid for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ken
p.s. Dell order officially cancelled.


"Ken Fox" wrote in message
...
"Skid" wrote in message
news:qv1Ab.308027$9E1.1549028@attbi_s52...
The good thing about buying Crucial/Micron is that it's cheap,
conservatively rated and consistent. It's available direct from
Crucial
for
just under $50 a stick shipped. It's not the fastest, but it's
compatible
with most anything and will be there when you want more.

Before you lock in based on your plan below, make sure that Dell can
take
the parts you plan to plug in later. Not only are those boxes almost
impossible to overclock, they are often difficult to upgrade.


Hi Skid,

I think this is great advice and something I've worried about. I think
I'm
going to cancel the Dell order and keep what I've got for the near term.
Ever since I OC'd the ATI 8500LE, the whole system seems much faster and
snappier. Now I'm not a gamer, so my needs are less than those of many
on
this board.

But for now, I've got a P4P800 Dlx with a very stable OC of 2.2GHz
P4/DDR
2100 Crucial 512MB x2, running at FSB of 460, vCore of 1.68, and
processor
speed of 2.55 MHz. 11 passes of Memtest86 show zero errors. The ATI is
OC'd slightly more than 20% as regards core and memory also. I can live
with this sytem as is for the time being.

Thanks for all your help.

Ken

Ken Fox wrote:

I've ordered a Dell i875 based SC400 server as a backup machine with
the most basic, cheapest configuration (Celeron 2.0, 128MB of ECC RAM
DDR3200). I might want to delay taking stuff out of the main box for
now, and instead get 256MB x2 sticks of DDR3200 to put in the new
cheap Dell, which by the way apparently has little potential for
OC'ing. I'd toss the original 128MB of ECC RAM and get non-ECC for
these two sticks.

Beware -- if it was bought as a server, chances are high that it's firmwired
to require ECC RAM.

Regards,
--
*Art