A 1 GB stick of DDR RAM to give any system that little boost, especially for systems running Windows Vista.

Although newer systems have moved on to DDR2 there are still a wide range of computers that use plain old DDR. Many older systems stay around for much longer than expected. Although I always think that my older computers will get put in the trash, they still serve most purposes very well.

For surfing the Internet, writing email and documents on the computer, almost any old computer will do. A lot of the load of modern programs and operating systems comes down to how much memory they require. Often the wrong impression is give and people end up buying a whole new system with some newer, fancier computer. But after a really slow computer, anything new will seem fast, and the reason cannot be pinned down.

Upgrading memory is a viable option as it gives those new programs the stuff they need. For pure computing power, a new processor will always give a little more, but would be lower down on my list of things to get, even if you are only running a Pentium 4 at the moment.

This single 1 GB stick of Crucial DDR memory provides a gigabyte of RAM, which means it meets the minimum for Vista, which requires a great deal more than Windows XP.

A good investment to breathe some life into an old system, and a much better buy than a whole new system.

Corsair’s 2 GB memory improves performance in Windows and allows painless multi-tasking of applications while giving a healthy boost to a gaming computer that needs a little bit of extra punch.

The bottom line with memory is that more is better, of course this can be taken too far, but generally this holds true. Windows XP should have at least 512 MB and for Vista 1 GB or more is recommended.

This dual-channel pair of DDR2 DIMMs allow performance to be increased by being placed as a pair. As much as a 10% increase in performance can be realized by pairing memory modules together in this fashion. They do, however, need to be a matched pair, which these are of course.

Here are some of the major specs:

• Dual-channel DDR2
• 2 GB total (2 x 1 GB)
• 800MHz
• 5-5-5-18 timing
• 240 pins

The pair come with heat spreaders which don’t just give them that cool and fast look, but help to move heat away from the memory chips, that tend to heat up under heavy use. The standard speed of 800MHz will suit the majority of computers without needing any overclocking, there may be some room left for enthusiasts although most memory modules don’t leave much extra anymore.

Corsair are a reputable memory maker and the chance to grab this pair for under $75 is quite enticing. They would be recommended for any system that is running newer software, like Vista, or lots of games. For any system that is ready to be upgraded, or for new systems, this would be money well-spent, and should reap better results per dollar than an upgrade to a quad-core processor.

Bigbruin takes a look at this set of DDR2 sticks from Transcend. They are actually two seperate sticks, and do not come in a single package. That being the case, you just buy two sticks.

They are shockingly unexciting, without any heatspreaders or any little lights. Just plain old black chips on green board.

Although their looks are nothing to write home about their performance is not half bad. In overclocking efforts done by bigbruin they managed to get them to overclock by about 20% without adding heatspreaders or making drastic adjustments. Just upping the voltage to keep things stable.

For a set of very plain looking sticks, these are worth a look at, especially if you like the old school look of memory cards.

Check out the full review at bigbruin.

Madshrimps threw together a test for the OCZ PC2-8800 memory modules.

According to their tests they were able to push them up to 1111MHz with a voltage increase for stability, unfortunately voiding the warranty. This was at 4-4-4-12 2T timings.

The speeds matched those of the Corsair XMS2 DOMINATOR PC2-8888 kit, minus the warranty. Looser timings of 5-6-6-15 allowed them to be pushed up to 1140MHz with perfect stability and only 2.42 volts.

Full article here

A short while ago I wrote about how 2GB of memory is becoming the standard for gaming computers and enthusiast computers. Well today, Techgage takes a look at the possibility of 4GB and sees whether it can match up to the performance of 2GB options.

There have been many misperceptions and problems associated with 4GB or memory. For a long time there were issues with Windows not being able to take this much memory, or sometimes motherboards that could not actually support this much. Well, most of those are not issues anymore, especially with newer stuff that has sorted out many of those problems from before.

As outlined in the article, the main issue that comes in is a speed issue. The timings that are available for 2GB (1GB x 2) are much better than those available for 4GB (1GB x 4), which results from the amount of strain that the memory controller can take, and with 4 sticks it cannot take full speed.

These differences become most noticeable during gaming, especially games like F.E.A.R. which place a heavy strain on your whole computer. These differences are noticed less by designers who use programs like Photoshop, where the main emphasis is on more, rather than speed.

The results of testing showed a drop in performance in almost every situation, except where the motherboard ran and Intel chipset with an Intel processor. This is because the memory timings are already at the slower 2T speed setting, so it retains those settings for 4 sticks of memory.

Basically, if you want 4GB for now, suck it up and wait. With the introduction of 4GB as 2 sticks of 2GB, you will be able to take advantage of more memory without the drawbacks of 4 sticks of memory.

Tomshardware does a breakdown comparing the difference between memory set with tight timings and memory set at high frequencies.

These two particular aspects of memory have been thrown around in overclocking circles quite a lot. Many enthusiasts spend a lot of money trying to get memory that can perform at the the tightest settings, allowing them to squeeze that little extra performance from their computer.

The other side of the coin is to just make the memory clock as high as possible. Just getting memory to go as fast as you can to get the same effects as the tight timings.

In their very in-depth, if not slightly confusing article they compare the differenc when overclocking in these two different ways.

The best part of the article is the conclusion where they advise to basically just get enough memory, which they recommend as 2GB (2 sticks of 1GB in dual channel setup). For better game performance just get a better video card and if not a gamer, invest in CPU and hard drive.

Take a look at this very comprehensive article for yourself.

LINK

Enthusiast memory only really comes in two different forms. First is very fast memory with relaxed timings, but hitting much higher speeds. The second is those that cannot reach as high speeds, but have super-low latency.

This patriot memory has 3 standard timings as reported in pcstats: first is latency 3 at DDR2-667, latency 4 at DDR2-800 and finally DDR2-1000 handling a latency of 5.

This is good news for anyone who has already switched over to using DDR2, either because of using an Intel machine or because of wanting to use a new socket AM2 Athlon64 processor.

They come with the obligatory heat spreaders that come with high performance memory. They help to spread the heat when you start to increase voltages to get the most speed out of memory modules. At lower speeds, it makes no difference really.

The main concern in their test is to see just how far the memory can be overclocked. With only a slight increase in voltage it clocked up to 940MHz with lower memory timings, which is quite decent for memory, but only overclocked a little over 1GHz with the relaxed CAS 5 latency.

The memory plays well between high speeds and tighter timings. With its ability to operate with tighter timings it outdoes some of its competition that clock higher but operate at looser timings. This memory really can do anything and will provide for any user.

In gaming it offers a clear advantage over other high-speed memory, both in lower latency setups and higher clocked setups.

LINK

Memory upgrades are a common part of the modern computing experience. Operatins systems need more, many other programs need more and the added pressures of multi-tasking add to the need.

Tomshardware takes a short look at the history of memory in recent times and gives a large roundup of the popular memory choices and the messups that have occured within the industry relating to memory.

In the bulk of the article they take a look at how well memory manufacturers themselves can help you to choose the right memory for your computer.

Upgrading is becoming an increasingly difficult thing to do as limits placed on a system by different parts and software determine how much you can put in and how fast it can go.

Manufacturers help to ease this process with online suggestion tools for choosing the memory you need. The articles analyses a most of these offered by the major manufacturers and sees how good their suggestions actually are compared to what you really need.

LINK

2GB of memory is being touted as the way to go for computers nowadays, especially gaming computers. Seeing as more memory nearly always makes a difference to how well your computer performs, a little extra is always good. But not always necessary.

For those looking to add that extra something funky to their system, this pair of dual memory sticks from Corsair should do the trick. They are rated for fairly high speeds and come with cool (tacky) LED displays on the top to show how far the memory itself is being pushed.

In their review at extremeoverclocking the memory itself was rated to 218MHz at the standard voltages and timings. This allows a little room for overclocking without the need for any upping of voltages and such things.

With relaxed timings up to 260MHz was achieved, but only that much, with nothing faster attainable with any amount of tweaking.

At around 300 dollars this memory pair does well in terms of performance and is a good addition to a decent system. Not too much can be squeezed out of them, but if your requirements are a little more modest they are quite a good deal for 2GB of memory.

LINK

The new claim from the makers of computer memory is that 2GB is now the standard for gaming. As stated in the articles at bit-tech, the manufacturers would like you to take the plunge to get your business, so it’s not completely clear whether upgrading is really worth it at this stage.

There is also the issue of whether it makes a difference to your computing experience, or mnore specifically, gaming experience. They take a look at a few options for upgrading to 2GB from a system that already has 2×512GB installed.

The options are just adding 2 more sticks or changing them for 1GB modules. In the end there was a performance difference in having 4×512GB as compared to 2×1024GB as the 4 have to operate at 2T timings while the 2 can operate at the faster 1T.

In conclusion they actually recommend the addition of 2 more 512GB sticks. The larger modules operate better, but because of how easy it is to get 512GB modules still, and that you would have to forgo your current 2 in an upgrade the addition of two is better unless you can afford the alternative. It’s a good read, with a balance of gaming and just general user common sense.

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