Decent 2x2GB DDR2 1066 Kits

[Kursah]

I'm thinking about going 2x2GB now...one of my 2x1GB G.Skill HZ kits no longer boots in my rig, and being back to 2x1GB is somewhat noticable in heavier gaming and when I do my mass mulititasking of junk.

I figure I'll buck up now and go with the 1066 instead of OC-ing 800 to around 1000. Just curious as to what's good out there...I'm on a limited budget of around $100..and not too much beyond that...getting ready to move soon. I don't think I want to go G.Skill again this time around...I may end up doing so...but I'd like to get some input from some of you guys out there that have had experience with the newer 2x2 kits.

I'm in the middle of researching and reading my ass off..but I always like to hear the suggestions from you guys, so please post up!



EDIT: Right now...if I can find a way to snag an extra $20 I may just get this Corsair kit...comes with the fan setup which I could toss in my G/F's rig for her 2x1gb Crucial tracer 1066 kit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145197

[Kursah]

C'mon, I know a few of you out there have gone through at least 1-2 different kits...I'm hoping to learn from your purchases to get something decent...as-far-as OC-ability, not as important if I can hit 1000-1066 from the get-go.

[Wile E]

I'm interested in this as well. i haven't moved to a 2x2GB kit because I've been spoiled by my 2x1GB 1200MHz aXeram. I'm itching to find a kit that can do at least 1200Mhz on decent voltage.

[mullered07]

Originally Posted by Kursah

C'mon, I know a few of you out there have gone through at least 1-2 different kits...I'm hoping to learn from your purchases to get something decent...as-far-as OC-ability, not as important if I can hit 1000-1066 from the get-go.

put it this way dont get geil black dragon c5 4gb kit, cant even hit 1000 at 6.6.6.18, i think there just redundant c4 chips that didnt make the grade, what about some reapers? im looking at getting some of them soon ? 4.4.4.15 @ 800, should be good for at least 1000@5.5.5.15

[Kursah]

Yeah...I'm looking at reapers, the ugly G.Skills (cheap 2x2 DDR 1066) and the G.Skill PI sets right now...From what I'm reading it seems most higher quality 2x2GB kits are good for 1150...but few if any go beyond that...and many can't even come close.

This time around I'm shooting for at least DDR1000 speed out of the box, w/o OC...but 2x2gb DDR800 kits are showing some nice price trends...so it's kinda tough on that decision front atm.

If I had a kit I knew was stable at 1000, and could go further...I may push my Q6600 beyond 3.6 @ 1.42v...

[Kursah]

G.Skill PI DDR2 1000 2x2GB Kit: $111 shipped - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231174

G.Skill PI DDR2 1066 2x2GB Kit: $129 shipped - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231184

The 800 kit is around $95...so I suppose all prices are right in line. These sticks have 8-layer PCB's and supposedly have great compatability with most all newer DDR2 boards to boot. I'm trying to sort the difference between the 1000 and 1066 kits...see why they would have those two so close together in speed...and a $20 difference...

The reapers are upwards of $140...and really I need to keep as-close to the $100 mark as possible, while trying to guarentee DDR1000 speeds with 4GB, so the reapers and dominator kits are out of the loop for serious consideration at this point...this is going to take some time...I may just snatch the G.Skill PI 1000's tho. I got more reading to do.

[farlex85]

I just picked up the cheaper cousins of the pi 1000 kit. $84, but not as good hs and only 6-layer pcb. So far they are pretty decent though. Run 1000 5-5-5-15 no problem, 1066 at the same timings no problem. 900 5-4-4-12. I just got them yesterday, so I'm still tweaking, but they seem to have trouble getting over 1070 w/ cas5 and they simply don't want to do cas4. 8-layer pcb will probably alliviate those problems though. Also my board forces memory strap clocking and will only do .1v incriments, which I think is going to limit my clocking these to their full potential. I don't know if that helps at all, but it's related so I thought I'd throw it out there.

[MatTheCat]

I have these:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...aper_hpc_1066/

I paid about £100 for them 3 months ago but imagine they will be a good bit cheaper by now.

I have opted to lower the MHz from the stock 1066 to 850 in favour of lowering the cache from 5-5-5-15 to 4-4-4-12 as have found that lower cache option offers slightly better performance than the higher MHz option.

[Kursah]

Originally Posted by MatTheCat

I have these:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...aper_hpc_1066/

I paid about £100 for them 3 months ago but imagine they will be a good bit cheaper by now.

I have opted to lower the MHz from the stock 1066 to 850 in favour of lowering the cache from 5-5-5-15 to 4-4-4-12 as have found that lower cache option offers slightly better performance than the higher MHz option.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227289

Right around the $140 price point...has a $25 MIR...but that's just out of reach...really I'm stuck at $120 or less at this point....too bad too cause that looks like a good kit...I love heatpipes still...and might as well have em' helping to cool the memory too right?

[MatTheCat]

Originally Posted by Kursah

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227289

Right around the $140 price point...has a $25 MIR...but that's just out of reach...really I'm stuck at $120 or less at this point....too bad too cause that looks like a good kit...I love heatpipes still...and might as well have em' helping to cool the memory too right?

Naw mate. You will get these cheaper than that. I just checked them at British E-tailers and they are going for less than £50 now, and that is including VAT! (tax). We get stung here for PC parts (and everything else) here in rip-off Britain when compared to America yet those RAM modules are retailing for less than £50 (or $100 in your money).

Considering I paid twice that just 3 months ago, it makes me feel quite sick actually....but I guess that is what to expect being a PC gaming enthuisiast.

[Kursah]

Yeah my first set of 2x1GB G.Skill DDR2 800 HZ cost me about $260US back in early 2007....a few months before they were no longer sold, I saw kits as low as $115 and lower! I bought a used kit (currently in use) for $50!

I'll keep looking around...but I'm not seeing them for less than Newegg's $137 atm.

[MatTheCat]

Originally Posted by Kursah

Yeah my first set of 2x1GB G.Skill DDR2 800 HZ cost me about $260US back in early 2007....a few months before they were no longer sold, I saw kits as low as $115 and lower! I bought a used kit (currently in use) for $50!

I'll keep looking around...but I'm not seeing them for less than Newegg's $137 atm.

Fair enough but just so u know I aint tellin porkies:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...OCZ2RPR10662GK)

And that is from a not particularly cheap E-tailer with VAT added on...still less than £50 (or $100)

[Kursah]

If I could find that kit for that price...I'd have ordered em' by now...it seems with the 25 MIR we have atm...the prices are raised a tad to compensate i'm assuming.

I think I may go with the cheaper and older G.Skill DDR1066 kit or 1000 kits..they are both under $1000, use the same heatspreaders as my current HZ kit(s), plus I have active cooling over my ram so I don't really worry too much about temps in that aspect.

I don't really need heavy OC, since really all I want to hit is 1000-1066-ish speeds, I would like to get the PI series...but thinking about the moving (about 500 miles south to Nevada)...I need all the money I can keep for now...so what I don't spend on this side budget could definately help out there...I'm gonna go grab some food for me an the GF, I'll do some more digging around when I return.

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

Im in this market as well

im considering geils orteh dominator .. maybe tracers.

[Kursah]

I would be better off with a better budget...now that I've had some food (drive-thru...yo quiero taco bell!)...I'm back in the mood for hunting...and still don't know how much out of my $120 I wanna spend...I found some OCZ ReaperX HPC PC8000 (DDR2 1000) 2x2 at chiefvalue for about $120...I just dunno what to choose out there.

[MatTheCat]

Originally Posted by Kursah

I found some OCZ ReaperX HPC PC8000 (DDR2 1000) 2x2 at chiefvalue for about $120...I just dunno what to choose out there.

I may be mistaken, but I think those are for AMD boards only.

[Kursah]

http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...pc_4gb_edition

Even has a guide link for tuning on P35's, X38's, etc.

I haven't really seen much memory that is strictly for AMD or INTEL...usually the memory capable of 1T will still work fine in many Intel boards, but some have compatability issues with those modules...of course some of those boards have compatability issues with memory that's supposed to be compatable with them! I have tried 3 different types of DDR2, well 2...2 were D9, the third was powerchips iirc.

They look pretty good..good thing I only want 2x2 and not 4x2 lol! Those coolers are wide! I'm conteplating them...after shipping they'd be just above my $120 limit...so I'm gonna think on it for a bit.

EDIT: And these G.Skills are so dammned tempting! DDR1000, 5-5-5-15 @ 2.0-2.1v, yeah they got those damned blue heat spreaders (I'd put my HZ black ones on if it bugged me that much...but with a Cosair Dominator Airflow over them...it doesn't matter THAT much.)...but $85 shipped for 2x2GB of DDR1000, that's probably what I'm gonna do for now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231145


Then when I get all moved and decide what I wanna do with my rig...if I need to do anything, I can decide from there...I just don't have time to wait for rebates atm. I have a couple weeks left (hopefully only two) up here before I start my new job. I don't NEED the hottest stuff out there...like I said, my current OC doesn't push my memory beyond 1000 anyways...and if this memory has some headroom beyond that (from what I have read it in-fact does), I'm good. Now I just gotta stick with that decision.



EDIT Pt. 2: Well I decided to get those cheap G.Skills...I did a lot of reading, and really they should be plenty for my needs if I decide to go beyond 1000, most have hit 1100 plus with them, and for a 2x2 kit for $85 shipped, I won't complain!

Thanks everyone!

[Kursah]

UPDATE:

Well my kit showed up yesterday, but didn't have time until a few minutes ago to slap it in. I did so, booted up at current settings, but set timings to 5-5-5-15, 2.0v, and more agressive for some settings (DFI guys know what I mean), so far rocks stable in Vista x64, more-so than 4x1GB ever was at this speed/timing/voltage setting any day of the week, so I'm very content. For $85 shipped, I couldn't be happier, and I may try for tighter timings at 2.1v since they're rated for it, I'm not too worried...just having 4GB again is nice I can already notice a difference in gaming, browsing, multitasking.This kit is very much worth the cost, at least from my initial standpoint.

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by Kursah

UPDATE:

Well my kit showed up yesterday, but didn't have time until a few minutes ago to slap it in. I did so, booted up at current settings, but set timings to 5-5-5-15, 2.0v, and more agressive for some settings (DFI guys know what I mean), so far rocks stable in Vista x64, more-so than 4x1GB ever was at this speed/timing/voltage setting any day of the week, so I'm very content. For $85 shipped, I couldn't be happier, and I may try for tighter timings at 2.1v since they're rated for it, I'm not too worried...just having 4GB again is nice I can already notice a difference in gaming, browsing, multitasking.This kit is very much worth the cost, at least from my initial standpoint.

Yeah great sticks for the money, I may see how far I can oc em tonight, haven't really pushed em yet. Did you notice the 1066 brand of the g.skills just dropped to $89. These are quite nice though, and will likely perform at least nearly as well if not as well.

[Kursah]

I tried looking around and couldn't find much of a difference between the DDR1000 and DDR1066 G.Skill kits...but it would figure they'd drop after I made my purchase lol! Well I'm content, I have 4GB running at DDR1000 using 5-5-5-15 and 2.0v, I have read that others have used less voltage, but for now I'm content...but I may have to start tweaking and seeing what I can get out of these.