Athlon 64 Compatable Ram (What should I use?)

silencetowrite · Post by **silencetowrite** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 6:28 pm

I'm trying to decide what RAM to use in my Athlon64 system. To ensure compatablity and stablity, I'd like to use a brand that use AMD approved memory modules.
(AMD's website lists AMD64 Processor Compatible DDR Memory Modules.)
I'm also looking to use RAM that is listed as supported by my motherboard maker.

Anandtech has a review of brands that use AMD approved modules. I'll be using either the Abit AN8 v2 or AN8 Ultra for my motherboard. Abit lists support RAM here. Crucial, Geil, and OCZ seem to be the brands that fit both of my requirements. Amoung these, who makes the best CL 2.0 RAM?

Thanks!

(PS: this is the first post in which I've used the embeded link feature...if the links don't work, let me know and I'll fix them.)

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 6:59 pm

You seemed to have the links to all the pertinent pages already

Anandtech has review on all the memory brands you're interested in.

Unless you're looking into overclocking, the difference between any two memory with the same timing is going to be negligible. And even when overclocking, the difference is going to be small if you're using the same DRAM types.

I have OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum Rev 2 memory. They work well on my Asus A8V Deluxe with pretty aggresive timings.

If you don't know already, using A64Tweaker you can play around with different memory settings and see how it affects performance without having to reboot and go into BIOS between settings. Another benefit is that if you mess up and hang your system, a reboot will restore it to the BIOS settings.

CGameProgrammer · Post by **CGameProgrammer** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 10:39 pm

AMD's brand list is far from comprehensive, as it says right on the top of it. For example, Corsair isn't one of the brands listed, but I've heard of many people using AMD chips/motherboards with Corsair RAM. This is the route I'm going and I don't expect problems (assuming neither component was damaged, of course).

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:32 am

CGameProgrammer wrote:AMD's brand list is far from comprehensive, as it says right on the top of it. For example, Corsair isn't one of the brands listed, but I've heard of many people using AMD chips/motherboards with Corsair RAM. This is the route I'm going and I don't expect problems (assuming neither component was damaged, of course).

Corsair and some motherboard companies do extensive testing of Corsair memory. Not only does Corsair test the memory, but they publish the exact latancy, timmings, voltage, etc they used for each motherboard test, which are often better (in terms of performance) than the default bios settings in most motherboards.

silencetowrite · Post by **silencetowrite** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:51 pm

I'll have to check out Corsair again. They are listed by Abit as a compatable memory maker. I was originally considering using Corsiar XMS until I noticed that it did not use AMD approved memory modules.

thanks-

silencetowrite · Post by **silencetowrite** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:02 pm

Has anyone had trouble--other than reciving a bad dimm--with a particular brand of RAM working with A64 processors?

Mar. · Post by **Mar.** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:12 pm

silencetowrite wrote:Has anyone had trouble--other than reciving a bad dimm--with a particular brand of RAM working with A64 processors?

Keep in mind that even though a stick of ram is rated for CAS 2, that's only for Intel systems, and it might only run at CAS 2.5 on an A64 system. Usually theres an asterisk if that's the case.

CGameProgrammer · Post by **CGameProgrammer** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 5:23 pm

Corsair's 2-3-3-6 memory runs on A64s at 2.5-3-3-6, if I remember right.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:21 pm

CGameProgrammer wrote:Corsair's 2-3-3-6 memory runs on A64s at 2.5-3-3-6, if I remember right.

You must be referring to this page.

I don't have any Corsair memory, so I can't give first hand experience. But according to the PDF, the testing was done on nForce2 chipset. Isn't that for Athlon XPs only? A quick google search didn't turn up anything.

silencetowrite · Post by **silencetowrite** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:39 pm

I haven't been able to find anything about the nforce4 chipset either. I'm sure Corsair is fine--they do make good RAM and as was said AMD notes that it's list is not complete. I just seem to remember reading a few post where people were having problems with Corsair and AMD--it could have been a defect that was fixed by an RMA. I keep looking for this post. (It's possible I dreamed it...I've been planning this computer for far too long
javascript:emoticon(':D'))

Anyway, I'm still leaning towards Geil, Crucial, and OCZ. I'm building my first system, and I want to eliminate potential problems wherever I can.

Also, it's good to know that CL2 will usual equal CL2.5 for AMD.

thanks for your replies.

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:11 pm

lenny wrote:I don't have any Corsair memory, so I can't give first hand experience. But according to the PDF, the testing was done on nForce2 chipset. Isn't that for Athlon XPs only? A quick google search didn't turn up anything.

According to the Corsair support forum, the 2.5 CAS applies to NF4 also.

Here is the exact advice I got from Corsair support for the Asus A8N-E NF4 motherboard using Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PT (2 X 512).

"Yes, I would set the Dim Voltage to 2.7X volts and you can use this a reference to set the timings:

Dim Voltage 2.7 Volts
CAS Latency CL=2.5
Row Cycle Time tRC Bios Default
Row Refresh Cyc Time tRFC Bios Default
Ras# to CAS# delay tRCD 3
Row to Row delay Bios Default
Min Ras# Active Time tRAS 6
Row Precharge Time tRP 3
Write Recovery Time Bios Default
Write to Read delay Bios Default
Read to Write Delay Bios Default
Refresh Period tREF Bios Default"