Suggestions on which RAM to buy

Paindriver · Post by **Paindriver** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:32 am

I have ASUS "A7N8X-X" mobo with 512mb Samsung RAM in it. I will be taking this RAM out to put in another computer.

I want to buy new RAM (1gig). So i need some suggestions as to what ram to get. I mainly use this computer for gaming....mainly playing WoW right now. Also, should i get 1 stick (1gig) or 2 sticks (512mb)?

T.I.A

RicRogue · Post by **RicRogue** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:50 am

Paindriver wrote:I have ASUS "A7N8X-X" mobo with 512mb Samsung RAM in it. I will be taking this RAM out to put in another computer.

I want to buy new RAM (1gig). So i need some suggestions as to what ram to get. I mainly use this computer for gaming....mainly playing WoW right now. Also, should i get 1 stick (1gig) or 2 sticks (512mb)?

T.I.A

What processor do you have?

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 1:27 pm

I believe the A7N8X-X is single channel memory, so no benefit with paired RAM.

You can put a total of 3 GB RAM on that board, so consider whether you will ultimately want to increase the 1GB...

Although, I don't see that ASUS has tested and certified any brand of 1GB stick for it... (Some people only like to use manufacturer tested RAM). I use good quality RAM (usually Mushkin or Corsair) and haven't had problems with them not playing nice.

Your choice, 1 stick of 1GB or 2 of 512, either should give the same performance...

http://www.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=A7N8X-X&langs=01

nepenthe · Post by **nepenthe** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:41 pm

I was under the impression that all nforce2 boards were dual channel memory.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 1:47 am

Me too nepenthe.

ANd yes for that board only get what it recomends on the site Ken posted, the board is very picky with memory.

triniwasp · Post by **triniwasp** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 2:12 am

Crucial

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 2:56 am

Crucial, or Crucials high performance Ballistix if you wish to really push your overclocking.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts. ... &submit=Go

3x banks of 1.

nepenthe · Post by **nepenthe** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 11:32 pm

YARDofSTUF wrote:Me too nepenthe.

ANd yes for that board only get what it recomends on the site Ken posted, the board is very picky with memory.

I have an A7N8X. It presently is running a 2500+ at 3200+ speeds with GEIL memory.

david

fords8 · Post by **fords8** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 2:17 am

Nvidia Features and Benefits from there website for the nforce2.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 5:28 am

nepenthe wrote:I have an A7N8X. It presently is running a 2500+ at 3200+ speeds with GEIL memory.

david

have the board to also with geil in it, just a 256 meg stick tho.

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 11:06 am

nepenthe wrote:I was under the impression that all nforce2 boards were dual channel memory.

YARDofSTUF wrote:Me too nepenthe.

ANd yes for that board only get what it recomends on the site Ken posted, the board is very picky with memory.

Not all... The chipset has the dual channel support, however, that specific board does not... The A7N8X "-X" is a budget board of that chipset and only has single channel memory...
Note how you see no reference to dual channel on the ASUS A7N8X-X product page... ]http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socketa ... erview.htm[/url]

http://www.lostcircuits.com/motherboard/asus_a7n8x-x/
This article explains it well...

ASUS A7N8X-X Single Channel nForce2

Undisputed leader amongst the 32bit Athlon platforms is currently nVidia's nForce2 chipset sporting dual independent memory controllers that are believed to be a key to the untouchable performance of this core logic. Surprising, therefore, has been the release of a recent wave of single channel nForce boards by Soltek, ASUS and others that are competing against the VIA and SIS solutions at the very low end of the market. Even more surprising have been reports showing that those boards were actually outperforming the full versions that, at least in theory, offer twice the bandwidth of a single memory channel design.

We have seen in some of our own testings that under certain conditions, a single channel mode can be marginally faster than a dual channel configuration on the same board. However, these results were restricted to some synthetic benchmarks and, furthermore, did not take into account that the second controller was still there. Moreover, the two controllers were still governed by the arbiter. In order to get to the bottom of this and separate the facts from fiction, we have taken two samples of the same board, that is, the ASUS A7N8X and its "crippled" brother, the A7N8X-X and pitted them against each other. So, which one turned out to be the winner?

http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/review.php?id=03boardnforce20asus0000a7n8xx000105

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 11:12 am

I would go with SCat's Crucial on this board. The RAM that they spec for the board has probably been tested by them. If it didn't work, I am sure that Crucial would exchange it... As Yardy mentioned, the budget boards do not always play nice and cooperate...

nepenthe · Post by **nepenthe** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 12:36 pm

Ken,

Well then, it is a tiger of an altered stripe, good catch.

david

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 1:03 pm

Ken wrote:I would go with SCat's Crucial on this board. The RAM that they spec for the board has probably been tested by them. If it didn't work, I am sure that Crucial would exchange it... As Yardy mentioned, the budget boards do not always play nice and cooperate...

Ya crucial will match it up and garantee it so thats not a bad choice either.

I thought this was the deluxe board! my bad

Massa · Post by **Massa** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:08 pm

Yeah,

The actual difference is also the fact that the nForce 2 that doesnt have soundstorm is usually the one that they have single channel ram on. I believe that at this point in time though the regular ones are the same price...

AMPLIFRIER · Post by **AMPLIFRIER** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 5:32 pm

Crucial or corsair...i have 1gig of the xms series i love it

AMP