three6tee Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Greetings. First off I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for this service. I don’t know what I would probably do without a forum like this.. Onto my problem / questions.. I am building a gaming rig. This rig, however, is not used for any hardcore high intensity graphic games. This rig will be used to Play Everquest (similar to World of Warcraft) in multiple instances. An instance is a separate window for a separate account. In turn, this allows me to tab thru multiple instances of Everquest and play multiple characters at once on one computer. Each instance of everquest takes up about 400-500mb of ram. I wish to have anywhere from 4 to 7 instances of Everquest running at one time, at anytime. So doing simple math and playing it safe here… I think I can run 7 instances at 500mb each, winXP Pro, and I should be under 4 gigs at any time. Im not into overclocking, and am all about performance however. (please, by all means, correct me where and when I am wrong, or even if I might be wrong) So far I think I need (setup is below): - dual channel ddr2 - 4 gigs of memory - best performing memory My questions: 1. My Intel board supports 667 and 533 MHz DDR2 DIMMs according to manual. When doing the Corsair memory configuration, it says the best performance sticks are the [TWIN2X2048-6400 / DDR2-800 (XM2S-6400) / 5-5-5-12] - Are these sticks really going to work in my board since they are 800 mhz? 2. I have seen memory with better cas latencies, for example [TWIN2X2048-5400C4 / DDR2-675 (XM2S-5400C4) / 4-4-4-12] .. With my situation at hand, do I need to be going with memory with better cas latency? Or the best performance sticks, regardless of cas latency. 3. Browsing these forums, I saw that people who stuck 4gigs in their system a lot of times ran into problems. If I indeed go with 4 gigs in the end, and run into problems, will I be able to fix this so that all the memory gets allocated to everquest and windows? 4. Any idea why the platinum series of memory do not work on this mobo? 5. Where can I donate or give brownie points? I have been banging my head on my desk the last 48 hours or so trying to figure out the answers these 4 questions. Please let me know if I need to provide any other information. i would be happy too. SOrry for such a long post, but I feel like I had no where else to turn. Thank you again in advance. I am insanely happy I found this forum. _____________________________________ My system setup: - Intel Desktop Board D975XBX - Intel Pentium D 930 3ghz Dual Core - EVGA 7800 GT CO - WD raptor 36.7 10k (two) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandyKid Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 1. My Intel board supports 667 and 533 MHz DDR2 DIMMs according to manual. When doing the Corsair memory configuration, it says the best performance sticks are the [TWIN2X2048-6400 / DDR2-800 (XM2S-6400) / 5-5-5-12] - Are these sticks really going to work in my board since they are 800 mhz?Your board will actually underclock the memory to DDRII-667 since that's it's fastest default speed. As for the latencies, you may not be able to run the 5400C4's because of their tighter latencies, but they would be the better choice at the same time. Unfortunately, Intel boards don't usually give the option for increased memory voltage and all XMS modules require slightly above-spec voltages. I'd really suggest you look into buying Value Select modules of DDRII-5400 as they would run more reliably in your board, just make sure you get them all at the same time to get the best possible match between all four modules. Something like two packages of VS2GBKIT667D2 (2 x 1Gb apiece). 2. I have seen memory with better cas latencies, for example [TWIN2X2048-5400C4 / DDR2-675 (XM2S-5400C4) / 4-4-4-12] .. With my situation at hand, do I need to be going with memory with better cas latency? Or the best performance sticks, regardless of cas latency.As said above, Intel boards don't usually fair well with extremely tight latencies or modules that require increased voltages because their BIOS' are usually very restricted, not permitting the user to set such variables. I still suggest the VS kits. 3. Browsing these forums, I saw that people who stuck 4gigs in their system a lot of times ran into problems. If I indeed go with 4 gigs in the end, and run into problems, will I be able to fix this so that all the memory gets allocated to everquest and windows?You have to get very closely matched modules, all four of them. Running that many is hard on the system and difficult to manage for the memory controller, which is why problems arise. Make sure your PSU is sufficient and you should be alright. Note, however, that many users see only 3.xx Gb of memory when running 4 Gb total because of a hardware limitation. You should actually be able to use all of your memory, just not see it. 4. Any idea why the platinum series of memory do not work on this mobo?PT parts just have a different colored heat-spreader. That's it. NO OTHER DIFFERENCES EXIST. 5. Where can I donate or give brownie points? I have been banging my head on my desk the last 48 hours or so trying to figure out the answers these 4 questions.Brownie points are given wherever you see fit. Since these are support forums, we rarely get people who just say, "this is groovy, thanks so much," but they are nice to see for us all. Those of us who are not Corsair staff members (like myself) do this because we're nerds and like to do it. No money required. Donations may be given by way of reccommending Corsair to your friends and continuing to use their products. PLUR CK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three6tee Posted March 1, 2006 Author Share Posted March 1, 2006 Thank you very kindly for the responses. I am pretty sure the value select 2 gig kit is 5300 and not 5400 if I am not mistaken. Also, I was thinking about dropping down to 3 gigs instead of 4. I bought both the 2 gig value kit and the 2 gig 5400c4 kit to see how each works. A week the road I want to boost them up to at least 3gigs. For now, I will be trying the two different sets of 2 gig sticks and will run tests once built. I will keep the forum updated. More Questions: (/ducks!) - Value ram will still run in dual channel correct? - Can have 2x 1 gig sticks in dual channel, and 2x 512mb sitcks in dual channel? Just need to buy all 3 gigs at the same time for same sticks / revisions? Or does that depend ont he mobo? Thank you kindly, candykid and everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 5. Where can I donate or give brownie points? I have been banging my head on my desk the last 48 hours or so trying to figure out the answers these 4 questions.Brownie points are given wherever you see fit. Since these are support forums, we rarely get people who just say, "this is groovy, thanks so much," but they are nice to see for us all. Those of us who are not Corsair staff members (like myself) do this because we're nerds and like to do it. No money required. Donations may be given by way of reccommending Corsair to your friends and continuing to use their products.Ditto what CK said. Feel free to check out the non-Corsair area of the House of Help as well! Spread the word, we like visitors to all parts of the forum! Please let me know if I need to provide any other information. i would be happy too. SOrry for such a long post, but I feel like I had no where else to turn. Thank you again in advance. I am insanely happy I found this forum.Long posts are always welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandyKid Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Sorry for the response delay! - Value ram will still run in dual channel correct? Yes, value-ram will still run in dual channel, it's just not garaunteed to do so. In my experience, it usually does, but runs on looser latencies and doesn't overclock very well. - Can have 2x 1 gig sticks in dual channel, and 2x 512mb sitcks in dual channel? Just need to buy all 3 gigs at the same time for same sticks / revisions? Or does that depend ont he mobo? Using different types of modules is a bad idea. Size matters in this regard. Having all four modules exactly the same is the best idea, though what you say can be done. For best results with 2 x 1gb and 2 x 512mb, use the secondary channel for the 512's and run the 1GB's in the primary channel (DIMM 1 & 3, usually). Since most 512MB modules are still double-sided, they'll use different memory chips than the 1GB modules. This is where the difference occurs. Different chips operate in slightly different ways! PLUR CK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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