Buyer's Guide - Mid-Range, January 2005

Memory Recommendations

With the three basic platforms from before, we end up with two memory options. At this point in time, we cannot see any reason to recommend less than 1 GB of RAM. All the platforms support dual-channel memory configurations, so we will be going with a 2x512MB setup. We still have a basic and an enthusiast RAM recommendation, but DDR2 gets left out.

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DDR RAM Recommendation:

Options for a more value oriented approach to system memory are pretty good, with most of the major brands being represented. We've gone with a Corsair Value Select Dual Pack, which includes two "matched" DIMMs rated at PC-3200 with CL2.5 timings. Tweakers might be able to get a little more performance out of them by increasing the voltage and lowering the timings, but gains are generally small enough that it's not a big deal.

If you can't find Corsair RAM where you live/shop, there are plenty of other options that can generally be trusted to run reliably. Mushkin, Crucial, Kingston, and OCZ top our list, but most of the major brands should work fine. In the mid-range sector, we would definitely steer clear of the generic "Name Brand!" memory that you can often find at lower prices, as compatibility and stability is dubious at best. If you can afford a $1250 computer system, there's no need to try and save $25 on the memory. In fact, for most people, we would recommend going the other way and spending a bit more for even higher quality RAM, but you should still be fine with our basic recommendation. There are a lot of good options in the $200 price range, with 2-3-2 and even 2-2-2 timings being available.

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DDR RAM Alternative:

For our performance DDR configuration, we chose some of the best performing RAM available for the platform - in this case, the Patriot PC-3200 RAM that uses Samsung TCCD chips. Truth be told, any of the DIMMs based on the Samsung TCCD chips will offer a lot of performance and overclocking headroom, but we prefer the models specified to run 2-2-2 timings at DDR400 over the versions that are binned for maximum clock speed - at least, for a non-overclocking configuration. This Patriot RAM was the cheapest 2-2-2 TCCD RAM that we could find, solidifying the recommendation. As with many other TCCD DIMMs, Patriot uses the BrainPower PCB, so there's little difference between this RAM and more expensive alternatives. If you want some other options, you can find all of the other Samsung TCCD modules that we've reviewed in green in our recent memory performance charts.