Are kingston HyperX or Corsair XMS worth the extra money?

[Vigilante]

As some of you know, my new pc has been giving me a bitch of a time running (mainly becuase my mobo sucks!). I want to buy good memory. Are XMS or HyperX worth the extra money? I'm starting with 512 mb for now..but i'll go to 1 gig within a month (if I dont have a new mobo by then). Thanks

 

[iamaelephant]

Actually I'm upgrading my RAM soon, so I would like an answer to this question aswell. Does higher quality RAM allow for better overclocking?

Also, another RAM related question - in Unreal Tournament 2004, I can run max details (Holy Shit settings) in every game mode except Onslaught (huge maps, lots of players), where I have to turn down my settings significantly. Will more RAM allow higher settings in Onslaught, or is this a CPU/video card issue?

My specs are...
Albatron KX600 Pro
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ @ 2.04GHz
512mb PC2700 Legend memory
MSI 9800 pro (R360 core) 128mb/256bit @ 435/378

Edit - Sorry for sorta hi-jacking the thread

 

[bosox188]

Hmm... maybe the ram will help it, your video card is fine, your processor is good, can't really find anything else that could be wrong. Your ram is only pc2700, so it's not as fast as pc3200, but I don't know. I guess it's because the Onslaught maps are just very big, maybe ram will help. And I'm not sure whether it's worth it to buy XMS or Hyper X, XMS 512 sticks cost about $130 I think, and that's almost enough to get 1GB of cheaper memory. Yeah they're probably better for overclocking, I don't know if they're faster, I'd say unless you have the money for everything top of the line, just stick with cheaper ram.

 

[The Terminator]

Yes, the quality of the XMS does lend itself to better overclocking, if you increase the timings and voltage some. If its worth it is another question, first can you afford it? and would you benefit/see a difference between this and cheaper RAM? You should do some research for benchmarks and reviews of memory to see what suites your needs and price range. Just google something like "Corsair XMS review" or along those lines.

Vigilante: Your mobo sucks? Why? Its the top socket 754 mobo available! Your not gonna get any better.

 

[blahblahblah]

two...no wait...three reasons for buying Really Frickin Expensive RAM™

1) You want to do some overclocking of your RAM (usually when you overclock your CPU)
2) You want lower latency's (timings). Really helpful for P4 systems, somewhat helpful for A64 systems and not helpful for Athlon XP systems.
3) You want to spend lots of your new computer.

 

[Malfunction]

Well, I've been told XMS is the way to go if you're not interested in doing extreme OCing, but if you are planning to OC alot, get the Kingston Hyper-X.

 

[ewilson248]

check my sig.. i am very happy with my memory.. i run it WAY over spec it is very durable..

 

[bosox188]

Yeah it's good memory, really durable and awesome for overclocking, but it is expensive, 1GB (2x512 cause it's cheaper and better) is like $245. OCZ is a good brand, try their performance series, it's better than normal ram and cheaper than XMS and HyperX, and it seems ok.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-898&depa=0

 

[Asus]

I generally look for CL2 RAM (E.G. 2-3-2-6) for any system I build. Only for a more value system will I buy CL2.5 and I won't touch CL3.

Did you buy an Athlon64 or a Sempron? XP or Duron? That's how I think of CL2 vs CL2.5 for memory. But that's not the same difference between P4 or Celeron, not at all.

A P4 2.8GHz with CL2 memory can outperform a P4 3.0GHz with CL2.5/3 memory depending on the application. I'll have to look up that comparison.
Generally if it is for a great system then I buy good memory while if I didn't spend a lot on the system then I'll go for the CL2.5 memory for cost savings.

I perfer Corsair for quality and speed while I perfer OCZ if I want to spend less while still getting performance with those lower timings.