Ramblings, opinions, and general meanderings from the Deep South

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Flights of Memory

Two questions that come up on occasion are what is the best memory and what in the $%*#@!!!! is CAS latency?

Second question first: CAS stands for Column Access Strobe (sometime it's called Column Access Select). Latency is the time interval between stimulus and response. Let's further complicate this by throwing in RAS (Row Access Strobe). This is another factor that is involved in calculating the speed of the memory. Clock speed is also yet another factor considered in measuring memory speed. Then we can go on and on with single, dual or triple channel, number of pins, etc. You can read more at ExtremeTech. This will give you a chance to zombie-fy and melt in your chair if you are an average user. I had to get up and walk around for several minutes before the dizziness went away. Still think there are parts me me stuck to the chair...
THE BOTTOM LINE
It's probably safe to say that if you are going for max performance the lower the CAS latency figure the better. This is not applicable across the board. Most people that are average users can get by with the lower speed and probably never notice the difference. Gamers on the other hand will always research like the crazy nerds they are and find the fastest RAM available for their particular machine.

Now the First question: Many manufacturers make great RAM. You can always go to NewEgg find the memory you need and read the reviews. Good way to judge how others have reacted to a specific product. And believe me, geeks pull no punches. Personally I like Kingston Hyper-X RAM. One reason my latest lap-top was ordered with 4gigs of memory is that the pair of 8gig modules (actually 2 4gig sticks)is not yet available for my Qosmio laptop in Hyper-X or any other comparable brand unless you can spend $500.00. I'd just like to hold that much money in my hand before distributing to various institutions (elec company, water company, cell, etc.). Needless to say the 4gigs will definitely suffice for a while.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Shop around, ask people what they like especially if they use a computer that is similar to your own. Look for values at good sites. Check local office supply stores. Sometimes they have incredible values.

What's your opinions? Anyone prefer other brands (and why?)? Got any feelings about RAM shopping? Let me know by using the comments section. Be sure and get a professional technician to install the RAM if you are not sure of what you are doing. It's easy to crack a memory stick if not aligned properly. Hope this helps.

"Memory is like kitchen cabinet space or closet space -- you can never have too much!"
~Bill Wobblynife

9 comments:

Ashby Rhett Culpepper Jr. III Esq. said...

Well I liked HyperX for a long time and they developed the SLI Memory concept along with Nvidia.....................
Imagine my surprise when I was unable to find any SLI memory for my mobo. You can prolly find plenty of SLI memory in what was the then NEW ddr3 line but....Had to go with Corsair and it has been faultless.

Ashby Rhett Culpepper Jr. III Esq. said...

The memory that is the equivalent to the Corsair I am running is ABLE to run at the same speed but doesn't by default as such and to meet the standard that THEY set for SLI Memory. It must boot up as 1066. They are the ones that set the standard, yet they do not let their own memory run in it. Not that it can't, it can be made to just fine it just isn't detected as SLI memory.....Go figure.

dock said...

Wow! this is the type of info we need. Great knowledge that should help a lot of ppl. Great comment

Mudslingr said...

Most of the time I go with Kingston. They have great support. Had a stick that was bad and we didn't jump up to return by 30 day warranty at store. Called Kingston and they said ship it to them. They had another to us in less than a week. Also, been reading reviews on G-Skill and it seems to be pretty good and cheap too.

beagle said...

Don't forget Crucial.com - great ram, easy returns and pretty cheap prices including shipping.

Ashby Rhett Culpepper III said...

They are all pretty much good you just hafta do a lil research and find what works best with the rest of your hardware.

Dock said...

All good comments and great info for the folks out there reading!

Grasshoppa said...

Always have dug Crucial, but have also had superior luck and performance with PNY and Ultra. Do also hear great things about GSkill, though I've not tried it...yet.

dock said...

Yet another great comment. Nice to hear so many positive things said about memory experiences, lol. Thanks Hoppa!