Holiday Buyers Guide, Part I: CPUs, GPUs, Mobos, and RAM

Mainstream Gaming/Overclocking

The following kits are highly recommended for users who like to push their systems but are not into extreme overclocking or setting benchmark records. To be honest, most modules in this $65 to $100 range will work just fine from a wide of variety of suppliers from Corsair to OCZ. We picked out a few that we have personally used with good results.

DDR2-800 2x1GB Kits

Although this memory is not available with a rebate and costs more than our other recommendations, we have to give this memory a recommendation for flawless operation across every DDR2 board we have tested in our labs. The modules offer excellent overclocking capabilities for the money. This memory will run at DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 timings on 1.8V on most boards. We recommend bumping the voltage to 1.9V to ensure stability but we have not had to set the base voltage to 2.0V as recommended in any system. These modules are overclocking friendly with speeds up to DDR2-1000 at 4-4-4-12 timings on 2.0V. Our top overclock on the DFI P35 board is DDR2-1120 at 5-5-5-15 timings with 2.25V. We were also able to achieve 4-4-3-6 at DDR2-800 at 2.0V.

Patriot 2x1GB DDR2-800 CAS4 PDC22G6400LLk Kit - $39 with $40 rebate

Crucial 2x1GB DDR2-800 CAS4 Ballistic Kit - $50 with $40 rebate

OCZ 2x1GB DDR2-800 CAS4 Reaper HPC Kit - $56 with $35 rebate

Super Talent 2x1GB DDR2-800 CAS4 T800UX2GC4 Kit: $75

All five of these kits offer similar performance and overclocking capabilities, with the ability to run at least DDR2-1066 with relaxed timings and additional voltage. While the rebates are nice, we're all too aware of how often those seem to slip through the cracks. That's one more reason to stick with the G.Skill or SuperTalent modules, which have a lower price if you don't want to bother with a short-term loan to the manufacturer.

DDR2-1000 2x2GB Kits

These modules run at DDR2-1000 5-5-5-15 timings on 2.0V in the majority of our 680i, X38, and P35 boards. We have been able to overclock these modules to DDR2-1066 with 5-5-5-15 timings at 2.25V on some boards. The modules will also run at 4-4-4-12 DDR2-800 with 2.0V or 5-5-5-15 with 1.9V.

Overclocking Enthusiast - DDR2

We recommend the following kits for users who overclock their systems on a 24/7 basis and are interested in benchmarking. This category is extremely competitive but like the mainstream/overclocking section, these modules will satisfy a majority of users and come from the top suppliers.

DDR2-800 2x1GB Kits

G.Skill 2x1GB DDR2-800 CAS4 F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ Kit - $130

We may sound like a broken record, but again we have a set of memory from G.Skill that provides flawless operation across every DDR2 board we have tested with in our labs. The modules are Micron D9 based and offer excellent overclocking capabilities. This memory will run at DDR2-800 3-4-3-8 timings on 2.0V on most boards. These modules also reach speeds up to DDR2-1066 at 4-4-4-12 timings with 2.2V. Our top overclock on the DFI 680i board was DDR2-1160 at 5-5-5-18 timings with 2.30V.

DDR2-1066 2x1GB Kits

Corsair 2x1GB DDR2-1066 CAS5 Dominator Kit - $121 after $40 rebate

We have been utilizing this particular Corsair Dominator memory in our test systems for several months now. Their compatibility across a wide variety of chipsets has been flawless. We have been running these modules at DDR2-1066 at 5-4-4-12 timings with 2.1V. Our top overclock on the DFI 680i board is DDR2-1180 at 5-5-5-18 timings with 2.30V.

DDR2-1150 2x1GB Kits

This unique memory offers the choice of water or air-cooling and like the G.Skill and Corsair modules, their compatibility across a wide variety of motherboards has been flawless. We have been running these modules at DDR2-1066 at 5-4-4-12 timings with 2.1V. Our top overclock on the DFI 680i board is DDR2-1240 at 5-5-5-15 timings with 2.30V.

Here are a couple alternatives worth considering:

CellShock DDR2-1150: $270

Buffalo FiresStix DDR2-1200: $289

DDR2-800 2x2GB Kits

OCZ 2x2GB DDR2-800 CAS4 ReaperX Kit - $180

These modules run at DDR2-800 4-4-3-15 timings on 2.0V in several of the 680i, X38, and P35 boards. The modules will overclock to DDR2-1117 with 5-5-4-18 timings at 2.25V on the DFI P35 board. The interesting aspect is this DDR2-1117 overclock was accomplished with 8GB in Vista 64. If you plan to overclock an 8GB configuration, then these are the modules to have in your system. OCZ will introduce a DDR2-1000 kit shortly that should offer improved overclocking capabilities, something we are looking forward to seeing.

Overclocking Enthusiast - DDR3

At this time, we consider DDR3-1600 to be the base entry point for enthusiasts who want to go the DDR3 route. Just about all of the DDR3-1600 kits will clock up to DDR3-1800 with 2.0V, so we suggest purchasing a kit with CAS7 latency from a supplier you trust. We believe if you are going to spend the money on DDR3, then go ahead and purchase one of the DDR3-1800+ kits. We recently reviewed several DDR3-1800+ kits and came away with the opinion that all of the kits perform nearly the same. The reason for this is that all of these kits utilize the same Micron Z9 ICs.  There can be performance differences based upon custom SPDs and binning. Overall, we suggest buying the least expensive DDR3-18xx kit knowing you will probably get the same overall performance from the CellShock/Kingston products as you will from the more expensive OCZ/Corsair kits.

DDR3-1800 2x1GB Kits

We have been using 4GB of the Corsair DDR3-1800 Dominator memory in most of our DDR3 motherboard reviews and have been impressed with its performance on both the P35 and X38 platforms. Our best possible timings have occurred at DDR3-1840 with 7-7-7-18 timings on 2.0V in the X38 platform. We have also run this memory at 5-5-5-15 at DDR3-1333 with 1.70V. While the price is hard to swallow, the performance at times is intoxicating.

Other selections -

CellShock 2x1GB DDR3-1800 8-7-6-21 Kit - $421

Kingston KHX14400D3K2/2G - $444