Holiday Buyers Guide, Part I: CPUs, GPUs, Mobos, and RAM
by Editorial Staff on November 21, 2007 2:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
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
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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.
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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
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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
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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:
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
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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
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23 Comments
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rudreshsj - Monday, June 16, 2008 - link
the last buyers guide was way back in november the market has substantially changed after that ... pls post a newer updated guide.THX
imperator3733 - Friday, November 30, 2007 - link
On page 2 in the part on the QX9650, you say that the QX9650 has "2x6MB vs. 2xMB on the Q6xx0". It should say "2x4MB", not "2xMB".ac3shi6h - Monday, November 26, 2007 - link
Just upgraded, everything from Newegg.Under $400******
GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 - $89
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition $129
MSI NX8600GTS Diamond Plus GeForce 8600GTS 256MB $149 -$20= $129
Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 PDC22G6400LLK 79 - 40= $39
*******
Total = $389,-
Can't beat this value in upgrading from 939 x2-4200+ with a 7800gs
3dmark05
OLD
3dmark = 6932
3d cpu = 6095
New (cpu @ 3ghz 15x multiplier)
3dmark = 12234
Cpu = 7422
Now I probably would have gotten better scores if I spend a little more, but at a 400 dollar budget I don't think I could have gotten any better then this. The only thing I forgot to order was a heatsink.. that bumped me up to 409,-... still though.. I couldn't find any sli capable deal for anything less...
AceY
strikeback03 - Monday, November 26, 2007 - link
We need to build a new computer to interface with our microscope for the lab. Don't need 3D capabilities to speak of, but does need to be able to run a pair of CRTs at 1600x1200 and have Firewire. I checked out the Gigabyte motherboard suggested with the Intel build, but the Gigabyte website says the DVI output cannot be used with an adapter to D-Sub. Can you confirm if this is true, or recommend any other boards that might fit the bill? Or should we just look for a discrete card for either graphics or Firewire?tshen83 - Saturday, November 24, 2007 - link
I agree that the 8800GT is in short supply. However the Radeon HD3870 is also in short supply, if not worse than the 8800GT.Look at the MSRP. AMD advertised 219 as the MSRP, however, newegg and buy.com both raised the price to 269. And you still cannot buy them.
It looks more and more that the HD3870 is here for benchmark purposes, whereas the HD3850 is really what AMD wants to sell. But the Radeon HD3850 is really slow, in my mind, not worth 180 dollars when the 8800GT 512MB is selling for $208:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/games/...">http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod...mp;dgc=C...
JarredWalton - Sunday, November 25, 2007 - link
We actually aren't too surprised, but the text was written last week when supply of 3850/3870 cards was better. That's why we state, "While we're on the topic of availability, we must say that we don't know how long AMD will continue to keep up with demand for the Radeon HD 3850/3870. As with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, many resellers are now backordered and we wouldn't be surprised to see prices begin climbing."JarredWalton - Sunday, November 25, 2007 - link
On a related note, Dell currently has a killer deal on an 8800 GT 512MB card. How long will it last, and how long will it take to get the card if you order right now? Well, those are questions we don't have answers to right now. Still, if you're interested in an 8800 GT card, http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Games/...">here's the link(I don't know if that's the correct way to link, and the link buttons appear to be broken. Anyway, you should at least be able to see the URL; go to Dell.com and search for 8800GT if you need to.]
FrankM - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
Am I the only one feeling that there's a bit of a gap between the IGPs and the ~$200 mainstream cards that you called "budget"? I sort of agree that there's not much worth getting between these extremes for current games, but 8600GT @ ~$100 runs OK on medium resolutions and settings, and also offloads HD-media from the CPU.Also, calling ~$200 cards "budget" is a bit weird. Not so long ago, that was mainstream, with budget being sub-$100...
JarredWalton - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
Well, we did mention them: "There are cheaper graphics cards that provide adequate performance and DirectX 10 support, but the difference in performance between the $100 you might spend on the Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB/GeForce 8600 GT 256MB and the HD 3850 is substantial. Let's not even get into a discussion of performance requirements for Crysis, Hellgate: London, or Unreal Tournament 3. Needless to say, there are plenty more titles coming out where $100 graphics cards will need to drop down to lower resolutions and medium detail settings in order to provide adequate performance."Chubbbs - Thursday, November 22, 2007 - link
"the G35 is next week"Yes, finally!! This is the platform I've been patiently waiting for. Not all enthusiasts are gamers. Some of us want a superior workstation without the cost, power consumption, acoustics, and binary blobs associated with discrete graphics. All we ask is for is modest composite and decode acceleration and a digital output (two would be nice). But that doesn't mean we don't want a premium ATX board with 8 SATAs, solid caps, and effective chipset radiators.
There *is* a retail market for a $150-200 motherboard with integrated graphics. In fact, if we're going to pay $200 or more for a motherboard, shouldn't we expect it to include onboard graphics? It's not like it precludes adding discrete graphics, and it offers a much lower power mode for those rare moments when you're not gaming. I look forward to AT's in-depth analysis of Intel's long-overdue foray into integrated graphics for the midrange performance market.