Rich's Tongfamily

“Anandtech”:http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2312 covers the latest in RAM. The big news is that the price of fast PC3200 CL2 Ram is actually higher than PC3700-PC4000 CL2.5 ram, it seems like an upgrade in January recommendations are in order, specifically, going to:
* “Corsair TwinX 4400C2.5”:http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2312&p=19. This stuff is quite slow at DDR400, but at the top end of DDR550, it is the fastest around. One thing that is strange is various memory modules are faster at specific speed ranges (so you might find memory very fast at DDR400, but it slows down in comparison with others as you go higher). In this case, Corsair is slower at DDR400, but fast at DDR550.
* “Crucial Ballistix 3200”:http://crucial.com. This memory is very hard to find. Main place is on the crucial site itself, it is amazingly fast. The main thing is that even though it is only rated to PC3200 (DDR400), it is very fast and in fact when overclocked really holds its own. A good buy at $128 per stick from that site.
* “OCZ Gold Rev 3”:http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2215&p=14. This stuff does really well with Athlon 939 boards in particular the Neo2. Runs at at a native DDR466 but can get to DDR500 if the motherboard can take it. It is the slow at DDR400, but very fast in the middle range. This uses Samsung chips like the Corsair but the tuning and binning of chips is different.
The net is that you have to guess about where you are going to run your machines and then buy the appropriate ram.
Anand’s net recommendations:
bq. For the fastest memory speeds possible, Corsair TwinX1024-4400C25 is your choice. For best performance at DDR400 to DDR466, almost any other Samsung TCCD module will do a little better. For DDR400 at 2-2-2 and top-end performance a bit shy of this extraordinary Corsair memory, you can choose Geil PC3200 Ultra X, Crucial PC3200 Ballistix, OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev.2, PQI 3200 Turbo, or G. Skill TCCD.