Overpaying for RAM

[jasong]

Guys, I'm reading the latest Computer Power User magazine, and I just CANNOT figure this out. Maybe it's because I'm poor and care more about 24/7 crunching ability than the amount of time it takes to process video or how many fps DOOM 3 can get, but STILL...

Why would ANYONE want to pay 200-400% more for their RAM when the improvement, which the sticker price doesn't guarantee, is almost or totally(I only eyeballed the numbers) less than 10%, and is usually less than 5%?

Considering the price tag on these things($75, $222, $279.99(???), $300, and $170), these guys are damn close in performance.

For those of you who are wondering, the items were:

CM2X-5400C4PRO $222
Ballistix $279.99(OOOOO...I saved a penny :gone: )
HyperX DDR2 (PC2-5400) $300
PC2-5400 Gold $170
M378T6453FG0 $75

In the interest of people who hate bad formatting(namely myself), I'm going to request the first person who sees this, has a July 2005 copy of CPU magazine and a scanner to please scan the bottom of page 23 and post the image here.

[rsbriggs]

But you are missing timing specs - one of the most important being the CAS latency. CL2 versus CL3 is a 50% improvement.

So, what are the CL numbers for those?

[jasong]

Originally posted by rsbriggs
But you are missing timing specs - one of the most important being the CAS latency. CL2 versus CL3 is a 50% improvement.

So, what are the CL numbers for those?
Maybe this is stupid, but I'm not sure what CAS is. If you mean RAM timings, they are as follows:

5400C4 4-4-4-12
Ballistix 4-4-4-10
HyperX 4-4-4-10
PC2-5400 Gold 4-4-4-12
M378T6453FG0 4-4-4-12

Not much different. This is with each module being 667MHz.

[rsbriggs]

CAS stand for column-address-select. Basically RAM is a big matrix, and you address it via the row and column. So, you do a RAS (row address select) and a CAS (column address select), and the data is valid after however many clock cycles the latency specifies.

So, if you have CAS of 3, you have to wait three clock cycles after applying CAS before the data is valid. If you have a CAS of 2, you have to wait two clock cycles before the data is valid. The difference between CAS-2 and CAS-3 is quite significant. You have to wait 50% longer (one extra clock cycle) each time you access a CL-3 ram - making a CL-2 ram much faster.

The CAS latency is usually specified separately. But we're talking about DDR2 ram here, which is a bit different.

DDR2 5400 ram is spec'ed to be 4-4-4. That's part of the definition, but beyond that, I don't know a thing about DDR-2 ram. It's too new...

The OCZ PC2-5400 is about the most realistically priced and best ram on your list. I'd buy it, if I were buying DDR2, which I'm not, since I don't have any machines or motherboards that support DDR2. But OCZ makes consistently good memory.

The last and cheapest RAM on your list seems to only be available in Russia, and I don't believe the price is quoted in US dollars.

The CM2X-5400 on your list is quoted in Australian dollars. I can't find a US dollar price for it. Maybe someone else has done the research and knows more about DDR-2 prices in general and these specifically, but I haven't...

[jasong]

My faith in CPU magazine has been severely harmed. What am I to make of the rest of the articles with this looking me in the face.

I feel like someone gave me a birthday cake and it turned out to be icing covered doggy doo doo.

:cry:

[rsbriggs]

No reason to feel like that. Google is your friend - you can fact check nearly anything these days.

If something seems odd - Google it. You'll learn much in the process. If you don't understand something - Google it. You'll probably find more information about it than you ever dreamed was available....


The DDR-2 prices are typical of new, high end stuff - you pay a premium for being a pioneer, but eventually whatever it is becomes a commodity as more people jump in and the profit margins get smaller....

PCI Express comes to mind as being the same way right now...