Whats the difference between these two Rams? Thinking of using a Q6600 processor, but I dont want to bottle next the CPU with slower ram. Would it be right in thinking as the Q6600 runs at 1066Mhz FSB that you would need to combine this with PC8500DDR2 ram thats also rated at 1066Mhz
i think you ment to put... 'Difference Between PC6400 & PC8500 Ram?' if so then dont worry, i use PC-6400 with my Q6600, all PC-8500 dose is to give more overclocking headroom, but most PC-6400 memory will overclock to 8500 speeds. PC-6400 = 800MHz PC-8500 = 1066MHz the Q6600 stock runs at 266MHz fsb but its quad pumped so it equals 1066Mhz forget this number. the memory rating is double the actual FSB speed, so PC-6400 800MHz is actually 400MHz so you can run a Q6600 (stock 9x266) at 9x400 which is still at the memorys stock speed. the only thing OC'd is the CPU. PC-8500 is for people who want 500+ FSB speeds and unless you got a decent motherboard and cooling its not really worth the cash. i would grab 4GB of PC-6400 as its still cheap as chips! maybe someone else can explan this better than i, i kinda rushed this as iv got to go to a lecture soon.
like burnout said, you can get away with 6400 ram with a q6600. There will still be overclocking room for the cpu with 6400 ram. But if you can find some faster ram for a cheap price, got for the faster stuff. it all comes down to how much you want to spend.
If I was to go ahead and buy this ram :- 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800MHz), Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, DHX. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=766626 Would this particular ram overclock to to 1066Mhz speeds? and what would be the difference to this one? 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18, DHX http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=767633
i have 2GB of that XMS2 stuff at 4-4-4-12, 800Mhz, and i can overclock it quite stably at 1.95v to 950Mhz but i have to reduce timings to 5-5-5-15 (this is with an AMD system tho, so how i get there will be very different). Any more than that (even lowering the CPU multiplier to remove it as the culprit) and it just won't boot. Running it at 900Mhz (Athlon X2 4200+ HTT @ 300 x 9 = 2.7 CPU. 2.7/6=450) i can keep the 4-4-4-12 timings tho, so i'd say if you want to go higher, pay a bit more and get the PC8500
