Right now I've got 1GB (2x512MB) Corsair XMS (Model: TWINX1024-3200LL) and I'm thinking about buying another GB. The problem is that I can't find the same RAM anywhere sold as a matched pair except one place that has it for US$343 and I bought it for $255 a year and a half ago. That price makes no sense to me and there's no way I'll pay it. Not only that, but oddly Corsair doesn't even list a product with that model number anymore. The RAM I've got runs at 2-3-2-6 and they don't seem to sell any PC3200 XMS modules in 512MB with those latencies anymore. That means that if I buy another set of Corsair XMS matched pairs, I'd have to run higher latencies. So my question is, should I shoot for the same latencies and buy a different brand of RAM or stick with Corsair and buy 2x512MB modules with higher latencies? I've never really had to think about it before as my previous machine was fine with 1GB and my other machines don't need to be very high performance. Any thoughts are appreciated.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ce=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=147&Submit=Property Take your pick. Some are rated 2-3-3-6 (hardly a lot higher), some 2-2-2-5. The 2-3-2-6 listed is registered ram, so avoid that. Or just grab a 2gb kit with cas2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...tyCodeValue=0&Submit=Property&SubCategory=147 Or even forget about timings with a 2gb kit and get something cheaper, the extra amount will probably make up for lower timings if you go that route.
After doing a little more research it seems the company that made the ICs for the LL RAM has since stopped producing them. According to a few people on the Corsair forums there are problems mixing modules with the ones I've got. And to quote "RAM GUY" who (i think) is a Corsair employee that gives support on the forums: That's the response he have someone else in exactly the same position as myself, same model numbers etc. This is pretty annoying. I really don't want to have to lose a ton of money by selling my RAM and then buying new RAM. I guess my only option is to keep an eye out for the same modules on eBay.
He kind of speaks the truth, but its not always as clear cut as that. One thing you could do is find equivalent modules from another company. The chips are CH5/6 looking at those timings so just look out for some other modules which also run CH5 chips. Having said that you should be ok just adding in another 2 modules to give 2 gigs tbh, it depends on you platfrom the performance hit/benefit's you'll get but don't see any massive issues. Remeber (and no offence intended here) Ram Guy is a corsair employee, so he's more likely to suggest new memory - 2GB modules over adding an extra 1gb.
Running with 4x 512, you may also have to drop back to 2T timing. I'd ebay the RAM you have, and invest in 2x1Gb kit.
