Micron vs Promos IC's!

[hagatha]

I know that the Promos IC's are crap and oc very poorly, and I've been reading about how Corsair has changed its IC's to Promos, is there a memory brand that guarantees that it uses the good stuff (Mircon)??

How can you tell if your chips are one or the other?
I'm building using the 680i board and an e6600, and would like some quality memory at a minimum of 800, and 1066 would be even better!

I'm not sure if I can trust Corsair now!!!

Thanks
Lee

[newbuilder14]

My Corsair memory just said Corsair on the memory sectors.

[Mr.Ferrari]

He means ICs. You cant see your IC in cpuz.

Micron and promos are the two big names in ddr2 right now. When conroe and am2 first came out, there were many issues due primarily to the fact that the current ddr2 memory was having major issues with the platforms. That memory ic being Infineon.

The most common micron you will find is D9GMH. Low binned versions of this IC can be seen in some <$250 modules. And high binned stuff is found in the 260-350 range. And beyond that the king in $$$ memory is D9GKX or D9GQT. Which are some of the highest overclocking ICs in the world at the moment.

Now Micron has its closest relations with Crucial. Therefore crucial gets a lot of their High binned stuff at great prices.

Promos low binned is usually used in Value ram. And high binned versions of their ICs are used in some more higher quality modules. OCZ and Corsair use this IC alot.
OCZ in their platinum XTC kits with the 4-4-4-12 timings. And corsair in all of their Cas 5 kits.

A while back you could get some awesome D9GMH in their Cas 4 kit. But due to costs of memory shooting up. They instead opted for some very high binned Promos. So stay away.

I can gurantee D9 in their CAS 3 stuff.

BUT if your truely looking for some bang for the buck Micron D9, stay AWAY from Corsair.

Before I suggest some...

What is your price range?
2gb or 1gb?

And FYI 680i is been a bit odd with memory. So I cant gurantee that your memory wont be killed by the motherboard. If you want to overclock, I suggest the P5B Deluxe.

[newbuilder14]

What does IC stand for? Also, are you sure it can be found in CPUz? - I sure don't see it.

[Mr.Ferrari]

IC are the individual chips inside your memory modules. The only way to see them is too look at them yourself.
Literally means Integrated Circuit.

[newbuilder14]

In that case, mine just say Corsair - so I guess that means it is Promos unfortunately - not sure how much overclocking I will be doing. :D

[jgis19]

IC =integrated curcuit

[hagatha]

Thanks, Mr Ferrari....

I'm building a quality rig that has been thought through... I have a budget, but if the quality is there without being way over priced, I'm going for it.

I'm looking at a 2gig kit, at a min of DDR2 800, and preferably 1000 or 1066. I really like making my purchases from the egg, but if I have to else where I will. And hopefully it will be sli ready. Ive been looking at Crucial Ballistix...?

This is what I have so far.

e6600
evga 680i
evga 8800gs (sli in very near future)
enermax 850 psu
4 seagate 250's (2 in raid 0)
Tt Kandalf
Swiftech water cooled (cpu now, vga when I go sli)

Thanks
Lee

[Mr.Ferrari]

Well see with any motherboard regardless, especially the 680i, when I suggest overclocking memory I can never gurantee 100% compatibility. Thats just a part of overclocking.

Now just fyi, I know of some DDR 667 memory that can go to DDR 1000+. So I never go by rated memory speeds.

With no specified budget, the following are my favorite overclocking D9GMH based memories:

Crucial Ballistix REV. 2 DDR2 1000 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146563)
Classic ballistix. High binned D9GMH. Easily capable of ddr2 800 @3-3-3-8 with 2.2v.

Super Talent DDR2 800 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820609026)
D9GMH. Of decent binning.

G.Skill HZ DDR2 800 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231065)
One of the first to become popular for the use of D9. This particular stick uses D9GMH. Very consistent clocks.

OCZ Platinum DDR2 1000 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227091)
A little more expensive then the rest. But uses famed D9GKX. TOP micron IC.

[hagatha]

I like the looks of the OCZ, and the price is not out of the question, its just a matter of availability. I went to the OCZ site at zoomed in on this pair...

opinion?

OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel

I would like to find a quality memory that is SLI ready....

Thanks
Lee

[newbuilder14]

That is way more than I like to spend on RAM, but that is just me.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Hagatha, the 8500 Sli and the 8000 one that I suggested are exactly the same ICs.

Micron D9GKX.

Keep in mind that it hasnt exactly been released, but it will be around $400-410.

Now that being said. Are you sure you will use the potential of these rams? These are the kinda of modules that I would suggest to somebody who has much experiance and is very serious about overclocking.

These sticks are the ones usually used for record overclocks. For example..some of the stuff I suggest will be hitting ddr2 1100-1300.

And also keep in mind that your motherboard, tops out at around 400 and if your LUCKY, 450FSB.

That equates to at a MAXIMUM of DDR2 800-900.

That is way more than I like to spend on RAM, but that is just me.
Overclocking ram and value ram are two different things.

[chuck4456]

VALUE RAM falls flat on its face if you tighten down on it. CRUCIAL PC28000 DDR21000 is the most solid of those options. I'd look at another board if all I could get was 400 and maybe 450 if I was lucky. That's a lot of bucks for hardware that "iffy".

[whubbard]

I know somebody who is an engineer at Micron; she gets too look at wafers with electron microscopes and do all these sweet things. I believe she recently was telling me that they were making memory for corsair, but maybe I am dead wrong.
Just putting it out there

[Mr.Ferrari]

Nobody "makes" memory persay. But manufactures like Micron, Samsung, Infineon, ProMos, and Winbond make those individual memory chips or "IC"s. They supply the ICs to people like Corsair and Crucial who actually assemble the chips on the pcb.

By the way they dont make the PCB either. Thats supplied by people such as Brainpower.

So yeah they do supply chips for some of corsairs kits. More specifically their Cas3 DDR2 800 sticks and all of their DDR2 1000 kits.

:)

[hagatha]

Mr Ferrari,

Thanks for the education on memory. I'm going take your advice and go with the Crucial Ballistix REV. 2 DDR2 1000. They will allow me to, oc to the potential of the board, and when I make the change to Vista, I'll get another 2gigs and it won't break the bank.

I'm just a little leery of Corsair right now with all the rumors of them using "the other" IC's.

Thanks again and I'll let you know how the oc'ing is going when I get all put together!

Lee

[hagatha]

I found a link to this document, what do you think?

http://ramlist.ath.cx/ddr2/

[Mr.Ferrari]

One or two of them are a bit dated, but awesome list!

Also one more thing, what powersupply do you plan to use with this setup?

[hagatha]

The PSU I have for the new rig is the ENERMAX Galaxy EGA850EWL ATX 850W, It was this one or the Tt Tough Power 850, and with the rep Tt has had with PSU's I decided on Enermax.

I was looking for quality but also modular cables too. Any other suggestions? I haven't placed the order yet so all my choices are still fluid.

Thanks again.
Lee

[Mr.Ferrari]

Oh well the Enermax 850W is one heck of a psu. Should handle your setup and then some.

Some other good/better options:
Silverstone ST85ZF 850W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817256007) $280

And the same one is over HERE (http://www.sundialmicro.com/silverstone_power_supply_sstst85zf_1837_776.html) for ~$50 bucks less:

Zippy 850W (http://store.myaopen.com/psl6850p.html) $322
*loud

Zippy being arguably the best psu manufacturer in the world, and unarguably the most highest quality psu manufacturer in the world. However it is a server psu and therefore it is loud.

I would personally go for the Silverstone ST85ZF.