Choosing the right RAM

Simple question (answer might not be as simple though I'm afraid).

I'm planning to upgrade soon and have been looking at parts more often and whenever I get to the memories I get utterly confused T_T

From what I understand is that DDR2 PC6400 is the most commonly used ones, no?

What about PC8500? How big performance boost is there for twice the money?

I will most likely get a Q6600 CPU if it matters, and if so, is PC6400 the way to go still?

oh and about CAS Latency, how much better would a 4-4-4-12 be over a 5-5-5-18 module? When is it noticeable?


tl;dr: What memory should I be getting for a Q6600 based system?



Hope I made sense too sleepy for this but needed to know ^^; thanks

it depends on whether you have intel or AMD.

for intel, you're limited by your FSB in most cases. if you can get a 1:1 ratio with your base FSB and RAM, then you're good to go. (in your case, if your Q6600 can somehow run at 4x533mhz FSB, you'll reach 1:1 with PC8500 memory). intel processors also typically have larger cache sizes, which means you don't need particular fast memory.

for AMD, the sky is the limit. their hypertransport system greatly exceeds memory speeds, so the faster memory you can feed it, the greater the performance.

for your system. go with PC6400 at 4-4-4-12.

oki sweet, thanks a bunch