OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 SLI-Ready - A waste of money?

[Daze]

I've received my OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel memory this morning but, after reading a number of posts, I starting to think I've wasted my money. I must admit to being a little confused about the arguments for and against the various DDR2 speeds, but the bootom line appears to be that cheaper RAM should serve me just fine.

I have an EVGA NF680i board (it was cheaper than the Abit board) and, as the CPU (Intel E6600) runs on 1066MHz FSB, I though I should go for RAM of the same speed. Now I'm not so sure. I haven't opened the RAM yet, so I can still return it at the moment.

What RAM should I be going for? Should I go for PC6400 and save some money?

PC building used to be so much more straight forward...

 

[FarFarAway]

The RAM will see a slight increase in performance and FPS @ stock settings.. What's more to the point is that when you overclock you will be able to go further and OC easier.

Having said that PC6400 will do you ok

It all comes down to what you can afford. If you can afford better than buy it. If not get PC6400

 

[TJS]

With an E6600 cpu, DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) will give you all the overclocking headroom you need...

Meaning if you can get your E6600 to 3.6GHz, your RAM should be at 400MHz (can't remember the divider). Good luck getting there, if you can go higher with the cpu then the higher speed RAM is nice to have. As it is, can't go wrong with the PC2-6400.

TJS

 

[decade146]

PC2-6400

I recommend Buffalo Firesitx

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820150054

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