Confused about RAM. MHz VS Latency

V

vonfeldt7

New Member
I've looked into this, but not found my answer (including reading the RAM thread on CF).

I want 4GB of DDR2 RAM, preferably around $100. I've narrowed it down to CORSAIR XMS2 or G.SKILL. The Corsair is only 800MHz but the timings are 4-4-4-12, while the G.Skill is 1000MHz and the timings are 5-5-5-15.

What's better here? (What would be faster). The G.Skill is obviously faster...but it also has a higher latency...so does it cancel out or something?

I've always wondered about this, so hopefully someone can finally clear it up.
 
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Generally faster ram (mhz wise) will have higher latency. However, the G.skill will still be faster because it's 1000mhz. You can compare latencies only if the two ram has identical speed.
 
if you calculate how long a cycle is, they have equal timings

1/800 = 1.25 ns
1/1000 = 1 ns

4 * 1.25 ns = 5 ns
5 * 1 ns = 5 ns
 
Go for the G.Skill for sure! They make great overclocking RAM. I just discovered I can OC my RAM to 1066Mhz (5,5,5,15) on stock voltage! The stuff is supposed to run at 800Mhz. I have not tinkered with increasing the voltage or decreasing the latency, but I am very impressed with G.Skills product. I don't know if this OC headroom will carry over into the 1000 speed RAM, but generally Mhz are better than slighly lower timings. The ability to OC your RAM will help a lot with giving you options when OCing your CPU.
 
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