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To install 4GB, or not to install 4GB, that is the question.

INTRODUCTION

 

I remember not long ago, I would inform people how much of a performance boost I received in games, when I upgraded from 1GB to 2GB for my gaming rig. I remember being ridiculed for suggesting it in the first place, as the 1GB was still considered the sweet spot for games and general system performance. However, as people bought into the idea most noticed a vast improvement in battlefield 2, especially in map loading times between rounds. Well that time is upon us again, where the sweet spot is once again going to shift. 2GB has been the sweet spot for some time now, but Vista the sluggish beast it is, can see some benefit from the move to 4GB under the 64Bit version.

 

 Besides just the overall capacity size, another shift is in the works from DDR2 to DDR3. Prices were too astronomical to really consider it before, but as manufactures are cranking up production, it’s falling into a reasonable price range for users. In some scenarios, as in with the NVIDIA 790i Ultra SLI chipset, DDR3 is now your only option.

 

G.Skill has recognized this growing trend, and brought their own answer to the market in the form of a PC3-12800(DDR3-1600) 4GB kit with tight performance timings of 7-7-7-18. Most 4GB kits on the market in this speed range fall into the 9-9-9-28 timing category. This Kit does use higher stock voltages to achieve this rating (1.9V vs. 1.5V), but with the massive heat spreaders G.Skill provided this kit with, it never went beyond warm to the touch on our test bed. So let’s dig in and see if there is any advantage to upgrading to this ram.

The labelling and classification of DDR3 memory can be a little confusing at times, but I'll try and give you some DDR3 terminology ... More information can be found HERE

 - PC3-6400 : DDR3-800 : 200FSB : 400Mhz (800Mhz)
 - PC3-8500 : DDR3-1066 : 266FSB : 533Mhz (1066Mhz)
 - PC3-10666 : DDR3-1333 : 333FSB : 667Mhz (1333Mhz)
 - PC3-12800 : DDR3-1600 : 400FSB : 800Mhz (1600Mhz)
 - PC3-14400 : DDR3-1800 : 450FSB : 900Mhz (1800Mhz)
 - PC3-16000 : DDR3-2000 : 500FSB : 1000Mhz (2000Mhz)

 So let’s dig in and see if there is any advantage to upgrading to this ram...