How much does RAM quality and speed matter?

Inazuma

Inazuma

Inazuma

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I am in need of 8gb RAM DDR2 (4x2gb). I've seen prices ranging from £130 for cheapest and £190 as a mid-high end price. Now, my system is OC'd (Q6600 @ 3.4Ghz) and I'd like to keep it that way.

With the cheaper RAM (happens to be Dell ram), will I still be able to keep this same OC? How much does the quality and speed of RAM matter? Realistically, are we talking just seconds of time saving between low-end RAM and high-end RAM? What difference does the quality of parts make?
 
For your processor there would no point in purchasing DDR3 ram. A processor able to use DDR3 ram (i.e.Core i7) means it can access three ram blocks at the same time, but since your Q6600 can only access two ram blocks at the same time you would not see any difference in speed between the two.

So purchasing DDR2 ram will be your largest cost saver.

(I'll leave the explanation of the timing to someone else since I'm typing on my phone) :-)
 
That's right the 'Core ix' series CPU's can access three RAM blocks at the same time and hence take advantage of DDR3.

There are also AMD CPUs that can take advantage of DDR3, the phenom II I think is one but that's just off the top of my head.
 
Ok can we get back to answering my question :p How much does speed matter (i.e. the different clock speeds of DDR2 ram) and how much does the quality of parts matter?

Basically if I'm OCing, is it ok for me to go for the cheapest RAM or do I need to get the higher end goods?
 
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