RAM coice

daniel1979

daniel1979

daniel1979

Associate
Joined
19 Feb 2012
Posts
4
Could someone help me out with choosing a 4GB kit for a Asus P8H61-M PRO. Going to be using an i5-2400 mostly for online poker and running holdem manager databases.

The prices i've been looking at all seem to be in the same ball park of £20-£25. How much difference in perfrmance/quality is there within this price bracket?

Brands to avoid/seek out?

Also any recommendations on a 500GB HDD 7200rpm at a nice budget price would be hugely appreciated.

Cheers
Daniel (1st time builder!)
 
Welcome to the forums.

daniel1979 said:
Could someone help me out with choosing a 4GB kit for a Asus P8H61-M PRO.
Click to expand...

You can't go wrong with either Corsair XMS3 or Kingston HyperX Grey - they've been tried and tested in hundreds of similar setups across the forums. Both are quality sets and will run ~1.5V at optimum spec (But you may only be able to run them at 1333MHz on your MB - but this isn't a problem.)

If you have an old BIOS installed you may also want to consider falshing to the latest release as this will usually address memory compatibility issues and improve your chances of running the memory at anhigher frequency.

daniel1979 said:
Also any recommendations on a 500GB HDD 7200rpm at a nice budget price would be hugely appreciated.
Click to expand...

I personally like WD (western digital) as they make quality drives and have an excellent after sales (RMA) service - in my experience. Either the Caviar Blue or the Green - the Blue being the faster of the two and the Green being a tad slower but more economical to use and less heat.

You could also consider the Samsung F3 - their RMA process is UK based and this too is a proven quality drive.

Note that you could get a 1Tb WD green (twice the storage) for just £20 more...

Additional:

daniel1979 said:
(1st time builder!)
Click to expand...

What parts have you already bought/own?
 
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Plec said:
What parts have you already bought/own?
Click to expand...

So far i've purchased the following:
i5-2400
Asus P8H61-M PRO Rev 3.0

Things i'm probably going to purchase unless I can be convinced otherwise:
Antec 300 case
Corsair CX430 V2
Samsung SH-222B
Cooler Master Hyper 212+ CPU cooler (i5-2400 is OEM and came without fan or heatsink. Would consider changing this for something cheaper/better if need be)

+ RAM and HDD needed

May include a small SSD in the future if it's deemed necessary for my needs.
 
Thanks if they're both highly rated I'll pick up whichever's cheapest. The spec for my motherboard seems to be 1333/1066 MHz. Is there any point in me getting 1600MHz RAM. I'm guessing 1333 will be cheaper?

Also, do the rest of my parts seem ok?

Cheers
 
What OS have you got/will you be getting? For an extra £5 you could get 8gb RAM!!!

Edit: And the Gelid Tranquillo cooler gets better reviews and is a whole £1 cheaper!!
 
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Considering its only an extra £5 it won't be overkill.....call it future proofing!!! You probably won't need it for now, but for the money why the hell not!
 
The Gelid Tranquilo is an excellent cooler for the money as is the Hyper - but the Gelid would get the nod every time. It's an exceptional and quality cooler for the money (comes with its own tube of decent gunk too).

You could go for 8Gb of the Kingston Hyper X Blue - it operates at 1333Mhz and will function perfectly in your system. It is overkill - for now - but if you plan on keeping the system 'as is' for a few years it's the wiser investment dependent on what software you buy (as mentioned above call it future proofing - and the difference between 1333Mhz and 1600Mhz is negligible).

Plus, memory is memory, to a large degree, and if it's compatible it's better to have too much than too little.
 
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