Finding the best 4GB Memory for a Desktop

I'm looking to upgrade a machine of mine and I know one thing I would like 4GB RAM instead of the 1.5GB I've got at the moment. It's been a couple of years since I've even looked at RAM prices. I've recently brought a new PC Gaming System and reviewed it on Hubpages which is working like a dream. I would now like to network it up with my other computer that I'm going to put more RAM in so I can play Multi player games with friends. If you would like to read my review on the PC Gaming System the link is below.

So after having a look round the net I've found these companies that are selling RAM.

• PNY
• Kingston
• Corsair
• OCZ
• Patriot
• Crucial

Now half of these I've never heard of but Kingston and Crucial I have. The first thing to check is if your motherboard is capable of 4GB because a lot of oldish motherboards can only take up to 2GB. If you know your motherboard number you can easily type it into Google and find the specs on it. There it should tell you what type of RAM it takes and the maximum size of the RAM. If you don't know your motherboard number you can find it by either looking at it by opening the case or if your lucky your motherboard number might show up when you turn the computer on but it might be to fast for you read. There are utilities you can download if you don't like either of those 2 methods just type finding out my motherboard number into Google and you'll be able to find your best way there.

I have a MSI P6NGM-L motherboard that supports two 240-pin DDR DIMM sockets, designed to support a maximum memory size up to 4GB of DDR2 800/667/533 MHz Dual channel memory. So my first point of call is to check out PNY memory for these specs. After going to the PNY website i was surprised to find out these days the memory companies actually give you a list to select your motherboard that makes finding the correct memory a lot easier only problem was they didn't list my motherboard. So I decided to have a look on Amazon at PNY memory and came up with this,

PNY OPTIMA 4GB (2x2GB) Dual Channel Kit DDR2 667 MHz PC2-5300 Desktop DIMM Memory Modules MD4096KD2-667
Price $54.92

Now that to me looks like a brilliant deal 4GB for $54.92 blimey prices really have gone down these days. But it's only 667MHz and my motherboard can take 800Mhz now it would be real nice if I can get the top speed especially for the games. After looking a bit deeper I found this,

PNY Optima MD4096KD2-800 4GB 2x2GB Dual Channel Kit DDR2 800 MHz CL 5-5-5-15 PC2-6400 Desktop DIMM Memory Module
Price $48.99

Now this is 800Mhz but it's cheaper how does that work then maybe someone could explain that one to me. But hey it looks good so i'll go for that one but wait let's have a look at other manufacturers.

Next is Kingston now I remember Kingston because they've been around for years, the others probably have I just never noticed. So after having a look around I found this,

Kingston ValueRAM - Memory - 4 GB ( 2 x 2 GB ) - DIMM 240-pin - DDR2 - 800 MHz / PC2-6400 - CL6 - 1.8 V - unbuffered - non-ECC
Price $63.86

Now this has come up with something new unbuffered memory now just to remind myself what that was a quick look on Google told me this memory is faster than buffered, also buffered is more expensive and mainly used for servers. Now this is more expensive then the PNY memory but Kingston looks like it's getting good reviews so even though it's slightly more expensive I'd go with this one just because Kingstons reputation.

So onto Corsair we go, i've never heard of these but it's worth a look. So after a look around I found this,

Corsair Memory VS4GBKIT800D2 4 GB PC2-6400 800Mhz 240-pin DDR2 Dual Channel Desktop Memory 5-5-5-18
Price $60.34

Now trying to work out which to go for here is getting more difficult because which is better now again and had to remind myself about the latency timings the numbers 5-5-5-18 are all about the timings of the chips and the lower the better. So this chip is actually slower than the first chip. I can't find any timings on the second chip so I can't compare them.

Whilst checking out latency speeds I found this Youtube Video all about it,

Let's have a look at the OCZ memory, I've never heard of these either. After having a look I couldn't find any suitable RAM for my motherboard by this company.

So lets move onto Patriot memory and after a bit of searching I found this,

Patriot Extreme Performance Viper Series 4 GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit nVidia EPP Certified - PVS24G6400LLKN 4-4-4-12
Price $61.99

Now everything with this memory looks great and the thing that really sticks out is the latency timings. This memory is faster then the rest and nVidia EPP Certified. So this is looking like the best so far.

Next is Crucial and I found this one,
Crucial Technology BL2KIT25664AA80A 4GB Kit 2GBx2 Ballistix 240-Pin DIMM 4-4-4-12 Unbuffered NON-ECC DDR2-800 2.0V DDR2 PC2-6400 Memory Module
Price $53.99

Now this looks good unbuffered good latency times and from a company i've heard of. It looks the same specs as Patriot memory and it's cheaper. So I think this is the memory i'll be going for. It pays to have a real good look around at what your motherboard can take and what ram there is available. It is a daunting task trying to figure out what to buy but if you spend some hours on researching you'll find the best buy.