Purchase advice...

[PH3N0M]

I'm trying to decide whether I should upgrade my 4gb of DDR3-1333 to 8gb of the Corsair Dominator DDR3-1800, or pick up another GTX 285 for a 3-way SLI.

Does the ram fan really do any good or is it just a marketing gimmick?

Your advice would be appreciated.

 

[Yami]

Personally I'd get the 285 And maybe another 4GB of the 1333 RAM, not the 1800.

The fan is for if you're going to overclock the RAM, it can get REALLY hot in some cases.

 

[PH3N0M]

...And maybe another 4GB of the 1333 RAM, not the 1800.

The fan is for if you're going to overclock the RAM, it can get REALLY hot in some cases.

Well, all 4 slots in my mobo are full so I'd have to purchase 8gb of the DDR3-1333. As for the ram getting hot, I won't be overclocking so I won't have anything to worry about where the heat is concerned.

 

[philbar71]

dude you cant just overclock your ram?

mine is overclocked to 1600mhz at 7-7-7-20 with cpu at 3.6ghz, specs in sig.

 

[PH3N0M]

dude you cant just overclock your ram?

mine is overclocked to 1600mhz at 7-7-7-20 with cpu at 3.6ghz, specs in sig.

Yes, I could...but it would void the warranty on my pc if it were to fry anything. lol However, I'm not wanting to spend more than $600 so if I were to purchase 8gb of this -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145200

I could purchase the ram and the GTX 285. I'm not sure I'd notice a significant difference in the 1600 or 1800 anyway, considering all I do is play COD4 and a couple of others.

 

[Luke]

Does the ram fan really do any good or is it just a marketing gimmick?

I bought that ram cooler for my ram, and yes, it does a great job for cooling the ram...if your not ocing then it is not really needed but it is great to have if you are. It is kinda loud though...

 

[meat_helmet]

Personally i would not spend that much money just on ram, expecially considering you probably will hardly see any difference. Same with another gtx285...really i cant see anyone needing it, but i personally would get it over the ram.

What are your other system specs?

 

[PH3N0M]

My system specs are:

Vista x64
nForce 790i Ultra SLI
Q9550 @ 2.83ghz
4gb DDR3-1333
(2) XFX Black Edition GTX 285's in SLI
(2) 80gb Raptors in RAID0
(2) 80gb Caviars in RAID0
HP w2408h 24" @ 1920x1200

I'm wanting to upgrade my cpu to the QX9770 as well.

 

[PH3N0M]

I've been looking at this ram -

Newegg.com - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Will it still run in dual channel having only 3 dimms filled and the fourth empty?

 

[Gaviston]

With DDR2 I believe you need to fill 2 slots or 4. Wouldn't work with 3, or actually it just wouldn't be used at all.