My new build - Q9300 under $1500

[drew and not u]

If you want to stick with G.Skill here is a 4GB 1000MHz kit from them, which should give you more overclocking headroom. And it's the same price as their 800MHz kit.

Also, a side note to give you even more warm-fuzzy about the P5K-E, it's a rebadged P5K Deluxe. Only difference is the Deluxe has an extra heatsink and some bundled items. It really is a seriously rockin' board.

[b0nk3r]

Originally Posted by drew and not u

If you want to stick with G.Skill here is a 4GB 1000MHz kit from them, which should give you more overclocking headroom. And it's the same price as their 800MHz kit.

Also, a side note to give you even more warm-fuzzy about the P5K-E, it's a rebadged P5K Deluxe. Only difference is the Deluxe has an extra heatsink and some bundled items. It really is a seriously rockin' board.

TBH I don't know what is good or not in terms of memory. I'm really taking your guys' advice on these things so if you suggest something otherwise please let me know. Side not about overclocking, I probably will stick with the stock speeds.

So what would be the perfect 4GB ram without overclocking it for the P5K-E?

Btw, thanks for your vouch on this mb! :)

[theburan]

I'd go with either Newegg.com - mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory or Newegg.com - mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory, personally, the first one is a bit better value though.

(Mushkin has some awesome ram, and great support on their forums.)

[drew and not u]

A DDR2-800 kit, like the ones theburan listed, will do very well for you if not overclocking.

Since your board does support DDR2-1066 natively, you have the option to spend more on a 1000 or 1066 kit. This would offer two benefits. First, when at stock speeds it will offer a small performance increase vs DDR2-800. Second, if you do decide to overclock (it's one of those things that most people start out not intending to do, but inevitably end up trying) it will offer you more flexibility in terms of clock-speed headroom.

If you were trying to save some money in places where it would have the least impact, sticking with DDR2-800 would be your best bet, if you wanted immediate increased performance and flexibility for future tinkering, DDR2-1000 or 1066 would be a viable option.

In the end, IMO the G.Skill DDR2-1000 kit gives you the best of both worlds, priced only a couple bucks higher than the 800 kit, and should have no problem running at 1066.

[Hitman]

An even better value, Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX NVIDIA SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

[drew and not u]

That's a great kit but he's wanting a 4GB kit.

[Hitman]

Damn posted the wrong link,

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by drew and not u

A DDR2-800 kit, like the ones theburan listed, will do very well for you if not overclocking.

Since your board does support DDR2-1066 natively, you have the option to spend more on a 1000 or 1066 kit. This would offer two benefits. First, when at stock speeds it will offer a small performance increase vs DDR2-800. Second, if you do decide to overclock (it's one of those things that most people start out not intending to do, but inevitably end up trying) it will offer you more flexibility in terms of clock-speed headroom.

If you were trying to save some money in places where it would have the least impact, sticking with DDR2-800 would be your best bet, if you wanted immediate increased performance and flexibility for future tinkering, DDR2-1000 or 1066 would be a viable option.

In the end, IMO the G.Skill DDR2-1000 kit gives you the best of both worlds, priced only a couple bucks higher than the 800 kit, and should have no problem running at 1066.

I think you could be surprised if you expect them to run at 1066Mhz. Sometimes they're really on the limit of what they can do in terms of frequency and I think more often then not they will simply not do 1066Mhz.
If you look at Mushkin Redline XP2-8000 4GB review Daniel made you will see this kit tops out at 1035Mhz no matter what voltage used and that seems like some sort of "trend" for most DDR2-800 4-4-4-12/DDR2-1000 5-5-5-15 kits (which often use the same IC's simply with a different EPP profile).

[drew and not u]

True, but from the reviews I read of the G.Skill kit, 1066 is not an unreasonable expectation for that kit. Granted you never know for sure, but success was wide amongst reviews.

[b0nk3r]

Hey guys I made the purchase! Thanks a lot for your help.

I did exclude a monitor because I also purchased a PS3 today and that's all the money I had on hand lol.

Again, I appreciate all the advice you all have provided.

- Ryan