Memory Recommendations

[despot]

I'm starting a new build, as of now I have a AMD 5200 and a Asus M2N SLI Del and plan on running two vid cards. I've seen some companies advertise their products as SLI ready, is this just for advertising purposes or does it really matter? Also, seeing that this is somewhat of a budget build, what are some reliable companies with good prices to look into for ddr2 800. I've always gone with Kingston or Corsair on my previous builds but that was 5-6 years ago so I'm out of the loop as far as builds go and other memory companies.

[onebxr]

Corsair, OCZ, Mushkin. All of these are good reliable manufacturers. Check newegg for deals on these as DDR2 memory is pretty cheap right now.
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[simple_inhibition]

i like G-Skill as well as those that onebxr said above.

[gvblake22]

I'm quite sure the "SLI Certified" or "ATI Certified", etc. stuff is all marketing. Especially on an AMD platform as the memory controller isn't even a part of the chipset anymore, it is integrated onto the processor's core die space.

As for brand choices, the memory market is really starting to fill up with a lot of great manufacturers. Corsair, OCZ, Crucial, Kingston, and Mushkin are probably some of the most popular, well known brands. G-Skill, Super Talent, GeIL, Team Group, and Patriot are all great, lesser known brands. DDR2-800 is probably the more popular choice of memory speeds among the performance minded enthusiasts, but DDR2-667 will work just as good if you are strapped for cash. CAS 4 is also the way to go, especially with DDR2-667. The prices have dropped enough now that CAS 4 DDR2-800 memory is very reasonable. As for how much, that is going to greatly depend on how much you can afford to spend. But if you are looking to hold on to this memory for a while and run Vista, then 2GB is a good choice. But again, if you are pinching pennies and just want something to get you up and running with a solid rig, then a 1GB kit will still do you fine.

[One4yu2c]

As Blake stated, you're seeing marketing at it's best, or worst, depending on perspective (SLI, Crossfire, and Vista labeled kits - insert rolls eyes emoticon here).

My personal favorite RAM flavor is OCZ, as they generally rank high on the bang/buck factor, but also as Blake pointed out, there are several good companies to choose from. And pricing is at an all time low for DDR2, so you picked a great time to be in the market for RAM.

Do you plan to overclock?

[Jokerswild]

newegg just sent out a e-mail flyer with 2x1 gig of OCZ DDR2 800 for $120.99 after rebate and promo code discounts.

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

^ True that! Good deal. Super Talent also has 2GB RAM for about $100 too.
I'm voting OCZ Gold.

[despot]

THanks for the input everyone. As far as over clocking I'm not really sure yet. The system that I'm currently using is an old P4 system that I built in 2003 so I'm sure the improvements that I will allready see runninng stock will keep me happy for now.