4GB DDR2 Dims?

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nicc777

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Hi all - time for some serious after xmas shopping :D

Where do you suggest I find a couple of 4GB DIMMS? I am particularly interested in a solution for a "MSI Intel P45 Neo-F Motherboard" - would like to start with 2x4GB modules and upgrade to 16GB later in the year (budget issues). That's unless some one can point out a really good affordable reseller ;)

I also noted in a lot of places (MSI docs amongst others) that they state "To support 16GB max, please check the criteria at Intel website" - Now I have searched a bit, but I can't really find anything that I think I should worry about. Does anybody maybe have an idea of what the important message is?

BTW: i haven't bought the Motherboard yet, so if some one has a better option in te same price range I will be interested to here about it (price for the above mb is around R1400 from Take2)

If you are wondering - this machine will run a lot of virtual machines - so I'm not interested in sound and graphics and all that (yet).

Thanks all

Nico
 
This reminds me of a review I read where they compared a 4gb,6 and a 8gb system and there was no perceivable advantage to the 6 and 8gb systems. That and you will need a 64bit OS to address all that ram. Personally I think 4x2gb stick would suffice plenty....but thats just me :)
 
Zenbaas said:
there was no perceivable advantage to the 6 and 8gb systems... and you will need a 64bit OS to address all that ram....
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input, but as I mentioned I plan to run a number of VM's. You surprisingly run out of RAM quickly in these cases :eek:

I have a 4GB system, and with the base OS I can comfortably run about 3 to 5 VM's, depending on the RAM allocation and work load. My immediate need is for about 8 to 12 VM's (lab environment). Although 8GB might just do it, I really see myself going the extra 8GB very early in the new year.

As for 64bit - I run 64bit base OS all over the place. Only guest OS is 32 bits, but this is no problem.
 
please explain the need for 16gb or ram . . . are you gonna run a citrix server or something to that effect?
 
Lord Fubar said:
please explain the need for 16gb or ram . . . are you gonna run a citrix server or something to that effect?
Click to expand...

Virtual Machines - 8 to 12 of them - Lab environment (testing).

Typically all of them require 1GB with the type of apps I test/run (Database clustering, web clustering etc.)

I use this as a testbed before moving stuff to EC2 clouds.

After the server side testing, I also test a lot of different user end apps on Windows and Mac.

Cheers

Nico
 
nicc777 said:
Where do you suggest I find a couple of 4GB DIMMS?
Click to expand...

MSI says you can have four dimms, any DDR2 speed, up to a total of 16GB.

4x 4GB, 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-6400
or
2x 8GB kit (2GBx4), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-6400 memory

should get you going nicely. Or, if you really want to splash:

2x 8GB, 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 memory module
or
1x 16GB kit (8GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 memory module

You'll have to check if the board can deal with 8GB dimms though.

Zenbaas said:
This reminds me of a review I read where they compared a 4gb,6 and a 8gb system and there was no perceivable advantage to the 6 and 8gb systems.
Click to expand...

What did they benchmark? Games, Word, Excel and Outlook? There's a world beyond those limited applications. If you do anything that involves manipulating massive amounts of data (think databases, audio or video processing, graphics work, etc) you'll find that more memory is always better, even if at the cost of slightly slower memory or CPU.

Zenbaas said:
That and you will need a 64bit OS to address all that ram.
Click to expand...

Wrong. A 32bit OS can happily talk to memory over 4GB if the OS supports PAE.

The limitation in 32bit is that you can only allocate a theoretical maximum of 4GB per process. If you have an application that, by itself, needs more than 4GB, you need 64bit.
 
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BTW, friends in S.A. has ordered directly from Crucial before, so you should be able to if you can't source it locally.
 
I'm tempted to jump up to 8GB of ram next year, because like the OP said, virtual machines chew up ram like anything. Sometimes to be able to build a proper mini lab environment, you need more than 4 machines, and that kills those 4gigs quickly.
 
You're going to hate me for this, but I was wishing today I could put more than 128GB in the box I was working on. Just couldn't get it to do what I needed it to...
 
An update from Kingston

Hi - Kingston responded to a mail I send them, and here is their response (based on an MSI Intel P45 Neo-F Motherboard):

Based on the information about your motherboard you provided, our R&D department suggests the following memory:

KVR800D2N6K2/+++ (where +++ is the capacity)

Please note that this part number has not been tested directly with your motherboard and therefore we are unable to guarantee 100% compatibility. However, it is compatible with the specifications of your system.
Click to expand...

You have to get them in pairs - so 2x 4GB (as seen here) will set you back just over R3000 before shipping, import duties and taxes!

For me, that's not worth it yet, so it seems I will start off with 4x 2GB modules and see what prices are doing by the end of next year.

Thanks again for all the input from every one!
 
nicc777 said:
...will set you back just over R3000 before shipping, import duties and taxes!
Click to expand...

Be glad you're sourcing memory for a current PC - the memory is getting cheaper. I'm busy pimping my old Compaq notebook. It's a 12" lightweight that has a 1.2GHz Tualatin core P-III and USB2. In short, it compares pretty well to the current crop of netbooks. The only hassle is that it has only 256MB of memory. It can take 2x512mb, but this particular Compaq don't like generic memory, and the 3rd party dimms that are known to work, are around £60 a piece...
 
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