I recently built my new system with 512MB of memory because my old memory sticks were not compatible with the new motherboard (it required PC3200 sticks).

So I went to Circuit City and bought two Kingston 512MB PC3200 memory sticks at $99.99 each. I mean, nowadays you cannot expect much from cheap memory, so I thought I should just get memory sticks that can provide me with the performance I need and crave. These sticks are CL3.0 (memory clock latency timing) but I have that reduced to CL2.0. But with my Centon 512MB PC3200 CL2.5 stick and these Kingston sticks combined I am averaging CL2.5. This is still good enough for me as I am happy with my systems performance. With my new system (AMD Athlon 64 4000+ processor on Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard) overclocked to 2.64GHz (normal 2.40GHz), it beats the AMD Athlon 64 FX 55 (2.60 GHz) in performance by about 5 percent.


WHAT I LOOK FOR WHEN PURCHASING RAM?
When purchasing anything you have to know what questions you need to ask to be able to get the best possible product for the best possible price. Here are some things I ask or look for before making the purchase:

1. How many megabytes?
I usually prefer and look for memory sticks that are at least 512MB or more. I have read somewhere if you combine multiple low capacity memory sticks, the overall performance will be lower.

2. What is the Clock Latency?
To me this is the second most important thing to look for in any memory stick because I like to overclock and you need good memory to be able to achieve faster but stable processor speeds.

3. Will it be compatible with my system?
You have to know what kind of memory you ware looking for: DDR, DDR 2, DDR 3, etc. You can find this out by reading your system motherboard specifications or by looking at your existing memory sticks. If you install incorrect memory sticks you may damage your system or you system may not work properly.

4. How easy is it to overclock?
How does it overclock; does it heat up or is it stable enough when you overclock your system? You can read reviews and talk to someone who has experience with it to get this information.

5. How much is it?
The price tag is the last thing I look at to make sure you are getting the best quality for the money you will be spending. No one wants to spend a lot of money on something that will not increase your overall system performance.