Ram - System Component Background Information

Ram Information
Once you have chosen your motherboard and CPU, the type of RAM you need to use is pretty well already defined. There remain two issues in your decision - the speed of the RAM and what amount of RAM you chose to purchase. Puget Systems sells only high quality RAM, and all of the brands / types we offer have lifetime warranties from their manufacturer!

When deciding how much RAM to buy, you need to think a little bit about what you plan on using your computer system for. If you plan to run many programs at once or work with large files, then you stand to receive large benefits by buying more RAM. We recommend a minimum of 2GB of memory for all of our systems, and the upper limit is only determined by your motherboard and operating system. Each motherboard will have a certain number of slots, each of which can support a certain size module – this will be shown on the specs page for each board, and our configuration tool will limit your choices accordingly. On the operating system side, 32-bit versions of Windows are restricted to about 3 – 3.5GB of memory at most; installing any more than 3 or 4GB if you plan to use one of those versions becomes a waste. 64-bit editions have a much higher maximum, effectively beyond what almost any motherboard can support; for more info on that topic check out this article.

There are three factors that affect the speed of memory, which are outlined below:

1) Memory type - DDR (double data rate), DDR2, DDR3, etc. Each new standard allows for higher bandwidth, discussed next, but usually at the cost of higher latency (the third factor). There are also other improvements made with each generation, though, which can contribute to better performance. The type of motherboard you have selected will make this choice for you, unless you want to go back and change that the only things that you need to be concerned about are the next two.

2) Bandwidth, measured in MB/s (PC3-12800, as an example, theoretically provides 12,800MB/s) or MHz (PC3-12800 is also known as DDR3-1600, for 1600MHz). The more bandwidth there is the more total memory can be moved around per second, which can help with some programs - but since all memory today is high-speed in this regard it doesn't make a massive difference.

3) Latency, measured in clock cycles. This will sometimes be broken out into several specs, like 8-8-8-24, or often just shortened to one - like CL8 (CAS Latency 8). Lower latency means that when a bit of data is requested it takes less time to find it, which translates to slightly faster overall performance. Often this can actually have a larger impact that memory bandwidth, but different applications are more sensitive to each aspect of memory performance.

Some specialized types of memory also have other attributes, like ECC (Error Checking and Correcting) or REG (Registered). Those usually only matter in servers and other specific situations, but if you have questions about them or any other part of configuring a computer please feel free to contact us.

Kingston 2GB DDR2-800 (2x1GB)

Kingston ValueRAM products are engineered to meet industry standard specifications and rigorously tested to ensure quality. Kingston ValueRAM is ideal for those who purchase memory by spec and are looking for competitvely priced memory that is 100-percent tested to meet industry specifications. We have also found it to be the most reliable line of memory out there, making it a great choice for every system.

If you have any questions, be sure to contact our sales consultants at sales@pugetsystems.com. They will be happy to help you find the right memory choice for your specific needs.

Puget Professional Advice:

Jon Bach (President) Says:
Kingston makes very dependable RAM. We have first hand experience with just about ever major manufacturer, and I can say quite confidently that Kingston is the ONLY manufacturer to have a significantly more reliable, consistent product.

Kingston 2GB DDR3-1333 (2x1GB)

Kingston 4GB DDR2-800 (2x2GB)

Puget Preferred Part!

Jon Bach (President) Says:
Kingston makes very dependable RAM. We have first hand experience with just about every major manufacturer, and I can say quite confidently that Kingston is the ONLY manufacturer to have a significantly more reliable, consistent product.

Wilson Chau (Customer Service) Says:
In the question of whether you should get quantity over quality, I definitely go with quantity in regards these memory. Although not quite as fast as the HyperX memory, these are extremely reliable.

Daniel Brown (Customer Support - Lead Technician) Says:
I run Kingston ValueRAM in my machines. HyperX is great if you're into overclocking, but otherwise it's just not worth the extra money IMO.

Kingston 4GB DDR3-1333 (2x2GB)

Puget Preferred Part!

Jon Bach (President) Says:
This is the most popular memory we sell, and with good reason. It is cheap, and EXTREMELY reliable. We're talking a factor of 10 better than any other brand we've sold. I'd use Kingston ValueRAM even over Kingston HyperX.

Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR3-1600 (2x2GB)

Kingston HyperX memory has been extensively tested at Puget Systems, and found to be the fastest, most reliable memory on the market. The failure rates are at least 5x better than any other brand we have tested. This DDR3 Kingston HyperX runs at a latecncy of 8-8-8 timings and offers unprecedented stability on the latest AMD and Intel platforms. We actually purchase DDR3-2000 memory and run it at DDR-1600 speeds, which we have found very effective in making the memory cool running and stable.

If you have any questions, be sure to contact our sales consultants at sales@pugetsystems.com. They will be happy to help you find the right memory choice for your specific needs.

See a problem on this page? Let us know.