I'm putting together a Nehalem computer when everything is released, and specs so far are:
Asus P6T Deluxe MB
i7 920 CPU with hope of overclocking up to 4Ghz (but would be mighty happy with 3.8Ghz)
CPU cooler: True120 with modified clamps or OCZ product
my trusty 8800GTX video card running my current 2560 x 1600 res monitor
Antec 900 case for good cooling
750Watt PS
64 bit Vista Premium

My question is what recommendation do you have concerning DDR3 memory for the unit? I don't like to overspend where it's not necessary, but I crave a better MSFS X experience and was hoping for some guidance. Current plans:
3GB DDR3 (3 1GB chips) fastest speed available ...
or 6GB DDR3 (3 2GB chips) PC3 10666 speed

Any thoughts on which way to go would be appreciated.
Thx,
Papafox

Freedomhays and all,
Thanks for the link. I'm glad to see triple-channel kits are out, and I'm still debating the importance of memory speed. From what I have heard, faster memory addressing will be an important part of the speed advantage that Nehalem should offer in MSFS X. Any suggestions on the difference in MSFS X performance between this 1333 memory and 1600 or 1800 memory would be appreciated.

btw, I don't have a husky or more than one hour in a Navajo, but I have tons of time in 400 series Cessnas and a Portuguese Water Dog who supervises my flight simming. Cheers!

Unfortunately Intel threw out a curve with i7 which was not made public till a few weeks ago and you can not use typical DDR3 memory with it. It requires specific kits

go figure

I was not paying close attention being tied up with the GEX Eu project

Right now that CAS latency/speed with the new product is pretty poor however with i7 its not as debilitating and the potental for lower CAS perf is mych higher.

Here are the cherry values/speed

DDR3 1333 CAS 5 or 6

DDR3 1600 CAS 6 or 7

DDR3 1800 CAS 7 or 8

DDR3 2000 CAS 8 or 9

In the past any higher and you lose perf per clock but the offerings right now are only CAS 9 and as I said, i7 with quickpath will be much more performant with memory tweaking but is not as affected from the base with higher CAS due to the design.

Adding in another stick would typically mean losing CAS to stability.. same with going from 1x2GB to 2x2GB so the above target values would need to be increased by 1

There are plans for lower latency memory which will run between 1.65 and 1.70v however Intel has specific warnings about memory voltage and i7 which state above 1.6v is not reccomended as stated on the motherboard I have here. As for how far that will really go safe is to be seen. I expect 1.75v will probably be the max limit

It would be best to wait before purchasing i7 to give the market time to dial in support components like memory


I wont have time to build till possibly later this weekend and it will take me time to assess and set up after that. There is a learning curve for me as well as anyone else in this.


On the up side the cost of DDR3 will now drop

take Kingston for instance

KHX16000D3K3/3GX 3GB 2000MHz (CL9-9-9-27 @ 1.65v) kit of 3 optimized for XMP $ 334.00

KHX14900D3K3/3GX 3GB 1866MHz (CL9-9-9-27 @ 1.65v) kit of 3 optimized for XMP $ 317.00

KHX14400D3K3/3GX 3GB 1800MHz (CL9-9-9-27 @ 1.65v) kit of 3 optimized for XMP $ 312.00

KHX12800D3LLK3/3GX 3GB 1600MHz (CL8-8-8-24 @ 1.65v) kit of 3 optimized for XMP $ 285.00

KHX11000D3LLK3/3GX 3GB 1375MHz (CL7-7-7-20 @ 1.65v) kit of 3 optimized for XMP $ 192.00

KVR1333D3N9K3/6G 6GB 1333MHz (CL9-9-9 @ 1.5v) ValueRAM kit of 3 $ 240.00

KVR1333D3N9K3/3G 3GB 1333MHz (CL9-9-9 @ 1.5v) ValueRAM kit of 3 $ 132.00

KVR1066D3N7K3/6G 6GB 1066MHz (CL7-7-7 @ 1.5v) ValueRAM kit of 3 $ 240.00

KVR1066D3N7K3/3G 3GB 1066MHz (CL7-7-7 @ 1.5v) ValueRAM kit of 3 $ 132.00



I have spent a few grand on different DDR3 memory purchases over the last nearly 2 years so compared to that the cost is starting to drop.. but I dont see it becoming a mainstream player for another 4-6 months in price

It would be best to wait before purchasing i7 to give the market time to dial in