thanks Randall. I surely respect your pov on builds, you seem to be the go to guys round here. thanks again.

Any thoughts on buying a packaged 6x4GB RAM vs 2 separate 3x4GB sticks?

Thanks.

Prepackaged 6 x 4GB RAM has all six sticks tested together in the same system before packaging. By contrast, two separate 3 x 4GB packages have not been tested together, and are not guaranteed to work together at their advertised settings: Some packages may require loosening of the latency timings to higher-numbered setting and/or a reduction of the memory speed and/or a further bump in the DIMM and/or QPI voltages in order to run stably, while other separate packages might not work together at all at any speed or timings. (Although each separate kit has been tested together within kits.)

One disadvantage of buying a prepackaged 6 x 4GB RAM: You do pay a small price premium over buying separate packages. Therefore, you pay more for peace of mind.

Randall,

Unfortunately hexa kits are not usually tested, but come from the same production run, lessening the chances of mismatch. Testing is something seldom done in practice.

Harm,

That makes sense. Testing selected batches is up to the company branding those sticks.

On the other hand, buying two separate triple-stick packages increases the potential of getting two kits with completely different ICs and/or two completely different production batches that might not play well together, especially if the packages had been ordered online sight unseen.

I absolutely agree with that. If you can get hex-kits, go for it.

Thanks, Randall and Harm. I guess a corollary would be to stick with the same manufacturer, speed, and timings if you buy more RAM at a later date?

There is no guarantee that a kit bought months or years later would play nice with your system's existing RAM. This is because production batches and ICs are subject to change.

Ram or CPU
 

I am getting close to a purchase with CS5. Do I put my extra money in a six core CPU or 24 megs of Ram? In other words which one would give the most boost to the CS5 system?

First priority would be 24 GB, second a hexa core.

The reason not to get a single package of 6 sticks is if one fails under warranty, all 6 must be shipped back. I had a similar situation with a 3 pack of OCZ ram.

Same holds true when it comes to getting two packages of RAM that might not work together at all even if they both appear to be the exact same part number. Some years ago I bought two packages of the exact same brand and model of RAM that turned out to not work together at all at any speed. (Although each of the individual kits worked together within kits.) I ended up shipping both kits back because I did not want to take the risk of getting a replacement kit that might still not work at all with the kit I would have been keeping. (And as it turned out, had I shipped only one of the kits back, the reseller would have rejected the RMA anyway because compatibility issues are in their eyes insufficient to warrant a return. They told me that if I really wanted to return one kit of RAM simply because it wouldn't work properly or at all with another kit of the same brand and part number I purhased at the same time, I would have had to return both kits.)

just in case, If you want to have 24Gb RAM make sure your OS supports that, Win 7 home does not;
I have CS 5 installed on i7 930 2.8Ghz 12Gb RAM, it runs OK, but now I'm getting new PC and this time I'll get more RAM, really want SSD RAID 0 and for sure the best graphics card I can afford.

Hey Joe, hows that Six-core working out, is it a huge difference?