Written: 9/15/99
Written by: Moto Racer®
Micron PC100 Ram Supplied by: AMK Services
Corsair PC133 Ram Supplied by: Corsair

We've been hearing lots of talk about PC-133 RAM and how if you're running an overclocked system, you should be using it. But is this really true? Do you need to use PC-133 RAM on an overclocked system? What advantage, if any, does PC-133 RAM make? That's what this article will try to find out.

Thanks goes out to Corsair for supplying me with a strip of their PC-133 SDRAM. Another thank you to AMK Services for tossing the Micron PC100 SDRAM into the comparison. Both PC-100 and PC-133 RAM strips use Micron RAM chips. The PC-100 is rated at 8ns and the PC-133 is rated at 7.5ns. With an 8ns speed, the Micron PC100 is really PC-125 RAM. You can work this out yourself by taking 1000 and dividing it by 8 (1000/8=125).

RAM prices has gone though the roof in the last few weeks. When I check yesterday, a strip of 128 meg PC-133 Corsair was selling for more than double what it was just 2 months ago. The Micron PC100 is also more than double what it use to sell for. Why is RAM prices going so high? Well according The Register, it's simple supply and demand:

The unthinkable is happening in the DRAM market: prices are shooting skywards. A modest increase in the last couple of months has been eclipsed by spot market prices hitting $15 only two days ago, according to DRAM price gurus ICIS-LOR.

Last week the value of DRAM on the spot market doubled, in the last two months it had gone up by a third. The reason being cited for this sudden increase in prices is a straightforward lack of supply.

In the wake of painfully low prices, caused by manufacturers churning out memory like there was no tomorrow (and for some of them there really was no tomorrow) many DRAM makers have cut back on production.

Following the inexorable laws of supply and demand, a lack of supply at a time when demand is still healthy, has seen prices go up.

The difference in price between PC-100 RAM and PC-133 RAM is about $30. Is this extra money worth spending? Let's find out.

Next page: The test setup

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