4-4-4-12 worth $20 over 5-5-5-15?

I think the cheaper RAM should do fine, I mean you'll only see the difference in benchmarking programs, otherwise, they should perform relatively equal.
 
Looking at 2 pieces of RAM. Is it worth the extra money for the faster one? I want to do some OC to my processor too when I get my 650i mobo.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231087
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

To be honest, memory timings have a very small impact relative to other hardware tweaks. The only thing I'd keep in mind is that the quicker memory timing modules are more likely to overclock above their specification if you give them some memory timing slack.

The timings impact on an intel system is even smaller than that on an AMD system, primeraly because the NorthBridge used in Intel setups create an additional latency bottleneck over the AMD integrated memory controller. Even then, the performance boost in AMD setups is in the tiny 1-2% margin, and thats only in benchmarks, not the real world.

What I'd recomend if you could, is spend that money or a little extra on higer clocking ram, coz if you want to overclock a E6300, your gonna need to push the FSB high for a decent overclock as the Multiple clock is fixed. That why I've a E4300. Same chip basically, slower Stock FSB, higher Multiple.
 
Again, it's all down to how your clocking it. Upping the DDR FSB from 666 to 800 should give you a nice overclock with the cheaper ram. it'll probably go to 850 noprobs giving you a nicer clock. But keep in mind you need the motherboard to make this possible. What are you considering using? If sticking with the ECS, what's the chipset and the highest FSB it can pump out?
 
No, I am getting the MSI 650i. So we shall see, but that ram is at 800 and one of the reviewers said he got it too 950 or somthing like that.
 
To answer your question, I personally don't think it's worth it, but it does slightly yield better overclocking potential.

But... may I make a suggestion? If you can deal with mail-in rebates, here's a 2GB pair of Crucial Ballistix (PC2-8000, 5-5-5-12, 2.2V) at Buy.com for $120 after a $40 MIR. If you haven't bought from them before, you can use this $5 off coupon to save an extra $5, plus you can use Google Checkout (if for the first time) to save an additional $10. At the end of it all, you have 2GB of DDR2-1000 memory for $105. ;) And even if you can't use the above two, $120 is still pretty dang good for that memory. Just a suggestion.
 
Is it worth it? For me, i would say no between the two choices you have provided. But if you had different choices i may reconsider.
 
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