What RAM to go with this system?...

I'm building a PC but I'm not entirely sure what type of RAM to get for my new system (specs below), so I'd really appreciate it if you guys would advise me on what amount, what brand, and what speed to get.

Also, if you guys have any advise/recommendations on other components I would also love to hear about that too.

-----------------------------------------------------
Gigabyte GZ-X2 Black Mid Tower Case
Case

Western Digital 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache
HDD

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor
CPU

Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 PCI-E Onboard Audio ATX Motherboard
MoBo

Zotac 8800GT 512mb GDDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card
GFX

Arctic Power 600W PSU - With PCI-E, SATA, 20+4, ATX12V, 8pin +12V Connectors - Retail Boxed
PSU

 

This is the RAM that goes with that motherboard:
4 x DIMM,
Max. 8 GB, DDR2 800/667/533/
Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory

If you're going to run Vista 2GB is a good start, 3GB is better. As far as brands, etc. Check some of the on-line sales places like Newegg or TigerDirect. They have some pretty good deals.

 

What PC-???? do you recommend?

 

240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144151
240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134046
240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

These are just 3 examples of the 3 different types your motherboard can use.
Edit: I just picked up a 2 x 1GB kit for $38.99 USD of the PC2 4200

 

Thanks!

I'll probably be going with Corsair 2GB DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5400.

I thought if my maximum is 8gb and I only get 4 slots, it would make sense to buy 2gb cards, and 5400 seems about right. Also I hear Corsair are a pretty decent make.
Once again, thanks

 

That motherboard is dual channel and may work best with sets of memory.
(2 - 1GB sticks) (2 - 2gb sticks)
Vista doesn't have much use for over 3 GB of RAM, so thinking of having 8GB down the road may be overkill. 4GB would probably work killer.

 

You're right that Corsair is a good make! If I were you though (and if I had the money!) i'd want to go for some 800mhz DDR2 memory to go in my system. That wouldn't really matter to me generally but the fact that you're talking about having a lot of RAM in the future and looking at your system spec it looks like you might be thinking about over clocking in the future. Also, if you are thinking of overclocking, I would go for memory that has heat sinks on it so you relax a little more about not frying anything!!

If you're not thinking of overclocking then you might as well go for the CPU that doesn't have G0 stepping because the only reason you'd ever get that is because the processor hasn't been capped for modders where as the one without G0 Stepping has so you can't overclock so much, or at all...or something like that rolleyes

My memory is pretty good. It's about twice the price as yours though but it's super cool and works damn well (it works with nVidia chipsets and SLi just as well by the way!), it's the ATI Approved 2gig set (x2 1gb sticks) from OCZ. I can't find the link on ebuyer, sorry!

This stuff is also pretty good if you have the money http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116755 check out the funny guy in the video too!

Oh and by the way, you can have loads of memory if you have a 64 bit system. I can't remember the exact figures for Vista but XP can't use anything above 3gb of RAM (I tried!) but 64 bit loves the stuff and you can certainly use 8gb and a lot more besides.

 

64-bit operating systems cap out at 128GB if I remember right.

And how much memory you need is determined almost exclusively by you and what you use your computer for. If all you ever do is email and word processing, 2GB might be overkill. For Crysis on the other hand, 2GB is the bare minimum.

 

Alright then.
I am going to be gaming so I'll proably get 2x2gb sticks now, so later (in a year or so) I can buy another 2x2gb to fill up the space. 800mhz 2gb sticks seem pricy though...

And yes I'll probably overclock, although not too drastically. I worked out I can pump the processor from 2.4ghz to 3.0ghz with PC2 5400 RAM, and avoid overclocking the RAM at all.