2gb ddr2 333mhz ram question - can i add 2gb to my PC?

lucasdepalma · Apr 6, 2014

Hi everyone! First of all, I'm new here! So try to have patience on me cause I'm THAT rookie here! I know some stuff though (I'm from Argentina btw).

I have this PC:
CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
Mother Intel DP43TF P45/P43 (works with DDR2)
GPU ATI Radeon HD 5670 1024MB
2GB Kingston Single-Channel DDR2 333mhz (5-5-5-15)
Windows 7 32bits

I'd like to know if I can add more RAM to it. I know that I have to upgrade to Windows 7 64bit to have 4GB RAM for example, so don't worry about that. 2 more GB to have 4GB would be ideal (DDR2 RAM is so much more expensive than DDR3 here in Argentina! but well, what are you gonna do? I obviously can't put DDR3, I know).

So, what do you recommend? Throw that 333mhz to the trash and buy 2x2GB with higher mhz and dual-channel? (that would be the expensive solution)
I've read that if I put 800mhz for example, it will run at 333mhz to "pair" the other one.

So, please, help me cause I can't find anything THAT specific on the web.
Nothing else, that's all folks. So, thanks in advanced to everyone, and I hope you can help me!

jossrik · Apr 6, 2014

There's kind of a lot to that answer. You can put another stick of RAM in there, it may or may not play nice, If you have two RAM slots your best bet is to buy a dual channel kit, and get rid of the RAM you have, dual channel kits are tested so you know that they work together. Just buying a second stick if it works will let your computer run in dual mode, though I believe they have to be the same size, speed will automatically drop to the lowest common speed. You won't need Win 7 X64 bit with 4Gb of RAM, you will need a 64 bit operating system (Win XP x64 is fine, as well as Vista, 8, 8.1, etc...) to get the benefits of that much RAM, just saying, you have options. I know with the older computers you could really mix and match, and the more the better, the faster the RAM, the better the chance it won't play nice with odd RAM. You really don't know until you try, on the upside, DDR2 is still back when more was better, faster is good, but you have to keep an eye on Cas Latency as well. My old DDR2 1066 CL5 is as fast as my new DDR3 2133 CL10. Because RAM speed doesn't have that big of an impact on your overall computer experience, you can buy what you can afford, and be happy with it knowing that even really really fast RAM isn't that much better than really really average RAM.

lucasdepalma · Apr 6, 2014

jossrik :

There's kind of a lot to that answer. You can put another stick of RAM in there, it may or may not play nice, If you have two RAM slots your best bet is to buy a dual channel kit, and get rid of the RAM you have, dual channel kits are tested so you know that they work together. Just buying a second stick if it works will let your computer run in dual mode, though I believe they have to be the same size, speed will automatically drop to the lowest common speed. You won't need Win 7 X64 bit with 4Gb of RAM, you will need a 64 bit operating system (Win XP x64 is fine, as well as Vista, 8, 8.1, etc...) to get the benefits of that much RAM, just saying, you have options. I know with the older computers you could really mix and match, and the more the better, the faster the RAM, the better the chance it won't play nice with odd RAM. You really don't know until you try, on the upside, DDR2 is still back when more was better, faster is good, but you have to keep an eye on Cas Latency as well. My old DDR2 1066 CL5 is as fast as my new DDR3 2133 CL10. Because RAM speed doesn't have that big of an impact on your overall computer experience, you can buy what you can afford, and be happy with it knowing that even really really fast RAM isn't that much better than really really average RAM.

Excellent, couldn't be clearer. Thank you, thank you a lot jossrik. I guess I'll buy a dual channel kit then. Again, thanks a lot jossrik.

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2gb ddr2 333mhz ram question - can i add 2gb to my PC?

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