Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.shuttle (
More info?)
On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 22:20:11 GMT, "Nehmo"
<nehmo54@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I have
>Shuttle AN35N Ultra V1.1
>
>And currently I only have 512 MB RAM in one of the three slots.
>I noticed on
>http://www.samintl.com/mem/n15787.htm
>Maximum Memory: 1.5GB Using 400MHz DDR modules
>3GB Using 266MHz or 333MHz DDR modules
>
>I can afford it now, and I want to max out the RAM
Why? You'd be pouring a signficant amount of $ into a
system now technologically eclipsed. Do you have a specific
need for memory capacity but not overall system performance?
>but was disappointed
>to see I would lose some speed if I did.
This is actually the case with any board, Shuttle was just
being more forthcoming than many. I dont' mean specficially
that about or bus speeds, but rather in general, the more
modules you use the slower the memory needs operate to
remain stable. This issue may be masked a large part of the
time because there is a large stabiliy margin (hopefully)
with only one or two modules.
In other cases, when more modules are added the bios drops
the memory speed by increasing the timings- it's still
slower from a throughput stance. The fastest configuration
is two modules (to get dual channel mode) and only enough
memory for all your tasks plus any/all file caching possible
(when a PC typically used, if it's a special-purpose system
instead then that purpose must be considered).
>Is the difference between 400
>and 333 (I imagine this refers to Front Side Buss speed) noticeable?
In most uses, no. In benchmarks, yes. In gaming where your
framerates were marginal, yes. In video editing or encoding
times, yes.
>Should I just go with 1.5 GB RAM for now until I make a new system?
I suppose it's a silly question, but why are you wanting to
increase memory and how much do you really feel you "need"?
In your most demanding tasks, what does Task Manager show as
peak memory load? Add 100-200 MB to that for misc. caching
and go from there.
I do think it might be excessive to go beyond 1.5GB with
that system. You haven't mentioned the most demanding tasks
though, we can't know where your current bottleneck is.
Maybe it is memory, or maybe CPU or video or hard drives-
only you can know this at present.
Personally, if I had that box and was using it for typical
tasks, I'd just buy one same-speed-or-faster 512MB module.
If you have plans to upgrade the whole system later to
something that uses DDR(1), you might consider buying one,
1GB module, with good enough specs that you expect it to run
in the next system. We dont' know your timing for system
upgrade to newer motherboard though, it's a bit hard to
recommend anything with no data on use, memory load, budget,
upgrade period, etc.
>
>And while, I'm asking, what's the best way to shop for memory? It looks
>like
>http://www.buy.com/
>http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/index.asp?store=7
>http://www.newegg.com/
>
>are offering the cheapest deals, but I've never done business with any
>of them.
All 3 are sold sources but my experience with buy.com is
that if they run out of stock your order may be stuck in
limbo and you may end up wasting time trying to resolve that
or check on the order. Problem is that their website shows
"in stock" status on items that aren't in stock, because
they don't update stock status in a timely manner and it is
not realtime status. I only use buy.com when the price
difference is significant and there is no rush if/when there
is a delay.
Buy name-brand memory instead of generic. The quality grade
(actually not quality but rather timings) should dictate
pricing so buy what the budget allows and can be justified.
IMO, get CAS2.5 at least, not CAS3 unless memory performance
isn't at issue and you just need a boatload of cheap memory
(which is usually not the case with "PC" system usage).
In summary, I wouldn't try to max out that system with
memory especially if it meant dropping down to DDR333 FSB
without a clear reason to do so.
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