Is it worth upgrading my stystem with Corsair XMS2 800 ?

[goahead]

Hi

I am not sure about this and that's why I feel like asking...my current system is a crapy p4 640 (3,2 Ghz + HT, FSB 800), with an ASUS p5wd2-Premium (Intel 955x chipset), leadtek 7900GT vga and have 2x512 MB DDR2 (533 MHZ) memory on it. Now, my question is, can I upgrade my system with 2x1GB DDR2 800 Corsair memory ? I mean, will I notice any difference in speed ? (moving from 533 to 800, is there any difference? ) I usually play Call of Juraez, CSS, NFS Carbon..so is it worth upgrading the memory ? Is my p4 640 CPU compatible with ddr2 800 mhz ? What about the timings ? I know, i know...now you'll say that my system needs an CPU and/or MOBO upgrade..but right now I can't afford it. I just have the money for the memory

I would appreciate if I could get any help and/or any sugestions about this.


Thanks in advance.

Rob.

 

[miahallen]

I'd say the upgrade from 1GB to 2GB might be worth it, and if you're going to, you'd be dumb not to get the DDR2-800.......butstaying with 1GB, and just doing for the speed would be a waste of $$$ IMHO.

 

[SEALBoy]

I'd say the money would be better spent towards a Core 2 Duo E6300.

 

[goahead]

Thanks for the fast reply guys. Yes, I know that a Core Duo would be better, but for that chip I need a good MB and I cannot afford it..not yet. I just wait for the prices to drop..and untill then I just wanted to go for the memory.

Will de DDR2 800 MHZ work well with my system configuration ?


Thanks for the help!

 

[miahallen]

Yeah, it'll work great, just make sure it's set with a 2:1 ration in the BIOS so it'll run at DDR2-800MHz speed. (It'll probable auto detect, just double check it)

 

[MrCommunistGen]

My guess is that the jump from 1GB to 2GB will make more of a difference than getting fancy 800MHz RAM for a P4. BUT at least you'd be able to transfer that RAM to a C2D when you got around to getting one. Still, it might be worth your while to get some "value" 667MHz RAM instead because it would be significantly cheaper and as I recall, won't hurt the performance of a C2D THAT much. Of course this advice is only valid if you don't plan to overclock.
my $0.02

-mcg

 

[geofelt]

If one gig is not enough, then get enough. Just add 1 gig of the same type that you now have. You will notice very little difference with 800 vs 556. If you are now short, you will notice the difference by correcting the difference and going to 2 gig. How can you tell? Start control panel/administrative tools/performance, and select the paging and memory measurements. Run your normal mix of games, virus scans, etc, and see if real memory seems short at 1gig.

 

[goahead]

thank you, guys. I think I'll get the 2x1 GB of 800, or 667..I don't know yet. The good thing is that I can use this ram for the future in an C2D system. And as for the "2GB of RAM needs", after I play some games from above, 1 hour of Call of Juraez, after I exit the game my system's really slow for a moment. (as it reads alot from the hdd" It really shows that it needs that "more" ram because after I exit the game, the HDD is alot accessed.

Well, I have time 'till friday to decide...to go for 667 or 800.

Thanks for the help guys. It is really nice having people those helping is so good. And btw, sorry about my bad english.


Cheers.


Rob.

 

[NumenorLord]

With a Pentium 4, I don't think it's a wise investment (maybe picking up another 2x512 MB sticks of DDR2 if you have 4 slots). All in all, the only noticeable benefits I've seen between 1 GB and 2 GB are in Oblivion and Company of Heroes (both can easily use 1 GB of Ram themselves at times).

 

[IcY18]

BF2 and BF2142 run much more smooth with 2GB of ram, i would definitely recommend getting 2GB, i would not worry about that speed of your ram at this point especially since you won't be overclocking. the jump to 2GB will be the best thing...don't waste your money on the speed.

 

[bunkgoats]

i think more ram is the ticket. take good care of it and keep the packaging and you can sell it on ebay for what you paid for it so when its time to upgrade you wont have any oppertunity costs.

 

[goahead]

thanks. 2 GB of RAM it'll be. I just feel like it is a good upgrade...and for my CPU and MB, well...there's time for an upgrade for theese two later.


Thanks again for your help guys.



Best regards,

Rob.