Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Memory > Queries on memory upgrade [Searched]

Queries on memory upgrade [Searched]

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Memory - Queries on memory upgrade [Searched]

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steam03   10-09-2008 at 10:58:04 PM

ASUS P5N-E SLI http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboar [...] 80849.html
8600GT
Patriot DDR2 400MHz 2x1GB
VISTA Business 32bit

I have been wanting to upgrade the RAM for my rig but encountered some questions. I quickly searched this topic for my mobo as I am really really short on time, but it didn't appear much. According to the specs, my mobo supports only PC2-5300, PC2-6400, PC2-4300.

Does this mean if I go with DDR3, I will still only get the performance of a PC2 6400 at max?
I have 2 1GB strips of RAM now and I have 4 slots. If I want to get to 4GB, must I buy another Patriot DDR2 400MHz 2x1GB (4 strips)?

Can I still get the most out of the 4GB if I have Patriot DDR2 400MHz 2x1GB + Patriot DDR2 800MHz 2x1GB?
Or shall I just buy another DDR2 800MHz 2x2GB?

Will the RAM work with mixing brands?

Sorry for bombarding with questions as I am pretty noob at RAMs.

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shengton   10-10-2008 at 12:48:08 PM
- 0 +

Hi steam03, welcome to tomshardware.

Your motherboard is ASUS P5N-E SLI. Your motherboard will only support DDR2 memory type. You can't install a DDR3 memory type because the number of contacts and the notch are different.

Quote :

If I want to get to 4GB, must I buy another Patriot DDR2 400MHz 2x1GB (4 strips)?


If there's a 4GB RAM then you can buy it. But remember if your OS is 32bit then it will only recognize up to 3GB.

Quote :

Will the RAM work with mixing brands?


That will be fine, however is it still advisable to check the supported brands of your motherboard.

Thanks and God bless. :)

Reply to shengton
br3nd064   10-10-2008 at 10:41:22 PM
- 0 +

ddr3 won't work in your motherboard.

I'd say buy a new set of 2x2gb ddr2 800 ram. You can get it very cheap now and it's worth it to upgrade to 4gb. Even if you have a 32bit OS, it'll still be able to see 3.25-3.5gb (depending on your video card). Vista handles more ram a lot better than xp does though, and I'd plan on upgrading to vista 64bit in the future.

Reply to br3nd064
steam03   10-11-2008 at 12:46:54 AM
- 0 +

o i see. thanks guys. short and precise info.

Right, I forgot there was a list of brands my mobo supports in the manual. :lol:
Though it said OCZ was good, the OCZ didn't work with my ASUS board. I had to exchange to a different brand.

True that 2x2GB are pretty cheap now and I may as well get 2x2 instead of another 2x1gb

I read somewhere that I should balance out my RAM in each slot. Is it not wise to go 2x2GB and then 2x1GB?

Hmmm, Vista 32 bit only recognizes ~3.5 GB, how about 64bit? Can it recognize to 8GB since my mobo states that the max RAM it supports is 8GB (just curious)



Reply to steam03
shengton   10-11-2008 at 03:28:12 AM
- 0 +

Hi steam03, good day. :)

As far as I know, because I read something in Microsoft before. A 64bit OS can recognize up to 64GB of RAM size. Not sure with that but 64bit OS can recognize higher than the 32bit OS.

Thanks and God bless. :)

Reply to shengton
hardikmehta15   10-11-2008 at 04:02:40 PM
- 0 +

Well if u r going for DDR3 RAM , i feel that it wont work out because your computer is going to utilize only limited space as its performance is little lower than the RAM

Reply to hardikmehta15
steam03   10-11-2008 at 06:43:01 PM
- 0 +

So DDR3 is a bottleneck to my rig.

Is there a real difference between brand makes for RAMs? Is GSKILL reliable?

Reply to steam03
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