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2 Gigs of faster RAM vs. 3 Gigs of slower RAM

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Memory - 2 Gigs of faster RAM vs. 3 Gigs of slower RAM

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Im looking to upgrade my RAM and right now I have 3 gigs of I believe DDR2 667. Would I benefit more if I get 2 gigs of DDR2 1033? or would I need 3 gigs of that as well to see any benefit?

Currently rockin' an E2160 (2.93ghz), 4850 512mb and P5K Pro mobo.

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RAM speed is mostly irrelevant for normal use, while RAM quantity makes a much bigger difference. I wouldn't worry about it.

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Reply to cjl

Nope.

The only place that faster RAM would beget a noticable performance impact would be on benchmarks as well as very specific applications for servers, for gaming it's better to get 3GB, yes, even without dual mode it would still be faster generally than having 2GB of faster RAM on DDR mode.

Besides you have currently 3 gigs of DDR2 667 (3 slots?) in that case, I believe it's better to have add one last RAM to make it 4 GB. Because buying a 1033 DDR2 and putting it with the 667 will make the 1033 DDR2 run at the same speed as the 667 and more likely than not you will have stability problems due to having different RAMs.

Reply to stridervm

I have a 2 gig stick and a 1 gig stick. If I get 3 gigs of DDR2 1066 will that make a noticeable difference in my performance? (mostly for gaming). I only have vista 32 bit so getting 4 really would be wasteful.

Reply to capnspiffy1

how about matched pair for duel channel mode for 20 after rebate
does your motherboard support 2 gigabyte sticks 4 gigabyte total ?
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145184
$44.99
($19.99 after $25.00 Mail-In
Rebate pdf )
Free Shipping*
see if you can sell old ram ?

Message edited by marco324 on 03-06-2009 at 12:55:28 AM

Reply to marco324

RAM Speed is, as said, is mostly irrelevant to gaming performance. What is more important is A) RAM Volume (size) and B) Dual-Channel mode.

Getting 4GB of new ram in matched 2GB modules may give you some speed increase as youll be able to run them in dual-channel mode. However, dont expect it to be a night and day kind of difference.

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