PC2-5300 or PC2-1066

I'm trying to decide what type of ram I should purchace for my computer. Atm its running on PC2-5300. I read that the lower the CL level the faster the ram. 5300 is CL=5 and 1066 is CL=7. The 5300 is lower, but the 1066 has more MHz so its technically faster? Does it have a higher CL level because its bigger ram? Should I buy multiple four 1gb sticks or two 2gb sticks. I know that computers will only run on the slowest RAM, so if the 1066 is faster I will just replace the RAM I have.

Here are some links of the RAM that I am choosing from.
http://www.crucial.com/systemscann [...] 6E31D926C3

I only want 4gb since I have 32-bit OS.

Any suggestions or information on what I should purchase would be very appreciated.

Please feel free to ask questions on what type of hardware my comp runs on if needed.

Thanks in advance.

http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=160

Read and decide whether its worth it. As for me when 2x2gb ddr2 667 - $48 800 - £48 1066 - $80 ddr2 800 cl6 is a no brainer really.

But im sure you can get better price for even better ram at newegg

Motherboard manufacturer's name: ECS MCP61PM-HM
HP/Compaq name: Nettle2-GL8E

Athlon 64 X2 with Dual Core technology up to 5600+ (up to 89 watt)

I would like to spend around $50-100$ for whatever will upgrade my RAM the most.

Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-6400,DDR2 PC2-8500,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 2GB per slot.*

Minnesota

Here you go.

Best out there for the money and tight timing:4-4-4-12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] dr2%206400
G.skills pi black.

dangit, will they stop going from original price to dropping the price, back and forth, back and forth!

was at $44 yesterday and free shipping. now its at its original price.

Well would need to know the brand name, there should be a sticker on the ram to show the model number and stuff like that-timing/brand.

If you download CPU-Z http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpuz_150.zip and look at the Memory tab, you will see the actual speed, timings and ratio that your ram is running at.

And dont expect too much improvement, otherwise youll be dissapointed. I assume you are aware that you wont be able to use the full 4gb with 32bit OS. BTW is it xp or vista?

So if its vista than you will see improvement And those G.skills are great sticks, look really good too.

It's best to stick with the populated options.

Now you say you have 32bit, you wont get the full 4gb working all at once since it allows up to 3.5gb only on that OS. vista 64bit premium is at $99?.

Lol broke down and got the 64-bit! Also glad I waited an extra day because the price on those G.skills lowered $15, so I purchased! Slighty paranoid though because G.skills website has a list of motherboards that are "qualified" and mine isn't on the list... I'm sure mine can support them though, because people on the reviews had motherboards that were not on the list.

Thanks again for the help guys.

Well I got the memory in just under a week. Look very nice and run even better. I do have a slight problem. The RAM comes defaulted at 5-5-5-15 CAS latency and my BIOS doesn't give me the "Advanced Chipset" option to manually set the timings. It only dipslays computer information. I think its because HP sets up their BIOS that way due to the warranty. I did get a program called Memset, but I'm not really familiar with it and I don't think it changes the voltage...

I talked to HP support and they claim there is a way to change the timings, but my RAM slots cannot support it. I kinda feel like that isn't true, but IDK. Just thought I would update how things are going.

Thanks again.

I am in almost the exact same boat here. I have the same m/b ECS mcp61pm-hm (Compaq oem) with Vista 32-bit. The timing on my shiney new Patriot ddr2 800 (4-4-4-12) would be an improvement but the bios won't allow for adjusting the timing. CPU-z says the timing is defaulting to 5-5-5-15. At least Vista is regestering 3.5 Mb of memory instead of the 3.0 that was originally installed. No performance difference otherwise.
I am working through HP support. If I get a different story or better info, I will post.