Need some ram advice please?

[guitarsrule1970]

Hi, I recently built a cheap little PC and i had some extra ram lying around and couldn't decide which would be better to put in the new build..

First off, the mobo does not support dual channel, so i know that part is out of the question..so here is my situation...I have a 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) stick of ram, and i have an extra stick of 512mb DDR2 667(PC2 5300)...So now the big question is..Should i go with just the 2gb stick or mix em up and have 2 1/2gb?

I plan on doing some mild gaming and photoshop stuff on this PC, if that helps make a decision..Any help is greatly appreciated...

 

[john_29]

first rule is to never to mix and match you can add the DDR2 667 all memory will down grade to run @ 667Mhz and not 800Mhz hopes this helps you out

 

[guitarsrule1970]

But in the end will i be better off with the 2 1/2 gb or just the 2gb performance wise? I know it will run at 667 if i go with the 2 1/2gb, but am i really gonna see much difference?

 

[4745454b]

What Mobo doesn't support Dual channel?

It depends on if you can actually use that 512MBs. If photoshop files are large enough, you'll need all the ram you can get. Performance difference between DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 isn't very much. You'll notice however if you have to go to the swap file a lot.

 

[guitarsrule1970]

The motherboard is a BIOSTAR P4M890-M7 SE, the egg had it a few weeks ago for $15, i couldn't pass it up..It says in the manual "Single Channel Mode DDR2 memory module"..But i knew it wasn't going to be anything spectacular for 15 bucks, but everything works on it so i'm happy with it..I just threw it together with spare parts i had lying around, thats why i was wondering about the mix match ram..

Thanks for the reply, I think i will just go with the 2 1/2 gigs...