Choosing a DDR2 RAM for an old rig.

[gam0reily]

Hello.

I have an old build, which I am considering to upgrade a little, since it's got almost no resale value, [:henry chinaski:1] so that I can enjoy light gaming and fast Internet browsing.

the specs are-

Pentium 4 3.06 GHz [:aford10:1] ----> which I am gonna upgrade to core 2 duo e4700 @2.6 GHz
Motherboard - intel D945GCCR
Ram - 2X512 MB DDR2 @ 533MHz

I wanna know that -

Can I install a DDR2-800 or DDR2-667 modulde on that board, coz the 533 is almost impossible to find at reasonable rates. [:fisshy:2] ????

[:crutchizm]

Thanx in advance

 

[matt2155]

Hi,

Looks like your motherboard can only support 533Mhz & 400Mhz ram, and can only support 2gb ram in total.

So you will not be able to put anything over 2gb of ram in that system.

 

[gam0reily]

Hi,

Looks like your motherboard can only support 533Mhz & 400Mhz ram, and can only support 2gb ram in total.

So you will not be able to put anything over 2gb of ram in that system.

The capacity is not my concern. I am only planning to put in a 2GB stick in it for now.

The question is about the RAM frequency. Can I put in a a 667 or 800 MHz RAM in that? Will it run at 533MHZ or not run at all??

 

[eggbrook]

He just said you cannot.. Please take the time to read what posters have written.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

Faster RAM should downclock automatically. Which means the faster RAM should run at the max speed your motherboard supports.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

Just to add to it. What's more important for compatibility in that case is the voltage. IIRC, DDR2 standard voltage was 1.8V and your new DDR2 RAM should either meet that voltage OR you have a motherboard that can adjust the voltage itself. Because some of the new DDR2 modules are running at 2.2V or 1.9V.

TLDR; Check for voltages. Don't care about speed.

 

[gam0reily]

He just said you cannot.. Please take the time to read what posters have written.

Thankyou for ur input. U have taught me how to read effectively now. From now on, I will be able to understand what others have written properly. [:fisshy:8]

My point is still valid Mr. eggbrook. I know that in DDR3 setups, for eg., a h61 board coupled with 1600 DIMMS runs at 1333 MHz. So my doubt is about whether that RAM will run at a lower speed or run not at all.
BTW, I read the posts and my products specifications clearly. [:aford10:6]

 

[gam0reily]

Just to add to it. What's more important for compatibility in that case is the voltage. IIRC, DDR2 standard voltage was 1.8V and your new DDR2 RAM should either meet that voltage OR you have a motherboard that can adjust the voltage itself. Because some of the new DDR2 modules are running at 2.2V or 1.9V.

TLDR; Check for voltages. Don't care about speed.

OK, will look for the Voltages. U r definitely sure that the DDR2 RAM will run irrespective of speed?

 

[whatsthatnoise]

There could be the possibility of your motherboard being extremely picky with RAM. However that again should be mainly because it doesn't support the voltage. I haven't had it happen to me that faster RAM did not clock down, if it got detected by the motherboard.

As with anything, no guarantees though. But that covers the theorycrafting.

 

[gam0reily]

OK, so the voltage is 1.8 allright.
But now I am seeing that the mobo supports only 2 GB in total. that means 2 X 1GB sticks. That sucks :-(.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

Well, maybe it's time to move on.

I do have three old motherboard + cpu (and to some extend RAM) combos laying around, too. One gets used to it.

 

[gam0reily]

Hmm. Its just that this rig gets slowed when I open 3-4 windows of chrome with 5-6 tabs each. Also media player runs slowly, and I dont prefer winamp ot it.

Nyway, I am planning to get an Ivy i5 in june/july.