1gb better, but for me? Please give me your opnion

[hineigger]

Hi,

Im wondering for my nforce2 board which has dual DDR.

I can either go for 2X512mb of pc2100 making 1gb, and making it dual ddr.

Or do 2X256mb of pc3200. Interesting huh...

1bg may be more than 512mb, but everytime I test system resources I NEVER am using all my memory. Should I go for the less but faster memory? Be honest.....


Oh, and also, Im running a xp 2400+ which is 266mhz(ddr). Now its overclocked to 333mhzddr, so it wont be as fast as pc3200 at 400mhzddr, if it matters. Let me know!
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by hineigger on 03/01/03 06:26 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

I wouldn't get the extra memory, I don't think you'll need more than 512MB for a couple years!

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[hineigger]

Wait, so youre saying the 512mb(2X256) of PC3200 will be a better idea then right, rather than 1gb(2X512mb) of Pc2100?

 

[Twitch]

I agree with Crash. You will notice better performance with 2 sticks of PC3200--even if it is "only" 512 megs. You aren't running a web server or something like that are you?

I want to move to space, so I can overclock processors cooled to absolute zero.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Twitch on 03/01/03 10:23 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

Ja

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[hineigger]

No, just running...... AOL? Word... A few games. Never at the same time of course.

So on another subject, will the fact that pc3200 being 400mhz matter since my fsb.. or cpu is at 333mhz? Is being in sync a big deal? If it were Id get pc2700 memory then.... Let me know.

 

[Crashman]

GRRRR!

in sync, out of sync, listen: At 200MHz (the actual clock rate of DDR400), Cas2 takes 10ns. At 166MHz (DDR333) Cas2 takes 13.2ns. So as long as their both the same Cas Latency rating, the faster memory also gives faster response time at the faster clock speed.

The other argument is that running "in sync" will help make the system more efficient because the memory controller of the chipset has less work to do. I've seen benchmarks go both ways, but for the most part the first argument is more applicable now and the second argument was more applicable last year. I think memory controller technology has something to do with that.

At any rate, the difference is small. But here's the part that drives me nuts: MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO ASK THESE QUESTIONS DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT DDR400 CAN BE RAN AT DDR333 SPEED!

Look, you can buy PC3200 and try it at both speeds to see which one works best for you. Why would I suggest this? Have you ever heard of future compatability or overclocking?

Say you decide you want to push the bus speed of your CPU up to "400" (which BIOS will list as the actual clock rate, 200MHz). If you have PC2700, you're not likely to be sucessfull in such an endevor unless you run your RAM SLOWER than your CPU bus. That would negate much of your overclocking performance!

Or say you decide later on you want to upgrade to AMD's new "400" bus processor. If you have PC2700, you'll run into the same problem I described in the last paragraph.

So there are reasons to buy PC3200, even if you do plan on running your memory at PC2700 speed at the moment. All memory can be slowed down.

The only reason I would tell anyone to ever get the "right" speed memory instead of "faster" memory is to save money. If the price is similar, always buy the faster RAM. It will allow you to overclock with much more ease, and might prevent the need to buy new memory for your next upgrade.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[umheint0]

Yeah, crash is right. You can have a giant car like an SUV with tonnes of room, or opt for a Subaru without the same room but way, way faster. If you don't need all of the space, then opt for the speed. May be the same price, in fact it might be cheaper, but if you want the speed, the faster ram is what you have to get. I have the best of both worlds. 2x512MB PC3200 Corsairs ;-)

 

[AMD_Man]

I agree that you don't need 1GB RAM right now, but probably by the end of the year you will. There are already games that tax 512MB RAM and with games such as Doom III coming out, you will need 1GB RAM. However, PC3200 is significantly faster so I'd just get 512MB RAM now and upgrade when you need the extra RAM.

Intelligence is not merely the wealth of knowledge but the sum of perception, wisdom, and knowledge.