PC2100: To be or not to be?

[galacticat]

Hey all, can you help me with this decision?

I am building a new system: AMD 64bit 3000+, MSI K8T NEO mobo, Radeon 9800 pro (128mb). From my old Athlon 1900+ system, I have a Gb of PC2100 (2x512). I'm not made of money so I am thinking about keeping my PC2100 in the new system. However, I don't have a good understanding of how this will effect my sytem from a practical standpoint relative to faster RAM. I am a gamer and of course want to be able to have superior framerates at high resolutions. Just how significant will the loss of performance be given the specs of my new system if I don't upgrade to faster RAM? I need to make a cost/performance decision here. A couple frames/second probably isn't going to be worth it to me, but if it's more than that...

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, I bow to the collective knowledge of this forum!

 

[JP5]

Don't drop $400 on a video card and get PC3200 or higher.

 

[jammydodger]

The Athlon64 is a fast CPU i think that by using PC2100 you would create a bottleneck and not let the CPU perform to its full potential. Also i dont think the athlon64 supports dual channel memory so its even more important to go with the fastest memory you can. 1Gb or RAM is prob not necessary unless you use a lot of memory intensive applications or possibly if you are using windows XP. So if i were you i would sell my 1Gb Pc2100 and go for 512Mb of PC3200 cas2.

[Insert witty comment here]

 

[Guest]

The Athlon64 3000+ doesnt support dual channel. Only the Fx does right now well have to wait for the new socket for the other A64 to support dual channel. Therefor I recommand getting only one stick as big as you can afford. It will let you more room for future memory upgrade.

 

[destiny]

not to be.

P4 2.8c - 226mhz x 14 // 2x256 OCZ Dual Platinum PC3200 @ 226hmz x 2 // Asus P4P800 // Vantec Aeroflow // 6x80mm air cooled // Ati 9500Pro

 

[ytoledano]

I just wanna note that the A64 only supports 4 memory banks, so consider that if you're considering putting in 3 sticks of RAM.

Got a nice overclocked overvolted system to keep you warm at night? That's great. Guess I'll have to settle for a woman...