Best Brand of Memory

[marshahu]

I am wishing to upgrade my PC in preparation for building a new one altogether when i can choose between Pentium 4 and Anthlon XP 64.

I wish to get the fastest memory possible as I want to be able to achieve its full potential when placed in future motherboards containing this fast speed. My current motherboard is ECS K7S5A a combo board which currently holds PC133 SDRAM. I have an Athlon XP 2000+ which is being slowed down to run at 1.25ghz because of the limits of the RAM.

If I was to get DDR RAM at speeds of DDR800 (what PC number is that), will I still be able to use it in my current motherboard? The idea is that when the processor market has settled down in the future, I may make the move to buy a whole new case, motherboard and processor.

Also out of the following brands, which one proivides the best performance, without being too complicated to setup or worry about motherboard settings - I just want something that performs reliably and very fast by just clicking in the module and switching on.

Brands:
Corsair
Kingston
OCZ
Winbond

Thank you very much for your help!



PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ running at 1.25ghz, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows Me

 

[Crashman]

Oh, I know why nobody has answered yet: You're gong about this all wrong!

To begin with, your old CPU runs with a 133MHz bus clock. AMD calls this a 266MHz bus, going by the data rate (the CPU bus is also DDR). You have it underclocked to 100MHz bus clock. It's not a limit of your RAM, unless your RAM isn't capable of running at 133MHz.

Now, there is no such thing as DDR800. The common stuff for new processors is DDR400, aka PC3200.

I'd suggest you fix the current problem with your system before considering upgrading the RAM.

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[marshahu]

I see, are u telling me that AMD Athlon XPs run at 133mhz - surely I can add DDR RAM that will increase the performance slightly?

With regards to PC3200 being the only standard well then how comes this link brings you to a page with RAM going up to speeds of PC4400. What types of speed will those modules be capable in terms of mhz. Take a look at the link below. First time visitors please answer my above thread before answering this thread.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_OCZ_144.html

Thank you for your help so far

PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ running at 1.25ghz, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows Me

 

[Crashman]

Not exactly, XP1600+ through 2400+ (and early 2600+) used a 133MHz bus clock with DDR signalling for a 266MHz data rate, a perfect match for PC2100 DDR SDRAM.

The XP2500+ through 3000+ used a 166MHz bus clock with a data rate of 333MHz, a perfect match for PC2700 DDR SDRAM.

The XP3200+ and some late 3000+ used a 200MHz clock with 400MHz data rate, a perfect match for PC3200 DDR SDRAM.

Your processor fits in the first catagory. Your motherboard should work fine with PC2100 and provide some increase in performance. It should also work fine with PC2700, although you might be better off underclocking that to PC2100 speed with your current processor. Using PC2700 would give you room to overclock your CPU as well, while maintaining a sychronous memory speed.

PC3200 MIGHT work with your board, depending on whether or not BIOS supports it. You'll want to check the documentation on each BIOS revision to see, because PC3200 would be you best choice right now for future compatability: It would allow you to use your new RAM on your next system.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Flinx]

If you are a gamer or depending on your use of the computer you might consider a better graphics card to help increase your performance, as well.




The loving are the daring!

 

[Johanthegnarler]

Crucial and Mushkin are my favorite. I heard good things about OCZ never used it though. I don't care for corsair or kingston.

<A HREF="http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=610166081" target="_new">http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=610166081</A>
Figured i'd do it too..reality my ass.

 

[marshahu]

If you look in my signature containing my PC specs you will know that my motherboad is a ECS K7S5A, a basic AXP combo motherboard. I am not expecting to be able to use PC3200 or PC4400 RAM at its full speed in my mobo with a FSB of 266. Nevertheless, can't I just get the PC4400 RAM to run at PC2100 speed, the same way you can get PC133 SDRAM to run at PC100. THEN when I buy a new motherboard in the future which has support to run PC4400 RAM at its top speed, I can just pop it in and voila, no need to fork out in the future and no more redundant PC2100 modules in my loft!

Thank you for your suggestions so far! Any more I should consider?

PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ running at 1.25ghz, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows Me

 

[Crashman]

Normally this would be true, however it's not a hardware issue! Some board manufacturers have CRIPPLED their BIOS so the system refuses to boot with PC3200, 3500, 3700, 4000...The boards in question see the RAM, see a speed they don't recognize, and don't even try to boot.

Most of these companies later fixed their BIOS. Whether or not yours has a BIOS bug or not is something I don't know.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>