memory upgrade question

[mikekirkness]

I have a P4 3ghz-800mhz fsb,Intel 875p chipset with 2x256 dual channel SDRAM.
I am about to upgrade to 2x512 DDR 3200 to boost performance for 3D gaming titles such as Far Cry,Doom 3& Half-Life 2.
Firstly..which to purchase..Crucial,Kingston or Corsair?
Seems the Corsair is the priciest but is there really THAT much difference in performance between the 3 makes?..The Crucial sticks are almost half the price as the other two.
The second part to my question is gonna seem dumb to seasoned PC upgraders,but I'm a total novice to any kind of upgrading so I need help...Should I remove the 2 current 256 mb sticks and replace them with the 2 new 512 mb ones or leave them in therefore giving my memory a total of 1.5gb( 2x256 + 2x512 both in dual channel mode)..is this feasable or not?
Please advise as I (clearly) don't have a clue..thanks.

 

[Cybercraig]

No, it's not feasible. If you want to keep the two sticks you have get a single 512mb module of the exact same stuff and put it in DIMM 1. Put the 256mb sticks in DIMM 3 & DIMM 4 and you will have balanced dual-channel. Best bang for you would be 2 X 512mb Crucial. You don't need 1.5gb and it would be hard to balance. The Crucial is under-rated speed & voltage wise. You might even be able to O'C them at 215mhz-220mhz FSB at CAS 2.5. The speed king here as far as low latentcies will still be Corsair, if you can pony up the dough!

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[Crashman]

No, it's feasable. He's got the i875, should have 4 DIMM slots, he could have a pair of 512's and a pair of 256's.

The CORRECT arrangement would be 2 512's in slots 1 and 3, and 2 256's in slots 2 and 4.

<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>

 

[Zeekfu]

crash and craig are two of the most dedicated and helpful mofos around here. It is refreshing to see em disagree a bit, lol.

<font color=black>yippie ki ya, m..........<font color=black>

 

[Cybercraig]

Actually, Crash is right. You could do it that way. The problem here is you are going to have a bunch of no-name ram of different module styles. What are you going to use 1.5gb for? I wouldn't do it, but yea, it can be done.

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[mikekirkness]

Thanks for your help guys..I guess removing the 2x 256mb sticks and replacing them with a pair of spanky new 512mb DIMMs is the best option for me.
Have ordered the Crucial sticks..they are great value from Dabs.com(British IT.mail order)...I'll have them in 2-3 days.
'What to do with soon-to-be discarded 256 modules?'....I've never used Ebay before..guess I had better register

 

[Guest]

I setuped dsome Workstation at work HP XW4100 to be precise.
They came with 2X256 and they bought some extra ram but they sent us one stick of 512Meg. Now I told my boss to order Pairs next time but in the meantime there's no way I can get 3 sticks to run in dual-channel, as soon as I pop the 512meg, no matter what slot configuration it falls back in Single Channel.

Anyway im under the impression you cant run DC with 3 sticks(maybe its cuz of the HP MOBO dunno...)


Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-3-3-8, Leadtek FX5900 w/ FX5950U bios@500/1000, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[jammydodger]

How much did they cost you from Dabs just out of interest?

 

[CrucialLabs]

Hey Craig,
You can't run dual channel with different modules installed...The system needs to have sets of the same stuff like 2x256MB modules and a set of 512MB modules. With dual channel the modules have to be the same, at least this is my experience. Dual channel is set to run off of 2 slots at a time and if you have only one module in slot 1 and 2 modules in slots 2 and 4 then it is unbalanced.

Crucial Performance Lab

www.crucial.com
The Memory Experts(SM) at Crucial Technology is now on board to give you straight answers to your memory-related questions.
cpl@micron.com

 

[Guest]

Thats my experience too...

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-3-3-8, Leadtek FX5900 w/ FX5950U bios@500/1000, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[mikekirkness]

Dabs charged me £65 per 512mb DIMM...I thought that was not bad at all.

 

[Cybercraig]

Thanks for the info Crucial, I'll stand corrected! :frown:



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