DDR2 400MHz or 533MHz?

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Is 1GB of 533MHz worth the extra $110 bucks?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Shingen24 wrote:
> Is 1GB of 533MHz worth the extra $110 bucks?

Regarding the price, I'd say yes); I decided to do it when I ordered my
D610 last month. Normally I never by RAM from an OEM (like Dell), but
DDR2 PC4300 (533MHz) is fairly new and tough to find for laptops (at
least I didn't see anything significantly cheaper at outpost.com,
newegg.com or pricewatch). Actually $110 is a pretty reasonable for a
name brand 512MB stick for laptop in general. If this is going into a
laptop, not desktop, you'll be occupying both slots which will make it a
lot more expensive to upgrade in the future.

As to whether you actually need 1GB RAM or the slight speed boost from
400 to 533, is a whole different question. What are your primary
applications? Memory intensive apps primarily include Image/Video
editing software, CAD programs, and to an extent games (I'd argue RAM is
generally not your limiting factor for most games). Also your OS choice
factors in as well; I've found XP get's a much greater return in the
jump from 256 to 512, but not so much between 512 and 1024 (diminishing
returns to scale). Linux on the other hand benefits significantly from
more RAM (it has to do with how it caches to disk, etc.).

What else can you $110 get you? Are you already choosing the fastest
CPU offered, the nicest graphics card, etc? Depending on your purpose,
spending the extra cash there may or may not be more beneficial.

 

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 00:37:01 GMT, Nicholas Andrade <sdnick484@nospam.yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Shingen24 wrote:
>> Is 1GB of 533MHz worth the extra $110 bucks?
>
>Regarding the price, I'd say yes); I decided to do it when I ordered my
>D610 last month. Normally I never by RAM from an OEM (like Dell), but
>DDR2 PC4300 (533MHz) is fairly new and tough to find for laptops (at
>least I didn't see anything significantly cheaper at outpost.com,
>newegg.com or pricewatch). Actually $110 is a pretty reasonable for a
>name brand 512MB stick for laptop in general. If this is going into a
>laptop, not desktop, you'll be occupying both slots which will make it a
>lot more expensive to upgrade in the future.
>
>As to whether you actually need 1GB RAM or the slight speed boost from
>400 to 533, is a whole different question. What are your primary
>applications? Memory intensive apps primarily include Image/Video
>editing software, CAD programs, and to an extent games (I'd argue RAM is
>generally not your limiting factor for most games). Also your OS choice
>factors in as well; I've found XP get's a much greater return in the
>jump from 256 to 512, but not so much between 512 and 1024 (diminishing
>returns to scale). Linux on the other hand benefits significantly from
>more RAM (it has to do with how it caches to disk, etc.).
>
>What else can you $110 get you? Are you already choosing the fastest
>CPU offered, the nicest graphics card, etc? Depending on your purpose,
>spending the extra cash there may or may not be more beneficial.

Thanks for the reply Nicholas.

I'm pricing an 8400 for a general purpose 'family' desktop to run Win XP
Pro. In reality, I had been pricing an 8400 PC 640 vs an AMD 64 3500+
but the 8400 pricing is generally $250/$300 less, and I don't think
the price/perf diff is justified for the AMD.

I hadn't recalled seeing benchmark diffs with respect to the RAM.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Shingen24 wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 00:37:01 GMT, Nicholas Andrade <sdnick484@nospam.yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>>Shingen24 wrote:
>>
>>>Is 1GB of 533MHz worth the extra $110 bucks?
>>
>>Regarding the price, I'd say yes); I decided to do it when I ordered my
>>D610 last month. Normally I never by RAM from an OEM (like Dell), but
>>DDR2 PC4300 (533MHz) is fairly new and tough to find for laptops (at
>>least I didn't see anything significantly cheaper at outpost.com,
>>newegg.com or pricewatch). Actually $110 is a pretty reasonable for a
>>name brand 512MB stick for laptop in general. If this is going into a
>>laptop, not desktop, you'll be occupying both slots which will make it a
>>lot more expensive to upgrade in the future.
>>
>>As to whether you actually need 1GB RAM or the slight speed boost from
>>400 to 533, is a whole different question. What are your primary
>>applications? Memory intensive apps primarily include Image/Video
>>editing software, CAD programs, and to an extent games (I'd argue RAM is
>>generally not your limiting factor for most games). Also your OS choice
>>factors in as well; I've found XP get's a much greater return in the
>>jump from 256 to 512, but not so much between 512 and 1024 (diminishing
>>returns to scale). Linux on the other hand benefits significantly from
>>more RAM (it has to do with how it caches to disk, etc.).
>>
>>What else can you $110 get you? Are you already choosing the fastest
>>CPU offered, the nicest graphics card, etc? Depending on your purpose,
>>spending the extra cash there may or may not be more beneficial.
>
>
> Thanks for the reply Nicholas.
>
> I'm pricing an 8400 for a general purpose 'family' desktop to run Win XP
> Pro. In reality, I had been pricing an 8400 PC 640 vs an AMD 64 3500+
> but the 8400 pricing is generally $250/$300 less, and I don't think
> the price/perf diff is justified for the AMD.
>
> I hadn't recalled seeing benchmark diffs with respect to the RAM.
>
Since it's a desktop, I'd probably hold off on the RAM then (it's a lot
easier to find good deals on desktop RAM).