Author Topic: Ram (Read 808 times)

Seraphim · « **on:** May 24, 2004, 10:54:04 PM »

Had a question: what's the best gaming RAM? Or is their just an individual preference? I'm runnin an Abit Mobo, 2.4Ghz.....have 512Mb pc2100 (generic brand) at the moment, but might upgrade mobo & ram or maybe just ram if I can get away with it. Any input appreciated!

txmx · « **Reply #1 on:** May 25, 2004, 02:01:14 AM »

Go to http://www.mushkin.com

I have some of there pc3500 lvl2 ddr and its faster than stink.

Tarmac · « **Reply #2 on:** May 25, 2004, 02:22:00 AM »

What kind of motherboard and processor? If you have a board and chip that support a 333mhz FSB (PC2700) or even 400mhz (PC3200) then that's going to be your best bet.

Seraphim · « **Reply #3 on:** May 25, 2004, 08:21:53 PM »

Motherboard is Abit IT7
Processor is 2.4Ghz Intel ....think it only supports 2100 or 2700.......looks like ill be shoppin soon.....any recommendations for motherboard?ive always liked abit or asus, but i havent been shopping lately.......
thanks for the help

txmx · « **Reply #4 on:** May 25, 2004, 08:26:44 PM »

I have the Asus P4P800 and I love it.
Bone simple to use and has been very reliable so far 8 months.

I have my P4 2.4 overclocked to 3.0 on this board and she runs stable and cool.

Oh and shes cheap too.

http://www.newegg.com

Seraphim · « **Reply #5 on:** May 25, 2004, 08:48:33 PM »

Cool thanks for the info!

ChasR · « **Reply #6 on:** May 26, 2004, 09:32:47 AM »

As for motherboards I'd choose the Abit IC7 over the Asus P4P800 or P4C800. I have both on overclocked computers and neither are perfect. The Asus boards have a well documented problem with vcore voltage droop. If you get a good cpu that will oc without upping vcore over 1.6v you may be OK. If your CPU needs more than that to run stably, you're likely to be out of luck. In my signature computer the 2.8C needs about 1.725v to run stable on a 250Mhz FSB. If I set the vcore in bios to 1.8v the asus board won't deliver more than 1.65v under load but at idle it delivers almost 1.9v. That's just not acceptable. There is a mod that involves soldering a trimmer onto the mother board to reduce the voltage fluctuation. The Abit IC7 doesn't have this problem. My Abit board won't maintain stable vdimm over 2.8v but this is less of a problem. Further, the Abit softmenu is superior to the Asus if you are overclocking. If you have no plans to overclock, either Abit or Asus boards are great. The IC7 and P4P and P4C800 come in a number of models with varying bells and whistles

Gunslinger · « **Reply #7 on:** May 26, 2004, 10:39:29 AM »

Wow I was just goin to post a RAM question....

Is most RAM backwords compatable.....Meaning if I have a CPU that only runs a 266mhz FSB will PC3200 work with it like that?

Or can If I had a faster CPU with a lower speed RAM will it work at a lower speed until I upgrade?

And lastly If it was nescesary can you mix RAM PC2500/3200 until an upgrade happens.

I have a new motherboard....ASUS AN78X or somthin and I'm shopping for a CPU now. An XP2500 333 is what I'm pretty much settled on right now but I allready have 512mb of pc2500 (266). Eventually I'm gonna get a gig total of PC3200 but until then I might mix and match if that will even work or be benificial....I know there's gonna be a bottle neck

TYIA

Tarmac · « **Reply #8 on:** May 26, 2004, 12:41:47 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Gunslinger
Wow I was just goin to post a RAM question....

Is most RAM backwords compatable.....Meaning if I have a CPU that only runs a 266mhz FSB will PC3200 work with it like that?

Or can If I had a faster CPU with a lower speed RAM will it work at a lower speed until I upgrade?

And lastly If it was nescesary can you mix RAM PC2100/3200 until an upgrade happens.

I have a new motherboard....ASUS AN78X or somthin and I'm shopping for a CPU now. An XP2500 333 is what I'm pretty much settled on right now but I allready have 512mb of pc2100 (266). Eventually I'm gonna get a gig total of PC3200 but until then I might mix and match if that will even work or be benificial....I know there's gonna be a bottle neck

TYIA

Yes, RAM is backwards compatible. Obviously PC3200 on a 266 FSB will only function at 266mhz (PC2700 speed).

I believe the faster CPU would work with the lower speed RAM, but obviously the memory would be a bottleneck and hurt performance.

You can mix RAM, but it will all function at the speed of the slowest chip. Never done it myself though.

Your situation will be fine, but as you say, the memory will be a bottleneck until you upgrade to pc2700.

Gunslinger · « **Reply #9 on:** May 26, 2004, 01:26:55 PM »

ty tarmac

What configuration would give me the best performance though

a. an XP 2500 333FSB w/ 512 (266) and 512 (333)

or

b same cpu but with only 512 (333)

IE will it help or hurt to run the slower RAM with the faster?

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #10 on:** May 26, 2004, 02:40:22 PM »

I don't know much bout Intel boards but if your CPU is running at 266 and RAM speed set to auto in BIOS, the RAM will run at 266 in either config. Of course, if the 333 RAM is much lower latency it may perform better alone. IF you wanted to overclock, you definitely would be better off with just the 333 since the 266 may not overclock well. At stock CPU speed you might as well try both to see if they are compatible.

DJ229 - AIR MAFIA

Siaf__csf · « **Reply #11 on:** May 26, 2004, 03:31:00 PM »

Just to make things clear, the PC rating on the ram does not tell the 'speed' of the memory subsystem at all.

If your CPU run at 200Mhz FSB then your ram will run at exactly that speed or lower ..

So if your CPU requires PC2100 it will be a total waste of money to invest to PC2700 just for the sake of it. It won't make your system work any faster.

The speed of the memory subsystem is affected by all it's subcomponents such as CPU FSB (higher better) amount of memory channels, latency times of memory (even built-in cache of CPU) etc. The CPU FSB dictates the working speed of the actual RAM sticks. With quality PC2100 stick you can go PC2700 relatively easy by raising the CPU FSB (its called overclocking

) You can also force the memory to work at lower cas settings which will tighten the access times (again, kinda overclocking.) OTOH if your system speed is set to 2100 having 2700 installed makes no difference whatsoever.

Short and simple, buying over-spec ram won't give you any benefit unless you overclock the system. Reversely, over-spec ram will enable you to do just that if necessary.

If you really want to get a kick out of your memory subsystem, buy an athlon-fx motherboard and naturally the fx cpu. That way you'll get the benefit from top-end ram.

ChasR · « **Reply #12 on:** May 26, 2004, 03:59:55 PM »

The newest ASUS A7N8X (PCB 2.0) is capable of 400 MHz FSB and dual chanel DDR400. If you mix the memory, dual chanel won't work. I have an XP 2500+ running at 200x11 (3200+) using an Abit NF7-S with Corsair twinX512-3200LL memory and it is a cost effective way to get very good performance. Mobile XPs are a better choice of AMD processors as they overclock much better than the regular XPs. If you're using Win98 or Me use the one stick of 512. I'm pretty sure your computer will benchmark higher in XP with the one fast stick. However if you run a lot of programs simultaneously, you may benefit from the added ram. Best would be two sticks of low latency PC3200.

txmx · « **Reply #13 on:** May 26, 2004, 05:07:00 PM »

Guess Im lucky LOL I got my V-core at 1.6 on my P4 2.4 thats OC to 3.0
Using Mushkin pc3500 LVL2 blk label
on a Asus P4P800 and she riuns nice and cool CPU temp 84f motherboard temp 89f

All this with stock intell fan and heatsink.

Had the same CPU in my prometiea system and she went all the way too 3.8

Tarmac · « **Reply #14 on:** May 26, 2004, 05:54:47 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Gunslinger
ty tarmac

What configuration would give me the best performance though

a. an XP 2500 333FSB w/ 512 (266) and 512 (333)

or

b same cpu but with only 512 (333)

IE will it help or hurt to run the slower RAM with the faster?

It will make all your RAM function at 266 if you put the 266 chip in. Whether the extra 512 will make up for that in terms of overall performance, I don't know.

I'd say go with just the 512 of 333mhz, unless you're using some really big memory hog programs. But that's just a guess.

You could always run a PC testing program, such as 3dmark, to figure out which gives better gaming performance.