RAM Upgrade

mugs79 · 10-30-2005, 05:11 AM

At the moment, I have two 512mb sticks of Corsair XMS PC3200 in my system, dual channel. My FSB is set at 250 MHz. I have four DDR slots. I'd like to upgrade to two gigs. Here are my options:

1) Buy 2 more 512 sticks of the same RAM.
Pros: Cheapest Option
Cons: Disallows me to upgrade to faster RAM in the near future
Quesions: Will having four sticks of RAM in my system drag down performance?
2) Buy 2 512 sticks of DDR500
Pros: Allows me to upgrade to two gigs at 400MHz, and later upgrade the old two to 500 MHz, allowing me to run my RAM at the same speed as my FSB.
Cons: None, really, unless four sticks will slow things down
3) Buy 2 1024 sticks of DDR400 RAM.
Pros: Cheapest 2 stick Option
Cons: Disallows me to upgrade to faster RAM in the near future, can't afford this for a while
4) Buy 2 1024 sticks of DDR500 RAM.
Pros: Allows me to run my RAM in sync with my FSB with only two sticks
Cons: I can't afford this for several months to come

So guys, which do you suggest? Will having 4 sticks of RAM have a detrimental effect on performance? Keep in mind, I only make about $60 a week...

**Joe_B_Me** · 10-30-2005, 05:57 AM

4 sticks of ram on AMD64 = 2T timings = 20-30MHz loss of ram performance = bad

Best option is Crucial Ballistix PC4000. 3-4-4-8 1T @ DDR500 2.8v. Can do 3-4-4-8 1T @ DDR600 w/ 3.0v

Costs $300 per 2GBkit (1GBx2)
Sell your current XMS to help lower the cost.

lozaning@gmail.com · 10-30-2005, 03:33 PM

what cpu do you have(clawhammer,venice), i beleave there was a problem with some of the older a64 cpus not working with or not recognizinf the ram in the 4th dimn

CTUnit1 · 10-30-2005, 04:16 PM

I would recomend a multi-cluster uber ram stick I like to call the "SUPAR RAMM"

**Joe_B_Me** · 10-30-2005, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTUnit1

I would recomend a multi-cluster uber ram stick I like to call the "SUPAR RAMM"

oh god, that ram is like 10+ years old. Stupid P1 era stuff.

tencent · 10-30-2005, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTUnit1

I would recomend a multi-cluster uber ram stick I like to call the "SUPAR RAMM"

im almost laughing

and go with whatever joe says. I dont think anyone else here knows as much about ram as he does.

DaemonDraxx · 10-30-2005, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTUnit1

I would recomend a multi-cluster uber ram stick I like to call the "SUPAR RAMM"

That's..................Incredible.

I could setup a DC that has that kind of hardware and it would work better than what I have now.

.........................

Just kidding.