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RAM question?

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Brallrock, Nov 27, 2007.

  1. Brallrock Gems: 23/31
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    [​IMG] Hey all, I am planning on getting new RAM for my PC, and I looked it up and my MB is capable of running PC4200 and PC 6400 RAM. It has 2 512 sticks of PC 4200 in it right now. My question is what would give me more performance boost, adding 2 1gb sticks of PC 4200, or ditching the origional RAM and dropping in 2 x1 gb sticks of PC 6400? Money is not a consideration in this, performance only as the difference is only about $20.
     
  2. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    So let me see if I understand you.

    Scenario #1:
    Keep the 2 512MB sticks of PC 4200 and then get a pair of 1GB sticks of the same type for a total of 3GB.

    Scenario #2:
    Loose the 2 512MB sticks of PC 4200 and then get a pair of 1GB sticks of PC 6400 for a total of 2GB.

    Hmmm...For Scenario #1, you'd have 2 sets of dual channel bandwidth along with an extra gig of RAM...but PC 4200 has a peak transfer rate of 4264 MB/s while PC 6400 has a rate of 6400 MB/s.

    While I'm not 100% sure, I think getting the 2 1GB sticks of PC 6400 will perform better. If you're running XP, you probably won't notice the difference between 2GB and 3GB of RAM anyway. :rolling:
     
  3. Stu Gems: 20/31
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    Gee tough call - I think I'll have to agree with Kitrax, you're unlikely to be utilizing more than 2gb of ram under windows XP, so you'll likely benefit from the speed increase, regardless of how esoteric it might be in most situations, without any loss from not having enough ram.
     
  4. Brallrock Gems: 23/31
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    Yes Kitrax, you understood perfectly, so you say ditch the 4200 and go with 2 gigs of 6400. I thought I may get more performance that way, and it leaves me open to go up to 4gig if I ever choose to run the Vista Home Premium that came with this PC. The price is only $20 difference from Crucial, and always free shipping too. Thanks guys for the help!
     
  5. chevalier

    chevalier Knight of Everfull Chalice ★ SPS Account Holder Veteran

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    This is mostly intuition, but I also think between 2 and 3 GB RAM the difference is not as much as between the speeds. It's not like the speed of the RAM makes such a huge difference, either, however. While some high RAM capacities aren't used, so peak transfer rates don't come into play so often. All in all, though, I'd say go for faster RAM.

    Ah, and MHz is not everything. Chips with the same frequency can have different latency figures (CL). Go for the lowest CL you can unless it means overpaying a lot.
     
  6. Merlanni

    Merlanni Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Right, right and rigth. Fast memory will be slown down by the weakest dimm's.
     
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