a memory question...

[Zeeky Boogy Doog]

heres my question... right now ive got a comp thats decient, but i definetly need more memory, right now ive got 256 of 2100, im going to get 512 of 3200.... now... would you suggest running both sticks for 768 at 2100 or just sell off the 256 and run the 512 at 3200?

none of my friends have been able to tell me which would be better, so i came here... thanks

 

[Trashman]

that pc3200 will run @ pc2100 speeds in your system, you want to match memory with cpu and motherboard, if your board/cpu supports pc2100, then thats what speed it will run at.
For memory upgrades, its ok to get faster "rated" memory, it'll just slow down to pc2100 speeds, you never want to buy slower "rated"memory.
so in your case, its best using all memory or 768 total, you may wanna reconsider buyin PC3200 unless you buy it at good deal.
this of course differs if overclocking and not knowing your system specs.

 

[Zeeky Boogy Doog]

the thing is... i want to upgrade my mobo, cpu ect a little later (once i have some money...) and i dont wanna waste my money on 2100 which i'll just have to get rid of later, id rather get the 3200 now, which my mobo does support, i knew the 3200 would run at 2100 if i put it with the 256, but i just wasnt sure wether it was better to be running the 768 at 2100, or to just scrap the 2100 now rather than later and run the 512 at 3200

 

[Tea Bag]

If you are gonna run the PC3200 now, that's fine.. Then you always have the option of running it in your new computer that supports DDR400 speeds. You will get a better 'bang for the buck' value if you buy DDR400 because that and PC2100 prices are pretty much the same price, plus you can run it faster in the future. Regardless in that setup, you wouldn't see that big of improvement in SPEED, but the AMOUNT of memory used.

In conclusion: Yes, buy it.

 

[Ryoga]

Keep in mind that running 1 stick of PC2100 and one or two stick(s) of PC3200 may result in a system that won't boot. Especially if you're using RAM from different manufacturers. IMX, about 10% of the time you try to mix brands and ratings, you get incompatible results.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: PsychoticIdiot
heres my question... right now ive got a comp thats decient, but i definetly need more memory, right now ive got 256 of 2100, im going to get 512 of 3200.... now... would you suggest running both sticks for 768 at 2100 or just sell off the 256 and run the 512 at 3200?

none of my friends have been able to tell me which would be better, so i came here... thanks

What cpu/mobo do you have?

If it's an AMD cpu running at FSB 133 (pc2100), go ahead with 768MB option. No need to run the pc3200 at 200 FSB while the AMD cpu is running at 133 FSB. AMD systems don't perform well unless they (ram+cpu) are insynch.

Fern

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

For this case, I would look at the total maximum bandwidth for the two settings:

1) For running both memories together you have 768MB memory,
bandwidth of 2100 MB/s

versus

2) 512MB memory at 3200 MB/s.

No matter what, when your computer fills up the first 512MB space of memory, surely #2 is a better setup.
On the other side, once the memory is full, a system with more memory will have a better hit rate. So it becomes a scenario of hit rate versus memory speed. I would assume for most common applications 512MB is sufficient for XP users. In this case, having faster memory would probably benefit you more. And also, if you plan on upgrading to a dual channel board, your memory bandwith is doubled, so the difference becomes more significant for faster memory.

My suggestion in planning for the future would be to buy better memory now and give your old stuff the boot.

 

[Sideswipe001]

Originally posted by: BrentUnitedMem
For this case, I would look at the total maximum bandwidth for the two settings:

1) For running both memories together you have 768MB memory,
bandwidth of 2100 MB/s

versus

2) 512MB memory at 3200 MB/s.

No matter what, when your computer fills up the first 512MB space of memory, surely #2 is a better setup.
On the other side, once the memory is full, a system with more memory will have a better hit rate. So it becomes a scenario of hit rate versus memory speed. I would assume for most common applications 512MB is sufficient for XP users. In this case, having faster memory would probably benefit you more. And also, if you plan on upgrading to a dual channel board, your memory bandwith is doubled, so the difference becomes more significant for faster memory.

My suggestion in planning for the future would be to buy better memory now and give your old stuff the boot.

My only disagreement here, is that an AMD CPU won't care how much memory bandwith it has. The XP processors never did like running memory out of sync with the CPU FSB, and though it will work, the gains will be minimal at best.

I'd personally buy the 512, install it (for the 768 MB total) and run it at 2100. Then run some benchmarks. Then take out the 256 and run it at 512 and 3200. I mean real benchmarks, not SiSoft Sandra. Run a game, or two or three. Games you use.

You should be able to tell which makes the computer perform beter. I'm betting on the 768 MB though.