Are 3 sticks of DDR-RAM slower than 2 sticks???

[in2speed]

Buying a new motherboard this week, most likely Soyo Dragon Plus or another solid board. I picked up 3 sticks of 256mb DDR-RAM @ BestBuy for cheap ($35 per, less rebate).

Question #1: Will system run slower with 3 sticks of RAM than with 2? I plan to do mild overclocking with a locked XP1700+ CPU. I will often have 10 programs running simultaneously (Windows 2000, Quicken, MSWorks, Explorer, AOL, several Explorer browser windows, TurboNote, ZoneAlarm, fax program, scanner, printer, etc.) I have a cable modem and stream music (usually Spinner). Also, at other times the system will be used to download audio SHN files, conversion to WAV's, then burning CD-R's.

Question #2: Will I benefit from having 768 megs of RAM for the uses outlined above?

Question #3: Should I get the Dragon+ or should I get a different motherboard for the uses noted above?

 

[SilverBack]

Hi,
I've had both 768 and 512 mb of DDR in my system. ( I have the 1st version of the Dragon KT266 )
I didn't notice any problems while running the 768 as compared to the 512. BUT I also didn't notice any performance gains either.
For what you are using your system for 512 is fine if not over kill.

I have heard of times where people had instability issues on boards using 3 dimms, but I don't think it was ever a proven issue.

 

[rondeemc]

Hard to beat the Dragon Plus. Nic, above average sound, five fan headers, 2 usb ports for a front bay, and raid that you can set to individual devices all for less then $150. Toss in the gts-v at newegg and you have a great start in a system.

 

[microAmp]

Only if you are going to run the nForce chipset and populate all 3 banks....

 

[chizow]

Only problem you might run into is in OCing. More dimms populated, the harder it is for the northbridge to manage the ram timings between dimms. AT did a test with 3 dimms populated on a variety of boards and all did fine. You may have to back down your timings though (not turbo or cas2) if you want to OC with 3 dimms. There are plenty of folks running all 3 dimms populated though with no probs and no need to back down timings.

Chiz

 

[in2speed]

Thanks for your responses. If I understand correctly, maybe I should just use 2 sticks because I am not going to see any gain and possibly some harm.

What would be the positive side of adding the 3rd stick? I supposed that it might help to have more RAM, but perhaps that is a mistaken supposition.

Would the positives of the 3rd stick outweigh the negatives, including the extra cost that could be put towards a faster processor or an Abit KR7-raid board with Audigy, Seismic Edge or Santa Cruz sound card?

By the way, I know enough to get Crucial PC2100 DDR's, so I was hoping to avoid the instabilities I have sometimes heard about.

I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences.

 

[StormRider]

On one computer of mine, when I had 2 DIMMs in there, I was able to run at CAS-2 with no errors.

But with all three DIMM sockets filled, I experienced memory errors on the memory testing program that comes with System Suite 3.0 -- I adjusted the bios to use CAS-3 and the memory errors went away.

 

[chizow]

<< Thanks for your responses. If I understand correctly, maybe I should just use 2 sticks because I am not going to see any gain and possibly some harm.

What would be the positive side of adding the 3rd stick? I supposed that it might help to have more RAM, but perhaps that is a mistaken supposition.

Would the positives of the 3rd stick outweigh the negatives, including the extra cost that could be put towards a faster processor or an Abit KR7-raid board with Audigy, Seismic Edge or Santa Cruz sound card?

By the way, I know enough to get Crucial PC2100 DDR's, so I was hoping to avoid the instabilities I have sometimes heard about.

I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. >>



Honestly, unless you are doing some serious multi-tasking, graphic design, or running a server, I don't think you need that 3rd stick. I've heard win2k and XP will use every bit of RAM you throw at it, but I haven't seen any major difference (except in MPBT 3025, a game with a massive memory leak where I didn't have to reboot as often). I was on an A7V133 with 256 megs before my current rig, and yes, my current rig is a helluva lot faster than my KT133A board, but thats really because of an upgraded mobo and cpu along with the DDR.

Right now is a good time to grab some Crucial from Best Buy. They're having a this week only sale on their Crucial that amounts to less than 1/2 of the going market price (~$55 compared to ~$25 after MIR). Its the same part and everything, but I've resisted buying the extra stick simply b/c I don't need it and even that $25 can be applied to something with more immediate functionality (like my logitech cordless freedom optical I just ordered). Pretty hot deal btw, but its dead. I got it for $84 shipped from Amazon ($99-$5 coupon-$10 giftcertificates.com) which is a great price considering no one has it in stock less than $100 and after shipping it amounts to $90+ anyways.

I'd take that $25-$50 extra loot and like you said, apply it to something where you'll see a more tangible benefit. Again, really depends what you'll be using it for, but 512MB is plenty for gaming and daily use.

Chiz

 

[in2speed]

bump

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

What OS will you be running? If it's XP, then you can use up to 4 GB I think, if it's Windows 98SE or Me then I think Windows will only use 512MB. Something else to take into account with the motherboard DIMM compatibility...

 

[in2speed]

I plan on loading Win2K, which I have never tried before. Having been using Win98se, which is very unstable (needs to be wiped and reloaded). Can Win2000 utilized more than 512mb?

 

[themadmonk]

I've heard of this problem with some nForce based boards.

 

[in2speed]

bump

 

[yodayoda]

dude, sell the chip on ebay or anandtech FS and pocket the $50 and avoid any possible headache and zero performance gain =)

 

[hwstock]

<< What OS will you be running? If it's XP, then you can use up to 4 GB I think, if it's Windows 98SE or Me then I think Windows will only use 512MB. Something else to take into account with the motherboard DIMM compatibility... >>



Win98se will indeed work with more than 512MB. The fix is extremely simple; in system.ini, add the line, under [vcache] :

MaxFileCache 200000

(if for some reason the [vcache] header doesn't exist, add that too).

The MaxFileCache is given in KB, NOT MB, and should be set to 1/4 the physical RAM, or 512000, whichever is smaller. (I used 200000 above merely as an example; the absolute value is not critical, as long as it is significantly smaller than your physical RAM.)

I have three win98se systems, each with 1 GB RAM-- one has been running for almost a year, and I often do calculatons that take up 600 MB and run for days to weeks. Previously, I also had a K7V with 786 MB, and it ran trouble-free for 17 months.

Even without the fix, the system should still load windows and function. The problem that arises is an inability to open new virtual machines -- e.g. protected-mode DOS consoles.

 

[in2speed]

Thanks for the advice. I plan to run Win2000pro. I am currently running Win98se, but it's from Compaq and loaded with extra bogus stuff.

If it won't increase speed, as stated by yodayoda (whose opinions I have often read and have a lot of respect for), then I should dump the RAM module, still sealed, UPC intact, 256 DDR2100 retail Crucial $50 shipping included.

On the other hand, I would install it if it would help out. Any final advice?

 

[starwarsdad]

Windows2000 will utilize all of your RAM. But from what you have told us you use your system for, you won't.

512MB should be plenty and you will not notice a difference in the extra 256MB unless you get into image editing or keep multiple intensive programs up at once.

 

[in2speed]

I have posted the RAM for sale. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[trikster2]

Re: 512MB
> remember, its borderline overkill to have as much as that.

ha

Not if you play lame games like Everquest's new expansion

512MB is recommended
256MB MINimum

No I don't know what sony/verant developers are smoking, but they probably have stock in micron/crucial 300,000 users rushing out to buy memory.....

Required Specs:

Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP
Pentium® II 400Mhz or greater
256 MB RAM
16 MB Direct3D compliant video card and hardware T&L (i.e. Nvidia GeForce/GeForce 2 or ATI Radeon)
DirectX 8.0 compatible sound card
28.8 K+ Internet connection
4X speed CD-ROM
450 MB+ hard drive space

Recommended Specs:

Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP
Pentium® III or greater
512 MB RAM
32 MB Direct3D compliant video card and hardware T&L (i.e. ATI Radeon or Nvidia GeForce 2 or greater)
DirectX 8.0 compatible sound card
56.6 K+ Internet connection
16X speed CD-ROM
1.5 GB+ hard drive space

Note: DirectX 8.1 or greater is required for Windows 98, XP, ME, and 2k.

 

[anime]

Peepz still play evercrack game? I ditched that game a long time ago and will never go back. I did get lots of cash from that game