Barton 2500 + Abit NF7-S = Which RAM to Buy?

JohnBennett

Junior Member
Nov 16, 2003
5
0
0
Syncronizing all these bus and clock speeds has me confused. Bacially, I just my rig to run stable and not make a mistake in this configuration.

This will be for an Abit NF7-S (200/266/333/400 FSB) motherboard with an XP 2500+ "Barton" (333 FSB) on it.

The Abit manual shows that it requires 184pin DDR DIMM, but which of these "speeds" should I purchase?!?

Given that:
- I want 512 Mb
- I don't want to overclock.
- I want the best value/performace ratio.

PC2100 (DDR266 133MHz)
PC2400 (DDR300 150MHz)
PC2700 (DDR333 166MHz)
PC3000 (DDR375 188MHz)
PC3200 (DDR400 200MHz)
PC3500 (DDR433 216MHz)
PC3700 (DDR466)
PC4000 (DDR500 )
PC4200 (DDR533)

I'm confused!

Any help appreciated!!!

John Bennett
 

Mikewarrior2

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 1999
7,132
0
0
if you're not overclocking, look for crucial (or other low priced, possibly local after MIR deals) for pc2700.

You won't need any higher speed, unless you're looking for future compatibility.


Mike
 

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
5,661
5
81
If you don't want to overclock, get PC2700 from a reputable maker. Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin, TwinMos and Buffalo are all quality brands.

Also, get 2x 256 meg sticks instead of 1 512 meg stick. Dual channel doesn't offer much extra performance, but since you're starting from scratch you might as well go for it.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
I'd get PC3200 just so you can take it to a future system... it'll run at PC2700 speeds to match your FSB and you'll be able to run VERY tight timings.
 

Ionizer86

Diamond Member
Jun 20, 2001
5,292
0
76
PC3200 is just a tad more money and it'll run at 2700 even better than usual 2700.

I'd get some PC3200. It'll run at 2700 by default, but when you're into it, you can kick up the whole system's performance by ~20% simply by upping your bus a bit. Of course, that'll only work well if you have 3200 ram.