can I use DDR 500 RAM on a DDR 400 mobo?

[narcotic]

I have a GA-K8NF-9 mobo, now I can get 2*512 DDR500 cheaper than 2*512 DDR400, so I was wondering if I can use it on my system, and if so, will I see any benefit/loss?
Thx.

 

[natto fire]

YEP. Higher clocked RAM has NO problem running at lower clocked speeds.

edit: only benefit you will see is higher o/c potential fromt the higher clocked rAM.
Edit2: And the 'futureproof' you will find from buying high speed RAM, although with DDR2 and DDR3 right arouund the corner this 'futureproof' is not guaranteed.

 

[narcotic]

since you mentioned it... can DDR2 run on a DDR "1" system?
and how soon is DDR3 coming out?
btw, all I know for now (and it might be wrong), is the DDR2 has higher latency than DDR "1"

 

[stevty2889]

DDR 2 will not work on a DDR1 motherboard. You are correct that DDR2 has higher latency, but it has been improving, none the less, you can't use DDR2 with an AMD system anyway, nor would it have any benifit. I dont' think anyone knows when DDR3 will be out, it's still going to be a while. Are you planning to overclock? If you aren't, DDR500 is basicly a waste, the reason for using it is so you can overclock your CPU higher before needing to use a divider for the ram, but if you already got it, it will work fine at slower clock speeds.