DDR 2100 .. pairs or not?

[akshtray]

Hello:

I am buying a computer with 1 PC 2100 DDR 256 MB chip being used. I am not sure if I should buy 2 * 512 MB slots or just purchase 1 * 1 GB Slot and use the 256 MB at the same time.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks
akshtray

 

[Lord Evermore]

What type of system? Is it a P4 or Athlon XP? Does the motherboard support dual-channel memory?

 

[akshtray]

Its a P4 2.66 Ghz. Not sure about the Motherboard .. looking into it.

Thanks
akshtray

 

[snidy1]

Get 2 in case you get a Dual channel board

 

[Lord Evermore]

If it's a dual-channel board, then two modules of PC2100 will be needed to get the full performance (and unfortunately you can't use the existing 256MB module at the same time). If it's a single-channel board, then you will want to get PC2700 modules (either 1 or 2, performance will be the same) to give it the most bandwidth possible. I assume this is an OEM system like a Dell?

 

[akshtray]

thanks ..

yes .. it is an OEM system .. a Medion actually .. i have emailed them for more info on the Motherboard .. also .. i am not sure if it can accept PC2700 or higher memory or not .. how do I find that out ..

thanks ..
akshtray

 

[Lord Evermore]

The type of motherboard you're getting will determine that. If it uses an Intel 845PE chipset, then it should support PC2700 memory. If it uses a SiS or VIA chipset, it should also support it. If it uses an Intel dual-channel chipset, then PC2100 is all that will be supported, with a Pentium4 using a 533MHz bus.

 

[akshtray]

thanks ..

that was really very helpful .. understand how this works now ..

akshtray

 

[akshtray]

As was told by Medion:

The motherboard does not use dual channel DDR. The motherboard is manufactured by MSI exclusively for Medion and is based on the SiS648/963 chipsets.

Thank you,

Medion USA Technical Support

So then I can just use the 1 GB slot right?

Akshtray

 

[Lord Evermore]

Manufactured exclusively for some small computer maker? I think not. They seemed to be based in Germany, so maybe they have a big market there, but I don't think big enough to get custom made boards like Dell or Compaq would.

You'll be able to find out when you get it exactly what board it is. But the 648 chipset of course is single-channel, so you don't need to use two modules.

However, 1GB modules of PC2700 and PC3200 are rare, I'm not even sure they're available at all yet. Using PC2100 would make the benefit of having 1GB of memory less than it should be. You'll get better performance with two modules of 512MB PC2700, or PC3200 if you can afford it. The SiS648 doesn't officially support PC3200 though, so you'll want to wait and see what the board you get is capable of.

 

[akshtray]

Help .. Lord Evermore .. question for u specifically cos u have been helping me:

This is the comp. from Medion (the one i need the memory for):

Intel® Pentium 4 2.66GHz Processor
533MHz Front Side Bus
512KB L2 Cache
256MB PC2100 DDR266 Memory
120GB 7200RPM Seagate® Hard Drive
High-Speed CD-RW Drive
16x DVD-ROM Drive
Floppy Drive Not Included
10/100Mbps Onboard Ethernet Adapter
56K PCI Modem
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce4 Ti4200 Video
AC '97 6-Channel Surround Sound
Flash/Memory Card Reader
IEEE 1394 FireWire Interface
Microsoft® Works Suite 2003
Microsoft® Windows XP Home Edition

b]OR[/b]

I can get this .. or assemble the following for around the same price:

1 * Intel Pentium 4 / 2.66 GHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus Retail

1 * ABIT BH7,Intel 845PE chipset support P4 Socket 478,SATA,4phase PWM,USB 2.0 ATX motherboard Retail

2 * KINGSTON HyperX Series 184-pin 512MB DDR333 (PC2700) 64X64 DDR RAM modules, Model# KHX2700/512

1 * Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM Hard Drive 8MB Model

1 * Lite On 52x24x52 Black CDRW Model LTR-52246

1 * LITE-ON XJ-HD166S 16X DVD ROM Drive BLACK

1 * Enermax CS-3051L-B3A (Black) Mid ATX Tower Case Aluminum/Plastic Front Panel w/ Acrylic Cover & Enermax Logo on side Window, Sound Sensitive Neon Light - Retail

2 * YS TECH Adjustable 8CM cooling fan. Manual adjustable fan speed, VERIABLE SPEED FROM 800rpm to 3700rpm. 10.2CFM - 48.7CFM 18dBA - 39.5dBA

1 * ATI Radeon 9600 PRO

Let me know if the first or the second one seems better ..

Akshtray[

 

[Lord Evermore]

It depends on how good you are at computer assembly and troubleshooting. If you think you can put it together and install the OS and software and fix any glitches and incompatibilities, I'd always suggest building your own system. There are threads here every day asking for suggestions about new systems, so you can get some idea of how yours compares, on performance and price.

I don't know how much the Medion system was going to cost or what type of case would be included, so I can't compare directly. You've obviously got a case that's more expensive and featured than average, and the motherboard will almost certainly have more features (though you may not use them) and be faster. The hard drive will be faster, but will be louder since I assume they were planning to use a Barracuda in the Medion system.