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DDR backward compatibility and misc memory questions

A

avash

Member
Hi. I've been a silent visitor to Anandtech for quite a while, especially the Hot Deals & Hardware section.

Anyway, I am stumped about DDR backward compatibility.

I've figured out most of the math relating to what the PCxxxx numbers mean for DDR speeds, please correct me if I'm wrong.
PC1600 = 100MHz / 200MHz FSB
PC2100 = 133MHz / 266MHz FSB
PC2700 = 166MHz / 333MHz FSB
PC3200 = 200MHz / 400MHz FSB


1) Are all DDR chips backward compatible? I've seen PC2700 chips that advertise backward compatibility to PC2100 only, while some others include PC1600.

(I'm especially curious because I have an Athlon 900MHz with a 200MHz FSB sitting on my desk right now and I'm worried that PC2700 will not work with it.)


2) Why avoid Spectek memory?

I bought some Kingston Valuram 256MB PC2700 DDR sticks last weekend (sale at CC) but returned it because it stated non-compatibility with dual channel. I ended up buying K-Byte from BB and the K-Byte chips were SpecTek. I saw a post that stated to avoid Spectek but without any explanation, I tried to search and nothing came up.

I ended up returning the Kingston because I just bought an Abit NF7-S from newegg (thx to the recommendations on Anandtech) and it has dual channel DDR (I've read the benefits for AMD is significantly less than Intel but nevertheless, improvements are always welcome).



3) Corsair and other memories are rarely available at BB, CC, OM, so getting a great deal on them is unlikely. Will the normal brands (K-Byte, Kingston Valuram, PNY, etc) work alright? I'm trying to upgrade my P3 450MHz on a rather tight budget at the moment, so my priority is getting my NF7-S to work with my Athlon 900MHz and if possible PC2700 DDR so I can just swap processors later and re-use the memory.


4) Are mobos with NVidia's NForce2 chipsets (e.g., NF7-S) very memory picky? I've come across several posts about memory incompatibility with this chipsets, should I be worried about using store-bought generic memory chips?


Thanks for the help. BB was crazy this morning, managed to get my 120GB HD, some memory (K-Byte w/ Spectek chips 🙁), and a bunch of other goodies. I passed on the Lite-on DVD burner becuse I'm contemplating spending the money and gettting the highly recommended Pioneer instead. Still need a new video card though 🙁
 
You are correct about DDR speeds..

1. Except for 1600 DDR, which I am not 100% positive about.. rest are all backward compatible..

2. Personally I haven't had any experience with Spectek.
But I assume people say to avoid it because they are not very reliable..
Most non-brand names are very cheaply made and there are many quality issues.
It's a hit or miss.. you may still get a good ram from it, but generally you wanna stay away from it.

3. I haven't had experiences with PNY nor K-byte(haven't even heard of K-byte)..
BB sells Crucial rams(micron) which are very good rams. You would do well getting brand named value rams.

4. You shouldn't have problems if you buy brand name rams(basic/value rams are good enough).
 
1) I dont see any reason they wouldnt be, so long as you can set your memory speed to 100 in the BIOS.

2) Like Kuritadelta said, people tend to avoid RAM that they haven't heard of, or that isn't name brand.

3) I have some PNY running in my wife's box, and I've never had any problems with it, even running the 256mb PC2100 CL2.5 I have at CL2 with no problems.

4) I think about the best you can do is try it, and return it if it doesnt work. However, if you dig around on the brand-specific forums of www.nforcershq.com, or look at the Abit NF7-S post in the motherboards section here, you might get a better idea of any specific incompatabilities. But in general, it seems to me that there are alot more problems with memory nowadays, as far as how many I see having to be RMA'd.

As an added note, if you are tight on cash, I highly suggest you do some perusing on the For Sale/For Trade side of these boards. There are a proliferate amount of processors, video cards, and RAM, selling for some great prices. Good luck to ya.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Going to go look around for a geforce 4xxxTI at the For Sale/Trade forum. I heard they're pretty good.
 
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