Different speeds of Ram.. Need some insight on putting different ram in 1 motherboard

[nigm]

Hey, I'm building a new system rig, here's the specs:

Antec Super Lanboy Case
Intel Pentium 4 3.2E
Abit VT7 v2.0
Kingston PC3200 Valueram PAIRED 512x2 DDR (1gb)

My question is thus: Will my sytem run fine with max amount of speed accumalated from the ram if I install those two paired Kingston AND two more generic DDR ram (2x256 pc3200). I've heard if you install different speeds of ram, it will run at the slowest ram you have. But what if they are the same speed but not same company etc.?

Any insight would be helpfull

 

[MustISO]

It'll work fine but it won't probably wouldn't run as dual channel.

 

[nigm]

Originally posted by: MustISO
It'll work fine but it won't probably wouldn't run as dual channel.

How is my pc performance affected with not having dual channel?

 

[nigm]

^^

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: nigm

Originally posted by: MustISO
It'll work fine but it won't probably wouldn't run as dual channel.

How is my pc performance affected with not having dual channel?

Ok, I'll bite. I don't play with Intel these days, but my understanding is that you take a serious performance hit w/o DC. Intel CPU are bandwithd starved and need DC.

 

[nigm]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: nigm

Originally posted by: MustISO
It'll work fine but it won't probably wouldn't run as dual channel.

How is my pc performance affected with not having dual channel?

Ok, I'll bite. I don't play with Intel these days, but my understanding is that you take a serious performance hit w/o DC. Intel CPU are bandwithd starved and need DC.

Well.. I have 4 dimm slots to put the rams in. 2 of them are bieng used by paired kingston pc3200 ram. I have two paired (i belive) pc3200 256mb ram; would that work at optimal speed?

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: nigm

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: nigm

Originally posted by: MustISO
It'll work fine but it won't probably wouldn't run as dual channel.

How is my pc performance affected with not having dual channel?

Ok, I'll bite. I don't play with Intel these days, but my understanding is that you take a serious performance hit w/o DC. Intel CPU are bandwithd starved and need DC.

Well.. I have 4 dimm slots to put the rams in. 2 of them are bieng used by paired kingston pc3200 ram. I have two paired (i belive) pc3200 256mb ram; would that work at optimal speed?

What will you be using the PC for? Most people need 1gb at the most and will not benefit from any more than that. Fern is correct, at least as I understand it, though I couldn't tell you whether 4 DIMMs will run in dual channel or not either - but my guess is no, and that you don't need them to anyway.

 

[nigm]

FFS !

Ok, Lets talk as the price isnt the matter, and since I have these ram lying around..

Now, everyone here have any actual info instead of b/s possibilities they would like to share? I need some factual info, not "yeh sure.. erm maybe"

 

[nigm]

^^ anyone? Do I have to give out FREE RAM for someone to give me a decent answer?

 

[Chapbass]

man that free ram looks appetizing....

no guarantees for a "Decent" answer though

: )

 

[TopAce]

Ok you wanted a real answer, i'll give you one...

Your have cuurently 1536Mb of ram which includes the Kingston 2x512 and the generic 2x256 RAM. Most applications today do not use over 1gb of RAM. Now it really comes down to what you do. People say that if you put all four modules you wil not get dual channel. This is correct. Dual channel consists of 2 memory modules, thus the name "dual" channel. There is a huge advantage in having dual channel because it not only helps your processor but also the applications. What i personally would do is get the Kingston 2x512 and run those in dual channel. That way most, if not all programs you use will benifit from that. If your worried about the programs taking up too much memory, take at look at Microsoft XP. This is the operating system and is connected to all your programs. This only needs a minimum of 256mb RAM. Also, most games today only need 1 gb for optimal performence, and thats not even in dual channel.

hope this helps,
Ace

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: TopAce
Ok you wanted a real answer, i'll give you one...

Your have cuurently 1536Mb of ram which includes the Kingston 2x512 and the generic 2x256 RAM. Most applications today do not use over 1gb of RAM. Now it really comes down to what you do. People say that if you put all four modules you wil not get dual channel. This is correct. Dual channel consists of 2 memory modules, thus the name "dual" channel. There is a huge advantage in having dual channel because it not only helps your processor but also the applications. What i personally would do is get the Kingston 2x512 and run those in dual channel. That way most, if not all programs you use will benifit from that. If your worried about the programs taking up too much memory, take at look at Microsoft XP. This is the operating system and is connected to all your programs. This only needs a minimum of 256mb RAM. Also, most games today only need 1 gb for optimal performence, and thats not even in dual channel.

hope this helps,
Ace

Actually you are almost right about dual channel. You have to use either 2 or 4 sticks to get the dual channel effect.

Also the minimum specs that most people RECOMMEND is 256mb ram for XP, but according to MS


Here's What You Need to Use Windows XP Home Edition
? PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended
? 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)
? 1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.*
? Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor
? CD-ROM or DVD drive
? Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device



As for the question at hand, I would not put "no name" or generic RAM into my machine, it tends to run slow and flakey. Best bet is to keep the 1 GB name brand you have and ebay the other 2 sticks.