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Dual channel 533- and 667- MHz DDR2

C

cdh987

Member
Hello,

I am very new to all of this, but it looks like a lot of fun. I have an XPS 400 and it came with (2) 512 PC2-4300 sticks of memory that I think run at 533 MHz. The mobo has (4) memory connectors and supports both 533- and 677- MHz DDR2s. My question is this: Can I get (2) 1 GB PC2- 5400 (677 MHz) and run them in the other two slots at the same time for a total of 3 GB of ram? If I do this, will there be any problems? It seems like I've read somwhere that if you run a slower ram with a faster ram, that it makes ALL of the ram run at the slowest speed. Is that the case here? Should I just ditch the slower ram and keep the (2) 1 GB (677)? I would really appreciate any tips at all on these subjects. The only thing I've ever done is swap a power supply and graphics card, so any tips would be very appreiciated.
 
You heard right, the system will run the ram as fast as your slowest chip.

Personally, I don't think you'll notice too much of a difference from 2 - 3 gb of ram. I am in the process of getting a new motherboard and will be testing out the exact scenario (but all sticks are pc3200), so I should know the definite answer in a few days. Feel free to put them all in and run a few benchmarks and actual programs. Be the judge yourself, it shouldn't take that long to do.
 
Thanks very much for the advice.
That's a good idea, I'll try both configurations and see whats happens. Thanks again!
 
My guess is that if you have 2 gigs of faster ram for almost all applications using win XP---you would only see a performace hit vs. having 3 gigs of slightly downclocked memory only of you have an ungodly number of applications running at the same time.---probably more than you would ever have in normal use.

I am also guessing the same with vista--but the number of apps open at the same time would go down.
But will it be a small enough to classify as normal use for you?
 
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