Faster memory VS. More memory

[Lorn]

I'm wondering what would be better for me... 512 MB of PC3200 DDR400 ram or 1024 MB of PC2700 DDR333 ram?

 

[NarcoticHobo]

what kind of system do you have, post all of your specs.

 

[Lorn]

Athlon XP 2700+ @ 2.21 GHz
512 MB Micron PC3200 DDR400 RAM
Western Digital 80 GB 8 MB Cache 7200 RPM
GeForce4 MX 4000 (downgrade from 9800 Pro)
52x32x52x LiteOn CDRW

I stopped playing games (hence the GPU downgrade) and work a lot with graphic design and music production. Gaming is irrelevent, I could care less about that kind of performance. I just need to be able to run numerous Adobe applications as well as audio software like Protools and Reason 2.5.

 

[Lorn]

Note: I already have been running these applications for years with decent performance, but I need to know what would help me out more. Faster memory or more memory at a slower speed.

 

[Sniper82]

If you game alot then 1gb would be better(on newer games anyway).

 

[LordPhoenix]

ddr400 is like a standard for gaming pcs... + it doesnt cost that much (almost the same except 4-5 more dollars)

ddr333 is too weak unless u dont want to expect much from ur system

DDR400 because it'll be compliant with upgrades and it will last for a LONG time. Plus it won't be that much to get another 512 stick.

 

[Lorn]

512 MB PC3200 DDR400 MEMORY
(or)
1024 MB PC2700 DDR333 MEMORY.

PLEASE, PICK ONE.
:brokenheart:

 

[ts3433]

I'd get another 512MB of DDR400 for now to make one gig. If you find you need more, it seriously is not any more expensive than DDR333.

 

[Lorn]

My current motherboard only supports 2 (COUNT TWO) DIMMS of PC3200/DDR400 RAM. That means that the 512 MBs currently in my system is taking up 2 (COUNT TWO) DIMMS. That leaves me with 0 (COUNT ZERO, ZILCH, NADA) DIMMS remaining for PC3200 RAM. My motherboard WILL, on the other hand, support 3 (COUNT THREE) DIMMS of PC2700/DDR333 RAM. That will allow me to get up to a GIG of memory. So again, I ask...

512 MB PC3200 DDR400 MEMORY
(or)
1024 MB PC2700 DDR333 MEMORY.

PICK ONE.

 

[watek]

ONE GIG

 

[2Xtreme21]

Demanding people to choose won't help your case.

I would, first, up the FSB to 200MHz (400MHz) and buy 512MB of PC3200. A gig helps, though the chance to OC your CPU as well as your motherboard to 200MHz greatly outweighs the 512mb of extra memory.

 

[ts3433]

Even though it says "supports 2xDDR400 or 3xDDR333," what it probably means is simply that if you put 3 DIMMs of DDR400 in there, they just revert to DDR333 by default, not that it will just reject the memory based on that alone.

Get the PC3200 if you plan on taking that with you to an upgrade, or the PC2700 if you will just keep this as is for awhile and it is substantially cheaper, or if that description on your motherboard does not mean what is stated above.

 

[Sniper82]

If you game alot or use apps that can use 1gb then yest 1gb is def better. But if you just do light gaming with basic stuff then I'd keep the512mb PC3200.

 

[Goi]

Guys, he has said that he DOES NOT GAME...

In any case, I'd go for more ram simply because audio/image editing takes a hell lot of memory.

 

[Lorn]

Originally posted by: Goi
Guys, he has said that he DOES NOT GAME...

In any case, I'd go for more ram simply because audio/image editing takes a hell lot of memory.

THANK YOU GOI

 

[NesuD]

I would go for the gig of ram as well. Still rather than buy a pc2700 module to get yourself there just get a pc3200 module as the prices are not much different and you can run it at pc2700 speeds yet still have memory that is qualified for pc3200 operation should you ever need it in the future. If you set your memory speed to 166/333 in the bios all your pc3200 dimms will in effect become pc2700 dimms so using all 3 dimm slots should work.

 

[dguy6789]

More ram is better then faster ram 99.99999% of the time.

 

[soccerballtux]

You absolutely sure about more ram being better than faster Ram? I just want peace of mind with my RAM upgrade, to know that I won't be losing too much performance....

Cause I can pay 35 and get a gig of pc2700 ram dual channel same brand ram (so more likely to be able to do small bus oc) or play about 70 and add in a pc3200 and then pay another 45-ish later and have a gig of ddr400....but thats a whole lot to pay for just an extra 500MB/s Bandwidth...2.7GB/s...and if its only going to hurt my FPS maybe by 10-15% then saving the money is worth it...

 

[ts3433]

That is quite a bit of cash for the increase to PC3200, and it shouldn't hurt you to have PC2700 unless you run it asynchronously on an 400FSB Athlon XP or 800FSB P4 (of course, if it can OC to match, that's even better), and even then the performance difference is probably negligible for the savings.

 

[mordantmonkey]

i have edited large TIFF files on my machine and my friends machine. i had at the time 512 of 3200 he had 1.5 gigs of 133. More memory is SO much better since if you have to use swap file it will be slower than even 133 memory.

of course if you want to keep your upgrade path open... but that kind of upgrade is pretty negligble if your not gaming.