How will this memory upgrade improve performance?

digitalduck

Senior member
Nov 24, 2003
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Okay currently im running:

Abit NF7
Athlon XP 2500+ 1.8ghz
crucial 512mb 2100


Im going to buy some crucial 512mb 3200...will there be a noticable difference? Gaming wise or just load times etc?

Thanks...
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Are you adding the 512MB of PC3200 to the existing PC2100, or are you swapping out the PC2100 for PC3200?

nForce2 systems that don't have an integrated video core will perform best with the memory running at the same speed as the CPU's bus. For an AthlonXP 2500+, the CPU's bus speed is 166MHz (DDR333), so the ideal situation is to run the memory at 166MHz (DDR333) too, which means PC2700 speeds. Your PC2100 may overclock to this level if you're reasonably lucky (if not, try 2.6-2.7 volts on the DIMM voltage), and of course your PC3200 will happily run at PC2700 speeds.

If you want to overclock, then you can lock the memory to the CPU's bus speed, then raise the CPU's bus speed. The memory speeds up too, they remain in sync, the harmony of the spheres is preserved, and your computer goes zoom! :) If your CPU is also an unlocked one, then your motherboard may allow you to play with the multiplier for even more overclocking options.

My guess is that if you swap your PC2100 for PC3200 and run it optimally (PC2700 speed), the difference will be subtle. I've done a full swap from a 1700+ with PC2100 to a 2500+ with PC2700 and the difference there was what I would call "subtle," although the additional CPU power helped with big tasks like very large file compressions.

If you add the PC3200 to the PC2100, then simply having the extra RAM at any speed will allow your system to cache more game maps so that levels can load faster, etc. People have frequently said that 1GB of RAM has given them noticable benefits in BF1942 and SimCity4, to name a couple.