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Memory Question.

S

smoaky

Member
About a year and a half ago I bought a dell 8400. It came with 2 sticks of 256MB DDR2 SDRAM 400mhz. 5 months ago I bought a 1GB set (2 sticks of 512MB) of PQI Turbo DDR2 553 PC 4200 (Link for 2GB set - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141199 )

All of the memory is on stock settings, and I'm wondering if my memory is performing to its fullest. I bought the PQI Turbo because it had really good timing, but I've heard all your memory runs at the lowest denomenator (My dell memory in this case). If my dell memory is holding back the PQI Turbo, would it be worth it to just remove the dell memory and run 1GB, or should I invest in some more memory to replace the dell memory. Right now all 4 slots are full, so those are the only 2 options. My games aren't lagging, but I'd like it if everything I own is running to its full potential. Thanks for any info.
 
The memory is going to run at the speed of the slowest sticks. So if you left in the old ram, you'll be running at 400mhz, with the timings of the slowest sticks. But if you aren't having any lag or performance issues, I would just leave it alone.
 
It doesn't matter anyway, because you aren't OC'ing your cpu. Your memory is going to run at, effectively, 800mhz in dual channel mode, and it won't ever run any faster no matter what kind of memory you have in there. Just stick with what you got, two 512MB sticks and two 256MB sticks. Hate to say it now, but you should have just purchased Value Select DDR2. Corsair Value Select 533mhz DDR2 is what I have been putting in all of Dell's DDR2-based desktops.
 
Originally posted by: bamacre
It doesn't matter anyway, because you aren't OC'ing your cpu. Your memory is going to run at, effectively, 800mhz in dual channel mode, and it won't ever run any faster no matter what kind of memory you have in there. Just stick with what you got, two 512MB sticks and two 256MB sticks. Hate to say it now, but you should have just purchased Value Select DDR2. Corsair Value Select 533mhz DDR2 is what I have been putting in all of Dell's DDR2-based desktops.
Click to expand...

Dual channel doesn't make it run effectivly at 800mhz. Dual channel doubles the width, does not increase the effective clockspeed. It's like adding a new lane to a highway, not increasing the speed limit. And there are dividers used, that actualy allow DDR-2 533 to run at it's rated speed, without overclocking. So if he took out the 400mhz sticks, he could run the 533 at it's rated speed.
 
depends on what you want to do.

if your applications demand a larger amount of ram then no.
if they are small applications that will not use the extra 2x256 then pull them and sell them maybe.

i would just leave them because you wont really notice any difference. DDR over PC3200 isnt needed unless your overclocking IMO.

will an 8400 even support anything above 400mhz? is it FSB limited... anyone?
 
I play games a bit. COD 2 on medium, AOE III everything high. If I took that ram out I would probably replace it with comprable ram to the pqi, but as you said, I would need to know if my pc supports above 400mhz.
 
The FSB is only 800mhz, although the mobo will support 533mhz DDR2 ram. Maybe I am confused, but I fail to see where the 533mhz ram would help at all, unless you upgrade to a Pentium EE cpu with a 1066mhz FSB.
 
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