Memory speeds?

[Cook1]

What's the difference between PC2700 RAM and PC3200? I mean, what is the direct connection to RAM speeds and using applications or gaming and such?

 

[dc5]

pc2700 = 2.7gb/s
pc3200 = 3.2gb/s

one is faster than the other and will be quicker in games/apps, but only as fast as the motherboard supports. if you have a motherboard that supports pc3200 and you buy a pc4000, then the ram will just run at pc3200 speeds.

 

[Cook1]

So what does faster mean in this situation?

 

[dc5]

Originally posted by: Cook1
So what does faster mean in this situation?

faster ram = faster computer.

 

[Cook1]

Originally posted by: dc5

one is faster than the other and will be quicker in games/apps, but only as fast as the motherboard supports. if you have a motherboard that supports pc3200 and you buy a pc4000, then the ram will just run at pc3200 speeds.

Gotcha but what's the point of OC'ing your ram to PC4000 (DDR533? speeds?) if the board only supports DDR400?

 

[Aleksandar]

dude when you overclock youre memory you gotta overclock the cpu so it dosent matter if the motherboard cant support higher than pc3200 the memoty will run higher

 

[dc5]

you only buy higher ram if you're going to overclock your cpu.

 

[Cook1]

Ahh thanks

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

For best-case performance you want to watch both your memory bus and FSB bandwidth. You want these bandwidths to closely match each other. Better if your FSB is slightly faster than your memory bus. It's never a good idea to run your memory bus higher than your FSB.

I advise using this program to calculate: CPU-Z

From CPU-Z write down the following values:
CPU TAB --> Bus Speed = _______
Memory TAB --> Frequency = ________ (Memory Frequency)

simple bandwidth calculations:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSB bandwidth: (Bus Speed) x (64-bit data bus) / (8 bits/byte)
= (Bus Speed x 8) MB/s

now compare compared with

Memory bandwidth: (Memory Frequency) x (2 for DDR) x (64-bit data bus) / (8 bits/byte)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you compare these values you will have your 'FSB : DRAM' ratio, which is also shown under the Memory TAB using CPU-Z.

If your FSB is a little faster, it is better because your FSB doesnt just handle the memory, but also handles information from your PCI-BUS.