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Memory upgrade questions

B

Ballatician

Golden Member
Hi

Right now I have a Gigabyte EP45 UD3LR with a 2x1Gb kit of Crucial DDR2 PC6400 (800Mhz) RAM.

My mobo says there is support for DDR2 1366+

I am in the process of upgrading multiple components and moving to Win7/Ubuntu 64-bit so I was wondering if someone could give me a good RAM recommendation.

Should I buy another 2x1gb kit for two sets of dual channel? Will I be limited since the current memory is slower? What about a 2x2gb set for 6gb total?

I want at least 4gb total in the upgraded system and don't want to spend too much.

TIA
 
You seem to have quite a few questions so I will take a crack at structuring them:

1. You mentioned you will be upgrading multiple components, so the necessary speed you need for the RAM will depend on the rated FSB your CPU will be running on. If the rated FSB does not exceed 1600MHz, then your current DDR2 RAM kit will not hinder performance (800MHz * 2 DDR = 1600MHz).

2. Taking Point #1 into account, any new RAM kit you get will not negatively affect speeds as long as the RAM can operate as fast as the rated FSB.

3. Regarding getting another DDR2 dual-channel kit, I see no reason why you wouldn't want to keep your system running in dual channel mode, even though it would appear some people attest to very little real-world performance gains (i.e. < +10&#37; performance in dual-channel vs. single).

4. As for how much RAM you need, I think only you would know based on what you are running. My personal opinion is to not over-spend on DDR2. The new Intels/AMDs support DDR3 and DDR2 pricing is getting higher. DDR2, along with Core2 processors, are essentially on their twilight years. Not too many people will be hindered with 4GB for "average" use, although there are always exceptions.
 
Thanks, your post actually helped a lot.

The CPU is a C2D E7400 with 1066Mhz FSB.

The motherboard is rated to work with CPU's up to 1600 FSB and as stated, RAM up to 1366 is supported.

If I understood everything correctly, another 2x1 kit of the same RAM is going to work fine for me since faster RAM would do nothing for me anyway.

Is it the CPU FSB that I should be concerned with when buying RAM?

I'm ignorant on this...reading up....
 
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