nForce2: slow memory, fast CPU?

[kjs3]

Hopefully this isn't too st00pid a question...

Is memory speed on the nForce2 dual channel memory controller really addative? That is, given a 400MHz FSB CPU, will you get full performance by installing 2 200MHz DDR memory SIMMs (giving an effective 400MHz bandwidth)? Are there other chipsets that aggregate memory bandwidth?

I've got some slow (DDR200) but huge memory SIMMs that I'd hate to obsolete....

 

[DAPUNISHER]

If you have DDR200 ram that's PC1600 and it would be DIMMs as oppossed to SIMMs You can use them in nF2 boards but running asynchronous will result in a performance hit. It's not enough of a hit to justfy the expense of higher rated ram though if you are on a tight budget. The dual channel capabilities of nF2 are largely wasted on the SPP chipset and performance is about 5% better than single channel in most situations. It's real beauty is when you use the G4 MX on-board video there's a whole channel free for the video's use and it results in almost double the performance that way.

Other chipsets for sktA use single channel memory controllers but Via has a new one coming that uses dual channel also, HTH and answers your questions.