nVidia-nForce2 and upgrading RAM

[Jtardiou]

My brother is currently looking to upgrade his RAM, and uses a NF7-S/NF7,NF7-V nVidia-nForce2 motherboard. I was going to suggest this ram for him: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227364

However, I am no expert and would hate to recommend something that would either perform poorly or not function at all in his rig. I'm also including his system specs just so there's no confusion:

Operating System System Model
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600) Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
1.85 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: http://www.abit.com.tw/ NF7-S/NF7,NF7-V (nVidia-nForce2) 2.X,1.0
Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 04/22/2004
Drives Memory Modules c,d
160.03 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
69.09 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

_NEC DVD_RW ND-3520A [CD-ROM drive]
LCRUBYP ZSHANGPIB0 SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

ST3160023A [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 5JS5XTFE, rev 8.01, SMART Status: Healthy 512 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' is Empty
Slot 'A1' has 256 MB
Slot 'A2' has 256 MB
Local Drive Volumes

c: (NTFS on drive 0) 160.03 GB 69.09 GB free

Network Drives
None detected
Users (mouse over user name for details) Printers
local user accounts last logon
Drew 12/30/2008 7:42:13 PM (admin)
local system accounts
Administrator never (admin)
ASPNET never
Guest 1/28/2008 10:28:25 AM
HelpAssistant never
SUPPORT_388945a0 never


Marks a disabled account; Marks a locked account HP DeskJet 610C on LPT1:
Microsoft Office Document Image Writer Driver on Microsoft Document Imaging Writer Port:

Controllers Display
Standard floppy disk controller
NVIDIA nForce2 ATA Controller (v2.6) RADEON 9800 SERIES [Display adapter]
RADEON 9800 SERIES - Secondary [Display adapter]
ViewSonic E90f [Monitor] (17.7"vis, s/n 32M042150201, May 2004)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
AUP8SJTA IDE Controller
Silicon Image SiI 3112 SATARaid Controller
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (2x) NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio
NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Codec Interface
NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) MCP Audio Processing Unit
Communications Other Devices

1394 Net Adapter
NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
primary Auto IP Address: 24.242.201.221 / 20
Gateway: 24.242.192.1
Dhcp Server: 10.13.32.1
Physical Address: 00:50:8D:E5:3C:AC

Networking Dns Servers: 24.93.41.127
24.93.41.128
OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Optical
USB Root Hub (3x)
Virus Protection [Back to Top]
AVG Anti-Virus Free Version 8.0
Realtime File Scanning On

Missing Microsoft Security Hotfixes [Back to Top]

All required security hotfixes (using the 12/17/2008 Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary) have been installed.


Thanks for any suggestions you guys may have.

 

[dguy6789]

The memory you suggested is not compatible with your brother's motherboard. What you want to get is DDR 400, preferably 1GB sticks. Not DDR2 or DDR3.

Something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231036

Unfortunately, it is much more expensive than modern memory, but that's how it is.

His motherboard has three slots, so you can have up to three sticks. It will only work properly in dual channel mode with two sticks, but I personally prefer three sticks than two sticks of dual channel.

 

[Jiggz]

IMO, unless your bro plan to keep that system for awhile, I'll recommend just buying a new system even a used one. That socket A system is just too old. If you still plan on upgrading the system, try looking in the For Sale Section for cheaper rams. Make sure you review the one at Newegg so you know what you will be looking for at the For Sale section. Goodluck.

 

[dguy6789]

I'd say that a top end Athlon XP with lots of ram and a good AGP video card(Radeon X850XT) would be a reasonable gaming machine even today.

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I'd say that a top end Athlon XP with lots of ram and a good AGP video card(Radeon X850XT) would be a reasonable gaming machine even today.

Not really... so many new games require shader 3.0 or newer and x800 series only had 2.0 which is the only downside. If you had a x1800 though... it'd be a different story. I still do some casual gaming on athlon xp 3200 and 9800pro (up to COD4).
As for ram, maybe fry's will have another $15 after rebate deal for 2x1gb ddr sometime.

 

[Leyawiin]

I use an nForce2 board with an Athlon XP 2500+ and an X850 XT for early to mid decade games (basically Diablo II to WoW). Still runs a lot of fun games quite nicely and I don't want to pile them on my new PC's hard drive. Has 1.5 GB of PC2700 RAM (333 Mhz). For the O.P. that or PC3200 are what you should be looking for.

RAM upgrades are cheap - why not even for an older machine?

 

[Jtardiou]

Thanks for the help guys.

He's looking to play newer games like Mass Effect and Bioware. It doesn't have to run with anything more than 30-50 frames really, it just needs to run. I kind of figured ram was the cheapest upgrade he could do until he decides to upgrade to an entirely new machine.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: Jtardiou
He's looking to play newer games like Mass Effect and Bioware. It doesn't have to run with anything more than 30-50 frames really, it just needs to run.

Just a heads up - Mass Effect will be absolutely painfully slow on that computer. It's extremely CPU hungry, and won't perform well on that AthlonXP.

As for 30-50 FPS... well, with the rig in my sig, I'd drop into the 20s sometimes.