Performance Comparison question

[Corey0808]

Oh here's the deal. I run my AMD 2500+ mobile at 2.4gHz (11 x 217). Currently I have 512Mb of PC3500 memory in my system. Given the following scenario what would give me better performance

Running my current setup with 512MB @ 217 giving me higher bandwidth

or

1 Gb of PC3200 RAM... more RAM but less bandwidth..

Thanks!!

 

[nick1985]

what do you do with your rig?

if gaming, get a gig of RAM

 

[Corey0808]

Gaming is mostly what I do... I just wonder if I would take a noticable performance hit

 

[Corey0808]

any other thoughts? bump!

 

[JBT]

why can't you OC the PC3200 too?

 

[ts3433]

Value PC3200 can often hit 210-215, so you shouldn't see a dramatic decrease in your overclock, but if gaming, you will want a gig of memory for smoothness.

 

[Philippine Mango]

What prevents you from getting PC 3500 512MB of ram so you total to 1GB?

 

[Corey0808]

I never ruled out the option of OC'ing the PC3200. I was just going from the standpoint that it wouldn't be able to clock up to the PC3500 speeds. I don't have a lot of money. What would be a good 512MB stick to pair with my PC3500 Mushkin Lvl1? Thanks!

Philippine Mango > Because it's expensive to buy another stick of PC3500 Mushkin Lvl 1

 

[Philippine Mango]

I have PC 4000 Twinx 1GB ram from corsair. It's so nice to be able to run my fsb in sync at 250mhz.

 

[Philippine Mango]

Then save up so you can! It stupid to waste money on expensive memory if your going to use slower memory in that system, always runs at slowest part. Its better to wait so you can afford it then to waste it on PC3200. If your desperate then just sell that PC 3500 part and get some slower memory, though I wouldn't recommend it!

 

[imported_Darthan]

Well, droppong the oc from 217 to 200 MHz isn't going to make a noticeable difference especially if you up the multiplier by .5 to compensate for downclocking the fsb. Unless you're talking about your processor in extremely cpu intensive tasks, increasing the speed of one component in your computer by less than 10% is completely unnoticeable except in a few synthetic benchmarks. If you have to make a choice between 512MB at 217 or 1GB at 200 go for the 1GB. Of course getting 1 stick of 512MB that will run at 217 would probably not be more expensive.

I'd recommend Corsair ValueRAM or Kingston cheap RAM for the 1GB PC3200 or any OCZ or Corsair or Kingston or Mushkin or Crucial for the 512MB PC3500.

 

[Corey0808]

Thanks guys! I guess I'll just have to wait until RAM prices drop so I can afford another stick of PC3500...