Question on DDR PC2100 vs PC2700

[MuffD]

What would be the main advantage for this? I have an MSI K7T Pro266A with an Athlon XP 1700 not overclocked. Would there be any reason for me to want to have the PC2700 vs the PC2100?

Thanks for your help

 

[Strych9]

If you're not going to overclock stay with your PC2100.

 

[MuffD]

So is overclcocking the only main advantage? I would not need to find some PC 2700 ram?

 

[numark]

Nope, PC2700 runs at 333Mhz, while your chip only runs at 266Mhz. The system can only run at the speed of the slowest link, so no point in spending extra money on PC2700 when 266Mhz PC2100 is matched to your chip and is cheaper.

 

[vtqanh]

Originally posted by: numark
Nope, PC2700 runs at 333Mhz, while your chip only runs at 266Mhz. The system can only run at the speed of the slowest link, so no point in spending extra money on PC2700 when 266Mhz PC2100 is matched to your chip and is cheaper.

That's not true. The motherboard runs at 133 MHZ (with double data rate you get 266, but basically it's 133). The CPU runs at 1-2 GHZ. Based on your slowest link theory, the whole system runs at 133 MHZ???

 

[numark]

Originally posted by: vtqanh

That's not true. The motherboard runs at 133 MHZ (with double data rate you get 266, but basically it's 133). The CPU runs at 1-2 GHZ. Based on your slowest link theory, the whole system runs at 133 MHZ???

I probably should amend this. What I meant to say is that when transferring data via memory, the system can only run at the slowest link. My original comment is still valid in spirit if not in letter, however. There is no purpose in buying 333Mhz memory when the system bus is only able to transfer at 266Mhz.

 

[tjaisv]

Agreed, but one might wanna step up to PC2700 if they were planning on upgrading down the road to say, an nForce2 board and a 166/333MHz CPU, and wanted to take full advantage of their memory's increased performance potential. So scalability/leveraged investment could definitely be reason to opt for the bigger faster better product.

 

[Viper96720]

Or you like running all the memory settings at it's fastest possible . Easier to get the pc-2700 stable at pc-2100 than the pc-2100.

 

[Rhombuss]

Yep, there's no real need unless you're interested in bumping up the bus speed.

That Athlon XP runs on a 133MHz which is synchronized with the DDR266. The DDR333 PC2700 runs at 166MHz, so if you want to max out the memory timing speeds without actually overclocking, the DDR333 will probably have a better chance. That is of course assuming you're using generic OEM RAM - otherwise, if you have Samsung, Crucial, or Corsair this isn't an issue.

 

[Apex]

One possible reason to get PC2100 over PC2700 is it's easier to find CAS2 PC2100 memory than CAS2 PC2700 (which tends to be CAS2.5). It still comes down to money, as CAS2 PC2700 is available, but if you can't use the extra bus speed, at least you have the CAS (if your mobo can use it).