RAM Compatibility Question

[akseli]

Hi, right now i'm running an
AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 512MB PC-2700 Kingston Value Ram (KVR33X64C25/512) -- anyway, I want to add more ram but i don't want to spend much money, soo, I was thinking of adding just another 256 MB stick... I'm looking around and I came up with two options:

256MB 333MHz DDR Non-ECC CL2.5 DIMM ((PRICE: 48.72?))


256MB 333MHz HyperX DDR Non-ECC CL2 DIMM ((PRICE: 56.84?))


I'm willing to buy either one of these modules but i was wondering which one would give me better performance ?

I'm leaning towards the HyperX is mean it looks cooler and it should (according to kingston) overclock far easier than their normal ram.


Ok, thanks for your help

 

[adams828]

what brand is the 1st stick of ram? also, is your system already OCed (ie do you have your current valueram OCed)? if so, what speed fsb?

 

[MrSnatcher]

Adding the hyperx isnt going to help if you still plan on using the value ram. If you want more ram just buy the same stick or replace the value ram with the hyperx sticks.

 

[akseli]

Ok, but now that i'm readin back I think I should refrase my question:

Will i see any slow-downs if I use the HyperX --- and will I see a performance increase compared to my system now by using ram HyperX.

 

[MrSnatcher]

In benchmarking yes. To the naked eye maybe, but nothing to get excited over. Yes it is a better overclocker. But if you intend to use both at the same time, you may have some issues, or it will run at the speed of the value ram. You should probably use pc3200 if you do. It will still work.

 

[akseli]

Originally posted by: MrSnatcher
In benchmarking yes. To the naked eye maybe, but nothing to get excited over. Yes it is a better overclocker. But if you intend to use both at the same time, you may have some issues, or it will run at the speed of the value ram. You should probably use pc3200 if you do. It will still work.

Isn't PC-333 the same as PC-2700 ? This would mean that both my old ram and my new hyper-x ram should run at pc-2700 ... right ? Why should i get 3200 if I'm locked to 2700 by my old ram ?

 

[adams828]

i think mrsnatcher meant if you used the hyperX by itself...

basically your system memory will only run as fast as the slowest memory.. which is why i was asking about overclocking. the reason to get pc3200 is so that you can run your fsb at speeds between 166-200 MHz. if you decide to overclock, you have two choices. either keep your current ram and buy pc2700, OC those. but since they're only rated for 166, you probably won't get far. the other choice is to buy new pc3200 althogether.. which would mean your memory will be able to run at 200fsb, so then you just need aquadete cooling on your cpu to make everything happy

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: akseli

Originally posted by: MrSnatcher
In benchmarking yes. To the naked eye maybe, but nothing to get excited over. Yes it is a better overclocker. But if you intend to use both at the same time, you may have some issues, or it will run at the speed of the value ram. You should probably use pc3200 if you do. It will still work.

Isn't PC-333 the same as PC-2700 ? This would mean that both my old ram and my new hyper-x ram should run at pc-2700 ... right ? Why should i get 3200 if I'm locked to 2700 by my old ram ?

Well ...

DDR200 = PC1600
DDR266 = PC2100
DDR333 = PC2700
DDR400 = PC3200

and so on

Get PC3200 if you plan to upgrade to a system configuration that can support DDR400 in the future. Afterall PC3200 is compatible with PC2700 speed.

If you plan to upgrade sometime in the distant future then by that time there could be better/faster ram types on the market then. i.e. DDR2, DDR3, etc.