Ram Configuration

[Pinkpig]

Hello all,

I have some RAM question. Im getting a new PC soon that accepts PC2700 ram and it also takes PC2100 ram. The original factory config is 128MB of PC2700 ram. I have 2 extra ram sticks which one is PC2700 and the other is PC2100

so would running 128mb +256mb = 384mb at PC2700 speed be better

or

256mb+256mb = 512mb at PC2100 speed ??

this system only has two slots =(


thanks
Laura

 

[Lord Evermore]

It would depend on what type of system it is. If it's a P4 system using single channel memory, then the PC2700 will be better. If it's a P4 533MHz bus with dual-channel, then PC2100 is perfectly matched. If it's an Athlon with a 266MHz bus, then PC2100 is perfect, if it's 333MHz bus, then PC2700 is better.

 

[bgeh]

depends on what configuration you're using........is it AMD or Intel?

 

[Pinkpig]

its a dell 4550 P4 2.5Ghz with 533mhz system bus
so it comes with 128mb 333mhz chip.

one of mine is 333mhz and the other is 266mhz

thanks
Laura

 

[Pinkpig]

*bump*


So since its a p4 2.4ghz on a 533mhz system bus i should be using the 512mb pf PC2100 ram thats rated at 266mhz??

thanks
Laura

 

[V00DOO]

I have 1GB of PC2100 and I am getting the Dell Dimension 4550. I am wondering the same thing since I don't want to spend money on PC2100. What performance downgrade will I see using PC2100 intead of PC2700.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Pinkpig: You should use the faster memory. A P4 benefits tremendously more from using a faster memory bus, because the processor bus is so much faster. While more memory will help, it won't help as much as the processor being able to access the memory so much faster.

If you had a dual-channel chipset in use, you could use the PC2100 because it would be used at 2x266MHz. But with only one channel, PC2100 is providing memory bandwidth only half as much as what the P4 533MHz bus is trying to pull. The P4 really does like a lot of memory speed.

V00DOO: which you should use depends on how much memory you could have at PC2700 speeds. If you've got the option of either 128MB of PC2700, or 1GB of PC2100, I'd say go with the 1GB. But if you could get 384MB or 512MB of PC2700 in it, then that would be better than 1GB of slower memory. OSes like WinXP simply perform better with more memory, even if it's a little slower, but after a certain amount of memory, the speed starts to make a larger difference.