Simple ram question

[jaba]

I just have a simple question regarding ddr2 speeds. I have an ECS P4M800PRO-M (V2.0) with a core2duo e6320 in it. Currently i have 1gb of ddr pc3200 ram in it. I would like to upgrade to 2gb of ddr2. (mobo has slots for ddr and ddr2 fyi) According to ECS, the motherboard can handle ddr2 533 pc2 4200 ram.

My question is, can I use faster ram, such as ddr2 800 pc2 6400, even though the specs say 533/4200? I am not overclocking currently, but i might in the future. Would I actually lose any performance by running this faster ram with a slower, nonoverclocked fsb?

 

[jaba]

anybody?

 

[myocardia]

Welcome to anandtech. You likely can use PC6400 RAM in your board, but the only way to know for sure is to actually try it. Not many people around here have that board, so I can't tell you for sure whether it will or not.

 

[JustaGeek]

You might not be set the RAM frequency in BIOS to anything different than 533MHz.

I would just go with the 533MHz RAM - 800MHz memory might not run stable at 533MHz. I have the ASrock 775Dial-VSTA MB, and the only memory settings are 667 or 533. The 667MHz OCZ RAM would not be stable at 533MHz.

I would recommend the rated speed for your MB.

Good luck!

 

[TC91]

you should be able to use the faster 6400 memory, it will likely just downclock in the bios.