Upgrade to 3 gigs of RAM?

[darbius]

Hi guys,

There's a link to my rig below, but I'm running an MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI (but only using 1 vid card) and since my current question is about memory, I have 2 x 512MB of Corsair XMS DDR ram. I bought the RAM in 2005, but it still works great.

The situation is this: I am thinking of upgrading from the 1 gig of RAM I have in the system, and am debating getting 2 x 1GB to fill the other 2 slots. I am already aware of the fact that if I put in new memory sticks that run at slower timings, that all of my memory performance will slow down to whatever the slowest performing RAM is, so that's not an issue (in theory I could put in something that performs comparably to what's already in there). Essentially my questions are:

- Is there any reason that I would not want to have 2x512MB + 2x1GB for a total of 3 gigs? From a performance perspective, would I be better with 2 gigs (4x512MB) or 4 gigs (4x1GB) as opposed to 3 gigs? If there's no real performance hit or anything funky about using 3 gigs over 2, I would probably go with 3.

- How bad do you guys think the performance hit is for going from 1T to 2T? For instance, should I just replace the 2x512MB that's in there with 2x1GB to avoid going to 2T and try to sell my 512's or something?

My wife mostly uses this computer for playing World of Warcraft, but I do have some other games on there that I like to play from time to time. I'm not an fps junkie and I think the current video card in there is fine, but WoW is particularly demanding when it comes to memory and I was thinking of upgrading that part of it.

 

[SuperNaruto]

I would do it only if its cheap... i got my ram for cheap, so i got 12gbs of pc3200.. 4 of main and 8 for iram... if it wasn't cheap i wouldn't have done it..

 

[oynaz]

The performance hit in going from 1T to 2T is not noticeable in most applications, and definitely not in WoW. You would benefit from increased memory, but unless you use very RAM-hungry applications, the difference from 2 gig to 3 gig will not be great. On the other hand, 3 gig is future-proof, so I would go with 3 gigs (unless I was still studying and on a budget. Oh, wait. I am ;-).

 

[arciced]

Originally posted by: oynaz
On the other hand, 3 gig is future-proof, so I would go with 3 gigs (unless I was still studying and on a budget. Oh, wait. I am ;-).

yea yea, but the time u need 3 gigs ull need a faster cpu to run the app that needs 3 gigs

 

[darbius]

Thanks for the replies guys. I guess it looks like I might be better going a little cheaper and just grabbing another 2x512MB and running 4x512MB. I'm still open to any other input though.

 

[mechBgon]

FYI, your "My System Rig" link needs changed to http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.aspx?rigid=30231, this one will work for everyone besides you

If I recall correctly, asymmetrical memory setups (2 x 512 + 2 x 1GB) may not work on older A64 cores. Wasn't it Venice that first had the revised memory controllers that would handle it? So keep that in mind. Anyway, things should run smoother with 2GB, let alone 3GB.

 

[darbius]

Hey mech, good to see you again. Haven't been on here in awhile, but you helped me build this rig way back when. And that concern about the asymmetrical memory setups is exactly that kind of thing I was worried might be a problem. I'll check it out to see if the computer can even handle it.

 

[DaveBC]

I have a 680i with 32bit XP and Vista I run Corsair XMS 6400c 2x1GB and Corsair XMS 6400c 2x512MB 4-4-4-12 1T (1T is possible because I linked and synced with a 9x multi and a 1333 FSB for 3ghz and that runs the memory at 667 instead of 800)
Both OSes run great. Remember that 32bit XP or Vista wont see any more than 3 any way. I think any thing above that gets "shadow cached"

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: SuperNaruto
I would do it only if its cheap... i got my ram for cheap, so i got 12gbs of pc3200.. 4 of main and 8 for iram... if it wasn't cheap i wouldn't have done it..

Ive heard from multiple reviews that you cant use 1GB or 2GB sticks in the iRam.

 

[darbius]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
If I recall correctly, asymmetrical memory setups (2 x 512 + 2 x 1GB) may not work on older A64 cores. Wasn't it Venice that first had the revised memory controllers that would handle it? So keep that in mind. Anyway, things should run smoother with 2GB, let alone 3GB.

Thought I would post what actually happened with the RAM in case anybody was curious. I went ahead and bought 2x1gb of OCZ Performance DDR400 figuring I'd just sell off the 1 gig of XMS I have now it it wouldn't run 3 gigs. I also got it for $10 cheaper than it is on the site right now on a prior promo.

Anyway, long story short the memory controllers can handle asymmetric memory setups as long as you have them slotted properly. I didn't, of course, have them set up right the first time, but that's because MSI has a slightly weird way of setting up memory.

In any case, now I'm at a new debate...would I rather have 3gb and run at DDR335 (167 Mhz) or 2gb and run at DDR400 (200Mhz)? If I go 2gb at DDR400, I could probably sell off my gig of XMS and get a few bucks too. Anyway, thanks for the input and if you have an opinion about running more memory but a little slower versus less memory but a little faster, let me know.