upgrading RAM

[rookie1010]

i have got a gigabyte 81875 ultra motherboard and am planning to expand its RAM. currently i have 512 MB.

just double checking but PC3200 is the same as DDR RAM 400 MHz, correct, that is the limit of my mob, correct?

i am going through the mobo manual, and it talks about single side and double side memory modules, what are those.

am i correct in stating that i cant have mixed ram sticks on my mobo, what i mean to say is that i cant have one stick of 1 GB and one of 512 MB, correct?

so i would have to essentially replace the 512 MB stick with a 1 GB stick, correct?

 

[xanis]

just double checking but PC3200 is the same as DDR RAM 400 MHz, correct, that is the limit of my mob, correct?

Yes, PC3200 is the same thing as DDR400. Almost all mobos support DDR400.

i am going through the mobo manual, and it talks about single side and double side memory modules, what are those?

Probably SIMM (single) and DIMM (double) memory, but I'm not sure.

am i correct in stating that i cant have mixed ram sticks on my mobo, what i mean to say is that i cant have one stick of 1 GB and one of 512 MB, correct?

Sure, you could do that if you wanted.

so i would have to essentially replace the 512 MB stick with a 1 GB stick, correct?

No, you don't have to replace anything. If your current RAM is DDR400, and the new RAM is DDR400 as well, then you could just add the new memory to the old. Its nice to use memory from the same manufacturer, you don't have to do that as long as its DDR400.

 

[Wentelteefje]

This thread explains the difference between Single- and Double-sided RAM...

EDIT: Your P4 would benefit from a dual channel configuration though...

 

[rookie1010]

so you guys mean to say that i could have 2 sticks of 400 MHz 512 MB RAM ECC from corsair ,
1 stick of 512 MB RAM non ECC from corsair
and 1 stick of 1 GB RAM ECC from kingston

and it would work?


i checked dabs, and found out that 2 sticks of 512 MB work out cheaper than 1 stick of 1 GB RAM !!

a dual channel configuration mean double sided RAM, correct?

 

[stevty2889]

1. Yes DDR400=PC3200

2. Double sided means there are chips on both sides of the ram stick, single sided means there on only chips on one side. I has nothing to do with dual channel, nor anything to do with SIMM versus DIMM. All DDR memory are DIMMS(dual inline memory module).

3. You can mix differant sized modules just fine, but P4's are very bandwidth hungry and you lose a good amount of performance by not running dual channel. You need pairs for dual channel. So 4x512mb sticks would be better than 2x512mb sticks and 1x1gb stick. All 4 sticks don't need to match, as long as the pairs running together do. For example you could have 2x512mb kingston sticks in 1 & 3, and 2x512mb corsair in 2 & 4. You'll need to run at the timings of the slowest sticks.

 

[V00D00]

PC3200 does not mean 400mhz, it means DDR400

The actual clock speed is 200mhz, but since it's DDR they say DDR400 "effective"

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the replies

if i have

2x512mb sticks and 1x1gb stick, would that not make a pair and a single one?
would a 512 MB ECC and a 512 MB non ECC be considered as a pair?

 

[zcwilkins]

I'm not very familiar with ECC, but I'm pretty sure you don't want ECC RAM in your rig...is that what it is currently running?

Just noticed that no one caught that you're asking if you can pair a stick of ECC and a stick of non ECC...

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply
how do i find out what kind of memory is running in my rig?

why should i not run ECC RAM in my machine?

 

[zcwilkins]

From my understanding ECC is not going to give you as much of a performance increase that you're probably wanting by increasing the amount of ram you have.

Again, my understanding is that you really only want ECC ram in situations where data integrity is key.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply

how do i find out what sort of memory do i have?

i checked out the device manager and the system info(which i accessed from MS word), they dont seem to indicate the type of memory i have

what sort of applicationswould require an integrity check on data

 

[rookie1010]

i had some more questions regarding RAM

Is a latency of 3-3-3 the same as cl 3, what is a latency value of 3-4-4?

just checked the RAM in my box, it is a crucial 512 MB cl3 stick, i guess this means that if i stick in 2 sticks of 512 MB cl2.5, they still will have a latency of cl3, since that is the slowest latency, correct?

what do you think, kingston, crucial or corsair for memories?

also in this link they talk about matched memories
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...d=62990&_LOC=UK

what is a matched memory?

i was looking for memories and i came across this link
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...d=66399&_LOC=UK

what does 3-3-3-8 mean here and what does it mean by unbuffered

in this link it states that it is an upgrade for asus a7v8x-x

i thought the memory modules could be used with any system
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/MPa...3D44971A5CA7304

what do you think of this memory?
http://www.udiggit.com/udiggit/productDetail/showProduct/2_MjUwNw==/
KINGSTON (KVR400X64C3A / 1G) 1024 DDR PC3200 DDR400 MODULE
70.73

 

[rookie1010]

i came across some kingston value ram which states that it is good for these gigabyte mobos
Gigabyte - GA-8IG1000 Pro;
Gigabyte - GA-8IG1000/GA-8IG1000-L;
Gigabyte - GA-8IG1000MK/GA-8IG1000MT;
Gigabyte - GA-8IK1100;
Gigabyte - GA-8IP900/GA-8IP900-L/GA-8IP900MK;
Gigabyte - GA-8IPE1000 Pro;
Gigabyte - GA-8IPE1000/GA-8IPE1000-L;
Gigabyte - GA-8IPE1000MK;
Gigabyte - GA-8IPE100MT;
Gigabyte - GA-8KNXP/GA-8KNXP Ultra;
Gigabyte - GA-8PENXP;

my mobo is an gigabyte 81875 ultra, will the RAM memory good for the listed mobos be good for the 81875 ultra too?