What sort of RAM should I use???

[sruti]

Ok I'm almost completely ignorant about this subject and am grateful for any help.

I'm running win98 SE on a P3 coppermine 600EB at 800mhz on an ASUS P3V4X mobo.

I need to upgrade very quickly from my 128 meg generic pc100 RAM to something better, as my software is maxing out. I remember when Ram was Ram but there are so many options available these dys that I don't know where to turn. Any pointers guys? do i need to go faster than 133? what is sec2/3 anyway??

My main question is, should I just go buy 256/374 meg Pc133 generic (actually Fujistu) which is really cheap in the UK. What are the benifits of paying more? I don't exactly have a thousand dollars to spend on it....



sruti

 

[ErikS]

when it comes to RAM you get what you pay for, on the other hand there is no sense in wasting money. Do you need to go higher than 133fsb? If yes then you'll want to pay more for the RAM because chances are better that it will function "out of spec" (higher than 133).



<< what is sec2/3 anyway?? >>



I think you're referring to CAS 2/3. Column Access Strobe (CAS) is how fast the RAM can be refreshed. Going from CAS-3 to CAS-2 RAM will result in a slight (1-2%) performance increase.

With DDR etal on the horizon I'd don't if I'd break the bank getting high quality SDR. The 133 should give you a nice 4-5% increase in performance.

 

[jblondi]

Well, I know a little bit about the subject myself. Ill give you my recommendations, and im sure some more knowledgeable members will add to it. First of all you only need the rams speed to run as fast as the processor is running. For example, pc100 ram runs at 100mhz front side bus. If you are into overclocking, which you are, you can run the ram faster, 120, 133...etc. So buying pc133 will give you some head room without worry that the ram will fail. Im not sure what you are referring too about sec2/3. The only thing I can think of is the cas 2 vs cas 3 ram. Cas 2 ram is better, if your motherboard supports it. Setting your ram to cas 2 I have personally seen about a 10% increase in ram speed over cas 3. Most quality pc133 ram cas 2 will run higher then 133 especially if you set the cas setting to 3. Some guys on this forum have theirs up to 150fsb cas 3. Lots of potential for overclocking again. If you dont need to run the fsb that high then I would recommend more ram, ex 256, instead of 128, for the same price. Why pay top dollar for ocing ram if you dont oc. Got me? I just bought some micron pc133 cas 2 ram from crucial.com for 91$ after tax. 2 day shipping is free, and the ram works wonderful. I personally wanted some more head room for overclocking. The other option is to get some generic ram, 256 pc133 cas 3 for about 91$ as well. So if you want more ram, lower quality you can do that too. Its all on what you need it for. I hope this rambling helps someone. Good luck.

 

[RabeaticSquirrel]

Cas2 to Cas 3: makes a difference if you pick the crumbs up after eating your sandwhich No really, Cas 2 to Cas 3 can yield a slight increase in performance, DEPENDING ON THE USE OF YOUR SYSTEM! If you're OC'ing because you have a pentium pro 100, and your PC can't open up MS word before you finish picking your nose, then you really shouldn't worry about CAS latencies. But, if you're OC'ing to beat the snot out of your buddies 15 million dollar rig that he bought from Gateway, then CAS 2 RAM may be of some value. Pay attention to what these guys say. You get what you pay for. But never forget your intended use of the system if you have one stipulated. I personally go for the CAS2 at 133 FSB. I like having the headroom of 133, and just the fact that I can point out that I have CAS 2 RAM at 133 gets me off.

From past experiences, and not taking the advice that I AGREE with from these forum's, I could kick myself in the Ba**s sometimes. I kept telling myself, naaahhhhhh, I'll never OC (over clock) it's too risky, and now look at me, I'm reading any and everything I can to educmacate myself on the topic. Can't get enough now. So to make a long story short. If you're going to cough up the dough in the first place, go with the age old saying (just like with women, in most cases) &quot;quality, not quantity.&quot; I personally reccommend you go with Mushkin High Pref Rev 2 PC133 at Cas 2. Right now it's $139 for a 128 MB stick. And let me tell you, that RAM is AWESOME. Whatever you decide, good luck.

www.mushkin.com

Rabie

 

[kylebisme]

im sorry, i realy don't have any practical experiance with p3's but i think i can help if we can clear a few things up. i dont think you can run the ram asymetric with the fsb on a p3 can you? so, wouldn't a 600eb at 800 be a 178mhz fsb (4.5*178=800)? or mebey the 600 is an &quot;e&quot; and is reporting as a 800eb when at 133mhz fsb? if thats is the case then your pc-100 ram is doing 133mhz anyway, right?
so now all thats left to do is see if it can only do cas3 or if it can hang at cas2, decide if cas2 realy maters to you and then go buy more ram to ad in. if it is only running at 100mhz but prefromace is fine untel you overload your space, just ad more 100.
i presonaly am running a tbird with a realy old genric 128meg stick of pc-100 cas3 that does at 133mhz cas2 just fine, belive it or not the chips are syncmax and seem to be 7ns

 

[shk]

Sruti, before I start with my recommendations to you, clearly what Processor speed did it come with? because i don't think there's 600EB anyways..is it?(need somebody's input for correction) If your processor is 600EB and you are running at 800mhz now, then it must be running FSB high as hell!! 177mhz FSB???(4.5x 177) wow.... If you can do that, you are awesome. I hope you meant 600E, not EB.

In other case, if you are running your system @ 6x 133= 800mhz and if that's not high enough for you, then I suggest you get an EXPENSIVE RAM (RabeaticSquirrel agrees as well) like Mushkin PC133 128MB 222 or Mushkin PC150 322 RAM. They are merely unbeatable strictly in performance and stability. I have upped my P3 800EB@ 930 (6x 155) w/ Mushkin PC150@ 322 and stable w/o playing any games, just the Office apps.. Had to turn down the FSB to 147mhz for my AGP GTS card to catch up, lol. If you want overclock, then you must prepare to spend a lot of money, it's worth every penny


BTW, changing RAM timing from CAS to RAS timing, CAS precharge time, and CAS latency to all 2 will boost performance very effectively Not 1 to 5%, it's a lot more than that. It may not be the always the case but mostly will. For example, when I bench Q3A timedemo with same mhz setting and compared the diff. betw. Ram timing 333 and 322 setup. The result have been proved everytime I tried this test that having 322 setting that i can only go is about equivalent to adding 25 to 30mhz to your Processor with the CAS setting 333. This is based on my repeated tests.

 

[her209]

go for 1024 mb of rambus ram. the new pentium iv system will kick a$$ with it.

 

[shk]

LOL...

 

[leighd8]

wanna sell me that 128mb?? lmk

 

[sruti]

Hey thanks for all the replies - what a great forum!

of course you guys are right it is a 600e and not 600eb. I think my brain's dissolving this week I've had so many crashes and so forth. FYI my 100mhz RAM has been fine with this setup but I just added a midi facility to my audio-based appz and its just sent it over the top. To find out what the difference is I think I'll go for 256meg of crucial/micron pc133 cas2 RAM and see how that goes - this is a more expensive than the generic but people seem to trust it.

If that works OK I thought I could reintroduce my current 192meg of pc100 on top - guess it'd have to be able to run at cas2 also - but apart from that, would it be a stupid thing to do??

sruti

 

[gplracer]

my mushkin is awesome!