Which RAM should I get?

[TazExprez]

My friend wants to upgrade the RAM on his Dell Dimension 2400. He currently has the 256MB that came with it and would like to upgrade. I went to the Crucial site and saw that they recommended PC3200 CL3 and PC2700 CL2.5 for this machine. Both types of RAM are the exact same price. Which one should I tell him to get? Thanks for all of your help.

 

[TazExprez]

Btw, his PC came with PC2700 RAM. I don't know the CL rating on this RAM, though.

 

[Fern]

If he's going to be using the the original ram along with what you buy, it would be helpful to know what the current ram is.

Try Everest Home Edition (a free proggie), it should tell you the cas of the original ram.

When you mix ram in the PC, the faster sticks will be forced to run at the speed of the slowest stick in the system. Thats why I believe knowing what he has in there may be helpful.

AFAIK, the CPU he has advertises a FSB speed of 533mhz. This is really PC2100, or 133mhz (multiplied x 4).

The PC2700 or PC3200 ram you buy may be able to run at better timings than advertised, cuz it'll still only be running at 133mhz (unless there's a divider used to raise the ram mhz above that of the CPU. I think Everset would show that too)