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Will faster DDR RAM help my performance?

C

Com807877

Senior member
Hi all,

I have a memory question.

Basically I have NO idea how much DDR RAM speed can actually increase performance. I want to know if I moved to faster DDR RAM rather or not I would see a performance increast, and what kind of performance increase.

Right now I am using 512MB DDR 2100 RAM at its default speed. I have an XP 2000, Radeon 9700, Nforce2 Ultra, and XP Pro SP1.

I mostly use this system for games. (recently Knights of Old, Deus Ex 2, other demanding games)

If I were to upgrade to 512MB DDR 4200 RAM, what kind of performance increase would I see in games? Would it be worth it?

Thanks for any info!
 
Hi,

First off, we have to know about your other specs: board, chipset, etc. Then, we can tell you whether you need better memory or not.

In general, ram only runs at the speed of the bus. So your processor right now probably runs at 133 bus, so PC2100 goes well. If you want to up your bus, then you can get better DDR, although 4200 would be quite excessive.
 
Originally posted by: Ionizer86
Hi,

First off, we have to know about your other specs: board, chipset, etc. Then, we can tell you whether you need better memory or not.

In general, ram only runs at the speed of the bus. So your processor right now probably runs at 133 bus, so PC2100 goes well. If you want to up your bus, then you can get better DDR, although 4200 would be quite excessive.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Thanks for the response. I have a BIOSTAR M7NCD Pro. (Nforce 2 400 Ultra) The FSB is currently 133, correct.
 
AHHH! another witch!

anyway, if you got pc-4200 it wouldnt help you at all. infact, it would slow you down some because your bus speeds and your memory speeds wouldnt match. if you plan on overclocking that 2000 however, then i would look into faster ram.
 
Your 2000+ runs at 1.66, and its bus is 133. Its multiplier 12.5. So, you could, for example, get PC3200, and then you could run at a 200 bus. If you then set your multiplier to 8.5, the processor would come out to 1.70, and your bus would be lots higher. I think a forum member once tried to hold CPU speed about constant and raised the bus from 133 to 200. I think the performance increase was just 12%.

But I do have to say that if you have money to raise the bus, it'd be a lot better to invest in a different processor for your board. That's where a lot of the performance increase comes from.
 
Originally posted by: nick1985
AHHH! another witch!

anyway, if you got pc-4200 it wouldnt help you at all. infact, it would slow you down some because your bus speeds and your memory speeds wouldnt match. if you plan on overclocking that 2000 however, then i would look into faster ram.
Click to expand...

if the latency of both ram ( PC4200, PC2100) the same then it would not matter in performance. It wouldn't lower the performance
 
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