Would it increase the speed of my system if I upgrade from DDR PC2100 to PC2700 or PC3200 RAM?

[Siddhartha]

My system is:
AMD XP2700+
MSI K7N2
1 gig DDR PC2100 RAM

Would I see an increase in performance if I went to PC2700 or PC3200 RAM?

Thanks

 

[AndyHui]

Not unless you raised your FSB.

Those RAM speeds indicate the maximum guaranteed speed RAM will run at, and has no real bearing on the speed of your system.

The RAM in your system runs at FSB (or some multiple of FSB). The PC3200 name does not mean that the RAM actually runs at DDR400: it simply means that the RAM can run up to that speed.

 

[compudog]

Assuming you have a newer Athlon XP, cabable of 333MHz FSB, yes you should go for at least PC2700 RAM. Not only will it be faster, but latency is lower if memory and CPU are running in sync. Of course Andy is correct as well. Faster RAM without increasing the FSB to take advantage of it will not increase your speed at all.