PC2700 vs PC3200-please help the noob!!

[yosh2000]

hello, very new to computers and had a quick question. i will be building a computer for strictly autocad, solidworks, and normal web browsing and word processing for school. NO games, dont have time w/ mech eng classes!!

my question, i just picked up 3 sticks of kingston valueram PC2700 512mb, so 1.5 gb total. i was going to use it in the ASUS P5GD1 ATX mobo http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131503 . my question, what would give me the best performance... stay w/ the 1.5gb of PC2700, or pick up 1gb of PC3200 corsair valueselect ram http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820145440 ??? i know the later runs at a higher speed, but i have no idea exactly how that would impact performance?? it makes sense to me that the 1.5gb would be better because of the size, but does the faster speed of hte pc3200 make 1gb better than 1.5gb at pc2700 speed??? please help. any info would be appreciated.

[Dark Nova]

you dont want to downclock your pc, i would go with the 3200

[yosh2000]

i got the 2700 for free and i would have to purchase the 3200. would i really notice that much of a difference between the two to warrent the purchase of new ram?

so your saying the 1gb of 3200 would be better than the 1.5gb of 2700 for autocad and solidworks.

[Winnipesaukee]

no, if you got it for free, stick with it. more slow RAM is better than less fast RAM

[Panama Red]

Your memory speed needs to match your processor fsb or you're memory will be a bottleneck on the system - regardless of how much memory you have installed. The motherboard you've chosen will run either an 800 or 533 fsb processor. The 533 cpu would run synchronously with the PC2100/DDR266 while any 800fsb cpu would need PC3200/DDR400 to run synchronously. Your cpu should be the determining factor when selecting memory speed.

[yosh2000]

so since i was going to go w/ this cpu per glc's recomendation (Intel Pentium 4 530J 800MHz FSB LGA 775) http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819116200 , i would need to sell the pc2700 stuff and pick up some pc3200 in order to sycn the memory w/ the fsb speed correct?? i'm still trying to learn here so please bear w/ me!

also on a side note, would i benifit at all in the autocad/solidworks arena by overclocking, or is that just for gaming???

like i said, trying to read and learn as much as i can, so please help me out!

[Panama Red]

Yes, get the PC3200. I wouldn't recommend overclocking for your needs.

[wasp]

Originally Posted by Panama Red Your memory speed needs to match your processor fsb or you're memory will be a bottleneck on the system - regardless of how much memory you have installed. The motherboard you've chosen will run either an 800 or 533 fsb processor. The 533 cpu would run synchronously with the PC2100/DDR266 while any 800fsb cpu would need PC3200/DDR400 to run synchronously. Your cpu should be the determining factor when selecting memory speed.

could you explain this a bit more panama? i was going through the building pages, it says to configure your mb to your processor, then i saw this and im a bit confused................my mb, asus a7n8x deluxe says its fsb is 400/333..........my cpu athlon xp 2400+ says its fsb is 266............what would i set the mb to? and by memory speed , i selected kingston ddr 400, do you mean as long as that number is equal to or above 266 in my case its all good? i thought you selected ram by the speed your mb can take , i had no idea the cpu comes into play

[Panama Red]

AMD and Intel handle fsb differently. AMD writes 2 times per clock cycle and Intel writes 4 times, often referred to as quad pumped. Your board uses cpu's that have a 200 clock speed (x 2 = 400 fsb) or 166 clock speed (x 2 = 333 fsb). The memory we use today is referred to as DDR memory. That stands for Double Data Rate. Use 1/2 of the DDR rating as the clock speed of the memory. Therefore, PC3200/DDR400 is 200 clock speed which matches a 400 fsb cpu. PC2700/DDR333 is 166 clock speed which matches a 333 fsb cpu. Now that's for an AMD XP series of cpu's. The Intel's are different

An 800 fsb Intel cpu (quad pumped, remember?) has a clock speed of 200. PC3200/DDR400 (1/2 of 400 = 200) has a clock speed of 200. That's a match. A 533fsb Intel cpu has a clock speed of 133 (533/4 = 133). PC2100/DDR266 also has a clock speed of 133 (266/2 = 133).

Running these combinations of memory and cpu's is said to run Synchronously. You can run Asynchronously too. But that involves manually adjusting dividers in the bios to allow for memory speed that is higher or lower than the cpu clock speed.

Also, keep in mind that mixing memory of different speeds will cause the faster memory module to slow down to match the speed of the lowest installed memory module. So if you had 1 stick of PC2100, 1 of PC2700 and 1 of PC3200 installed together, they would all run at PC2100/DDR266 speed. HTH

[wasp]

ok, i understand how the memory and the board jive, i dont understand how it jives with my cpu..............it says the cpu fsb is 266, this doesnt seem to jive with the 200 or 400 you mentioned on the board and ram, unless im just not getting what you said

[Panama Red]

Your cpu clock is 133 (266/2). Your motherboard should say it also supports 266 fsb cpu's. The 400/333 you are referring to is the memory fsb according to the Asus site. Cpu support is limited to 333/266/200 fsb processors. Just let it auto detect the cpu and use PC2100 or faster (PC3200 is fine). You won't have to make any adjustments. It's more a matter of proper parts selection. All the manual tuning of the bios only becomes important when you Overclock your system.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by yosh2000 also on a side note, would i benifit at all in the autocad/solidworks arena by overclocking, or is that just for gaming???

If the files you'll be creating with AutoCAD and SolidWorks are very important or critical, you don't want to overclock your computer, overclocking can corrupt the files. For that type of usage it's best to run the computer at stock speeds.

Cricket

[wasp]

ok, so your saying i shouldnt have to touch any dip or jumper ? it will autodetect? i take it the build instructions are referring to older boards that wont autodetect? im not into overclocking the cpu anyways , i do overclock my video cards but when the time comes ill just throw in a faster cpu or cpu/mb combo..............maybe its cuz i dont know much about it , but it seems like to much risk for so little gain

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by wasp ok, so your saying i shouldnt have to touch any dip or jumper ? it will autodetect? i take it the build instructions are referring to older boards that wont autodetect? im not into overclocking the cpu anyways , i do overclock my video cards but when the time comes ill just throw in a faster cpu or cpu/mb combo..............maybe its cuz i dont know much about it , but it seems like to much risk for so little gain

That's right. The mobo you've chosen uses the nForce2 chipset and it has no external jumpers for fsb configuration. It SHOULD autodetect. Always wise to double check the bios to make sure the cpu is detected properly. And if you don't have a full understanding of the "how to" and "consequences" of overclocking, don't bother. You're right, the risk/reward isn't worth it (imo).

[wasp]

ok , ty, ill more posts later in the week im sure, and sorry to hijack the thread to whoever started it