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11-17-2005, 07:13 AM
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#1 |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: South Africa
Posts: 315
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RAM Questions
OK I have 2 RAM questions. I want to eventually have 2GB DDR400 RAM on my computer. My first question is whether I should buy 4x512MB sticks or just 2x1024MB sticks. Are there any performance differences between the two? I want to buy Kingston HyperX RAM but 1x1024MB stick is like 20% more expensive than 2x512MB sticks, is there any reason for this? My second question is whether my computer can support Kingston HyperX DDR400. I know it supports normal DDR400 but maybe this RAM is different somehow? Don't know
 . Thanks for your help.
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11-17-2005, 08:37 AM
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#2 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Owosso, MI, USA
Posts: 1,283
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Make sure your mobo can support 4X512Mb. Some boards are finicky about it. Also, some boards will downclock the 4 sticks to ddr333 (although you can generally reset it to ddr400 in the BIOS). The other thing is that you generally have to run four sticks at a command rate of 2T instead of 1T which is a performance hit of 3-5%. I don't know if Intels are the same as AMD's in this respect, but that is the downside of the 4 sticks. I went from 4X512Mb to 2X1Gb, and the difference, though minor, is definately there. My PC runs a tick faster now. With that said, if you already have two sticks of 512, it might be cheaper to just get two more.
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11-17-2005, 11:53 AM
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#3 |
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Forum Administrator
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Premium Member
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Joplin MO
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On an Intel branded motherboard, you will not gain anything by using HyperX ram. Value ram will perform just as well.
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11-17-2005, 01:02 PM
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#4 |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: South Africa
Posts: 315
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LOL I'm busy thinking long term. In the end I'm going SLI w/AMD so I'd rather get good RAM now and not have to buy it later. Good idea? jfk you can see what I'm running in my stats
So running 2x1gb sticks is best?
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11-17-2005, 01:13 PM
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#5 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Owosso, MI, USA
Posts: 1,283
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If your longer term goal is to go AMD, they definately will force you to use the 2T command rate if you go with four sticks. Personally, I think you would be wiser to 2X1Gb over 4X512Mb. JMO.
Last edited by jfk; 11-17-2005 at 01:15 PM. |
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11-17-2005, 01:51 PM
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#6 |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: pittsburgh pennsylvania
Posts: 329
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i have 4 512 sticks and have to overclock it back up to 400 from 333
not that hard but kinda dumb if you have the money i would say go with 2 1gig sticks |
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11-17-2005, 02:46 PM
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#7 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Owosso, MI, USA
Posts: 1,283
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yeomuca,
I'm surprised your MSI board doesn't allow you to reset the clock speed in the bios. On my ASUS board, when I had four sticks in, it dropped it automatically to 333, but it was simply a matter of rebooting the PC, entering the bios, and manually setting it at 400. No problem at all. The downer was running at the 2T command rate....that really gave me a performance hit. |
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11-17-2005, 02:55 PM
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#8 |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: pittsburgh pennsylvania
Posts: 329
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hmmm i will actually have to try that
i didnt realize you could do that thanks |
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11-18-2005, 03:46 AM
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#9 |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: South Africa
Posts: 315
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OK so I'll definately be going with 2x1GB sticks for performance and ease sake. I guess the question now is whether to go with ValueRAM or HyperX? I am trying to think long term. Surely HyperX has better performance than the ValueRAM? HyperX is CL2 and ValueRAM is CL3 at DDR400, that's got to mean something!
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11-18-2005, 06:32 AM
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#10 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Owosso, MI, USA
Posts: 1,283
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Unless you overclock, there is little real world advantage to the premium ram. The value stuff will do fine.
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