BF2S Forums Whats the difference? (RAM Question :P)

lol. I know a little about RAM thats why I asked this question here as it threw me out a little. I thought the 3200 was better but couldnt understand why it was cheaper

Thanks for the confirmation.

Grab the 2x400MHz RAM. Its a LOT faster than the 333MHz RAM

comic_chimere wrote:

I read that the price on RAM is very volitile and it can change all the time. Im still not sure what mobo im changing to so cant snap up the bargain just yet

I just hope it done go up in price in the meantime

Most motherboards nowadays use 3200 as default, so I wouldn't worry about it being compatable on another board.

Can I use 2x 512 of 3200 and 2x 512 of 2700. All of the same brand (Crucial) or does it all have to be exactly the same?

You can use the 3200 and 2700 ram in the same computer, but you will essentially have to throttle the speeds on your faster ram to match the slower. I wouldnt recommend this, unless you really, really need the extra gig of ram.

Im not sure if the board will have 2 slots or 4. If it only has 2 then I will need the 2x 1GB. If it has 4 then I will need 2x 512.

Im not sure what you mean by this, but i would go with 2x 1g sticks over using 512 sticks. this leaves more room for upgrading later. You do not have to use 512 sticks if your board has 4 dimms. at least, not on any motherboard im familiar with.

Skruples wrote:

Can I use 2x 512 of 3200 and 2x 512 of 2700. All of the same brand (Crucial) or does it all have to be exactly the same?

You can use the 3200 and 2700 ram in the same computer, but you will essentially have to throttle the speeds on your faster ram to match the slower. I wouldnt recommend this, unless you really, really need the extra gig of ram.

Im not sure if the board will have 2 slots or 4. If it only has 2 then I will need the 2x 1GB. If it has 4 then I will need 2x 512.

Im not sure what you mean by this, but i would go with 2x 1g sticks over using 512 sticks. this leaves more room for upgrading later. You do not have to use 512 sticks if your board has 4 dimms. at least, not on any motherboard im familiar with.

I mean, for example. Can I use 2 512 sticks of DDR400 RAM and 2 512's of DDR266 in the same system or would they all need to be on the same frequency?

basicly its to use old RAM, with new RAM. I have 1gig at 333 atm, but want 2gig in total. I was thinking of getting 2x 512's to go with my current. Instead im just goin to get 2x 1gig DDR400.

I believe the reason the PC2700 is higher priced is because of its lower timing. Timing, apparently, makes a pretty large difference

cyborg_ninja-117 wrote:

production is a problem as well, now ddr2 is cheaper than ddr 1 coz of production

They're gonna dumb DDR1 soon anyway since AMD is starting to use DDR2 too

comic_chimere wrote:

I ran a check on Crucial to see what RAM is combatable with my PC

It brought up 2 lots of 2x 1GB sticks

DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR400 • 2.6V • 128Meg x 64 £125.71

DDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR333 • 2.5V • 128Meg x 64 £130.41

So what is the difference between them? It says they will both work on my mobo.

Also, would it matter if I had say 2 sticks of DDR PC 3200, ams 2 sticks of DDR PC 2700? is it brand that matters to be the same or model od memory?

Main difference is speed by which they can operate at.  PC3200 will operate faster than PC2700 but PC3200 can operate at PC2700 speed if told to.

If your motherboard can support 4 sticks of memory, then you'll be able to use all 4 without any problem.  However, the caveat is that you'll then be using the memory in PC2700 speed across all 4 sticks.  If your CPU and motherboard is old enough that it runs via DDR333, then getting the PC3200 memory will pose no problem for you.  Different brand matters little unless you worry more about overclocking and memory timings than the Average Joe.

Pop open the computer case and take a look inside.  If you got two empty memory slots then you'll be able to add on memory.  Otherwise, you'll have to replace the two RAM with the new pair you get.