ok, i have 1 GB ram, 2 512 sticks @4300 so i get the dual channel. i want to know if i get 2 1gb stick for 2 gb ram @5400 or what ever it is.. is it better to have the 3 gb at slower speed 4300 single channel. or just the 2 gb @ faster speed and dual channel.? thoughts please... HR
it all depends on how much ram you use, and of course the cpu you have (bus speed) if you have vista its best to have as much ram as possible, usually more than 2GB as vista eats about a gig just for itself personally, i would check my available resourses, see how much ram i need and only use more if i need it, otherwise use the fastest hardware available. i'm not an expert of ram speed but it may not make that much of a difference, especially if your cpu is fsb 533mhz (again, i need clarification on this too) a lot of older AMDs use 533mhz, most older intel's have 800. the reason i talk about the cpu is coz the fsb cant be faster than the ram (again people, clarification needed) i hope i could of been a spark for the flame also, think about the future. how about waiting a while and saving up for a better system.
Well as for the fsb i do think it's 533. the reason for upgrading this system is i bought it for $100 at a pawn shop. It has 22W viewsonic vx2255, AMD 64x2 4400 AM2, 2x320 GB segate HD's, dvd burner w/lightscribe, groforce 7900gt display card. and 1 GB ram. so i upgraded th ram to 2 GB of the faster 5300, and have the 1 GB of 4300 waiting for something.. that is the reason i didn't i upgrade the whole computer. i couldn't pass this up for only $100.00 and some change for taxes. wireless KB and mouse. not that i like those. but hey.. they came with it.. soe for 178$ i have a rather decent system. my old computer is a laptop PIII 1.2 with 384 mb ram. and a 30 GB drive. this was a much needed upgrade. for under 200$ HR
More RAM > Faster RAM. The Athlon 64 architecture overall performance is barely influenced by the RAM speed and timings. It does make a difference, but it's barely measured with synthetic tests. Of course, having faster RAM isn't bad, as long as you understand mixing the RAM speeds will go with the slower stick.
That's a HECK of a deal you got there btw. You could easily spend $600-750 building the rig you've got there. I even think it's AM2, not 939, so it's upgradeable. I want a pwnshop like that in my area..
AM2 is pretty much most of the current generation of procs. You can put in a nice opteron, the 65W X2s, and 125W X2s. You've basically got your choice of what you want. It's just the newer Phenoms that are AM2+ I believe. But AMD CLAIMED it is backwards compatible with a BIOS flash, but I believe that's turned to be mostly bogus.
