Memory

davkav

quick question lads im told buying 512mb Ram as two 256 sticks is better the only thing is my 512 stick has a CL of 2.5 and im just looking o komplett and you can only buy the pair of 256's at CL2.0 would that be a problem if i put them in together

Kevok

No problem, all the RAM will run at the speed and latency of the worst value. So it will all run at CL2.5.

davkav

cheers man,

one more thing do the 2 sticks of 256b have to bought together or can i buy 256 now and 256 next week for arguments sake

Kevok

You can stick them in whenever you want. Doesn't have to be in one go.

Just to clarify though, you'll have 512 + 256 + 256? Have you checked to see that you have 3 memory slots, I know chances are you do but you can't take it for granted.

pebble

davkav wrote:

quick question lads im told buying 512mb Ram as two 256 sticks is better the only thing is my 512 stick has a CL of 2.5 and im just looking o komplett and you can only buy the pair of 256's at CL2.0 would that be a problem if i put them in together

Why would buying two 256Mb of memory be better than buying a single 512 kit?

Peple seem to have very little knowledge of how memory actually works. I would take the single 512MB over the lower CAS level any day.
CAS is how quick the memory kicks off. so once that happens, there is very little difference because it will only go as fast as teh slowest piece of equipment in their system.

By the way, I notice your FSB runs at 228Mhz. I also notice you are running an AMD 2500+ (I assume this is a Barton core and runs at 333Mhz). You are running PC3200 memory (which is 400 Mhz).
And you are worried about CAS latency?

Upgrade your motherboard. Will cost you the same as a 512Mb kit of (decent quality) memory, and it will speed up your system more than additional memory. Memory will just allow you to run more things at the same speed.

Unless i am mistaken....

davkav

yeah have 3 slots 1 on its own and the other 2 rite beside each other think there meant to work dually thats why im concerned about gettin the two together

Kevok

If you mean dual channel, that doesn't mean you need two sticks to go in there.

The two share one channel and the one on it's own is another channel, all you need is to buy one 512mb stick to go in one of the free banks to enable the Dual channel.

No need to buy two 256mb seperately.

davkav

pebble wrote:

Why would buying two 256Mb of memory be better than buying a single 512 kit?

By the way, I notice your FSB runs at 228Mhz. I also notice you are running an AMD 2500+ (I assume this is a Barton core and runs at 333Mhz). You are running PC3200 memory (which is 400 Mhz).
And you are worried about CAS latency?

the memory is running at 229Mhz so the bios says anyway. someone told me that if you buy the two 256's its better because the RAM is DDR (doble data rate) they'll run better than a single 512, im not sure though not really up on memory. no dis respect pebble but just wonderin now does anyone else think a new MB would be better than more RAM, the extra memory would be for games

pebble

davkav wrote:

the memory is running at 229Mhz so the bios says anyway. someone told me that if you buy the two 256's its better because the RAM is DDR (doble data rate) they'll run better than a single 512,

No offence, but it is pretty obvious you dont know the first thing about memory, or the internal workings of a system.
Someone told you 'the more memory the better' once, and mostly its true, but you already have 512Mb, so adding another 2x256 will not really make a huge difference. Adding a single module is always preferable to double modules.
However speeding up your overall system will make a difference, especially if you are playing games. And its your motherboard that is holding the entire system backand

davkav

so any ideas on which motherboard to get, probably along the lines of nforce2 ultra i presume

Kevok

pebble wrote:

.... By the way, I notice your FSB runs at 228Mhz. I also notice you are running an AMD 2500+ (I assume this is a Barton core and runs at 333Mhz). You are running PC3200 memory (which is 400 Mhz).
And you are worried about CAS latency?

Upgrade your motherboard. Will cost you the same as a 512Mb kit of (decent quality) memory, and it will speed up your system more than additional memory. Memory will just allow you to run more things at the same speed.

Unless i am mistaken....

He doesn't need to upgrade his MB, his fsb is 228, which is pretty good for an nForce. 228*2 = 456mhz, far beyond the specs of the barton at 333Mhz. At stock, the FSB should be 166mhz.

When buying the memory Make sure it's a good brand and not generic, you will run into problems trying to get generic RAM to run at 456mhz.

pebble

Not really. it depends on what you want out of your motherboard.
personally, I purchased a Via KT600 two days ago, but then again, I'm not really fussy as long as it takes my current processor, and it allows me to upgrade to a better processor in the next 12 months.
How many Dimm slots do you want? are you going to go with DDR2?
What sort of FSB are you looking for for future processors, memory and cards?
Do you want PCi-express ports?
Do you want onboard stuff?
Are you going to use SATA in the near future?

So many questions
My last two motherboards have been Nforce2, and they are pretty good.

By the way, try overclocking your 9800pro as well. you should get an improvement in proformance. and with 128Mg of ram on your graphics card, I don't think memory is the best buy you could make right now.

But what do I know, I only sell memory for a living...

pebble

Kevok wrote:

He doesn't need to upgrade his MB, his fsb is 228, which is pretty good for an nForce. 228*2 = 456mhz, far beyond the specs of the barton at 333Mhz. At stock, the FSB should be 166mhz.

When buying the memory Make sure it's a good brand and not generic, you will run into problems trying to get generic RAM to run at 456mhz.

Where does the 2 multiplier come into it?

Kevok

pebble wrote:

Where does the 2 multiplier come into it?

FSB explained

davkav

when the FSB states 400 or so the default FSB will be 200Mhz and mine runs at 218Mhz therefore its at 436 well over the stated FSB. i was wondering why you thought i needed a new MB

pebble

Kevok wrote:

FSB explained

so, by taking the example here

The upshot of this is that you now know that when purchasing an AMD board with a FSB of 333 Mhz, you're getting a double-pumped 166 MHz FSB

and taking into account aht the reported FSB is 228Mhz, i am assuming then that you have a 114Mhz board, that is 'double pumped, and not 228Mhz doubled up.


Surely if you have overclocked your system to 228Mhz, and then doubled the speed, then what is the reported CPU speed?

pebble

pebble wrote:

Where does the 2 multiplier come into it?

By the way, it still doesn't explain why a 2 multiplier is used...

Kevok

No, you're doing it backwards.

His FSB as reported in the BIOS is 218mhz (228mhz in his sig), this translates to 436mhz, which is the value you use when buying memory.

[Edit] The 2 multiplier is used to get the "double pumped" value as the article explains. My FSB is 166mhz, I buy 333Mhz RAM as that is what speed it translates to. I know I'm woeful at explaining this but I'm positive that it's correct.[/Edit]

OfflerCrocGod

Dave you don't need a new MB - just get yourself another stick of 512MB of RAM ( the same as what you got originally ) and just stick your two sticks of RAM into the MB dual channel DIMMs ( 1 and 3 or something like that ) and you have yourself Dual Channel DDR RAM - you may need to pop down a few Mhz for your OC; but frankly that will do your system some good as it kept on crashing in the middle of Doom III and it was quite hot! I think the advantage of Dual Channel RAM is only like 5% faster read/writes ( don't qoute me ).

pebble

No, I understand exactly what you are saying, and I understand the duble pumped thing perfectly well. But it is not always Duble pumped.
For example, you could have a 133Mhz FSb running on a 3 multiplier for 400Mhz system, or a 133Mhz running on a 4 multiplier for a 533mhz system.

But where does the 2 multipler come into ti?
I dont see where it comes in.

You know, I have a 2200+ which is running at about 1800Mhz.

If you are running FBS at 228Mhz, then forget a new motherboard and memory.
Get some cooling in there before you set the mammys house on fire!

Kevok

The two multiplier was to show he doesn't need a new mb, He has an Epox nforce 400, the 400 being the "Double-pumped" value. So I *2 to illustrate that his mobo is grand.

You're dead right about the CPU clock value though, it's just 218mhz by the clock multi, the double-pumped thing applies to RAM, not the CPU clock speed.

OfflerCrocGod

pebble wrote:

But where does the 2 multipler come into ti?
I dont see where it comes in.

Double Data Rate or DDR

pebble

Errrr, i thought we were talking about the FSB, not the memory?

Ok, I orginally thought his FSB was 228Mhz (had somehow managed to drop it from 266Mhz, or had over clocked up to it)

So, in that case, don't bother with a new motherboard.

with 'Double Data Rate or DDR' I am aware of what it is and how it works, I was referring to the FSB though, not the memory, hence the misunderstanding.

For the record, I'd buy another 512MB module...

davkav

rite lads cheers for the info most of which i new just wasnt sure about the memory so ill get the 512 then