768 @ ddr333 or 512 @ ddr400

Chalk · 30-07-2005 10:18PM #1

as topic,

i have 3 sticks of ram,
if i use all 3 theyll run at the lowest speed and if i run just 2 i can run them at the higher speed.

has anyone got any recommendations of what would give better performance in video encoding / tv capture and possibly some gaming.

or does someone know of a program that i could run for a few hours that will give me a benchmark on the ram performance, like 3dmark.

thanks,
chalk

airetam_storm · 30-07-2005 10:22PM

Chalk wrote:

as topic,

i have 3 sticks of ram,
if i use all 3 theyll run at the lowest speed and if i run just 2 i can run them at the higher speed.

has anyone got any recommendations of what would give better performance in video encoding / tv capture and possibly some gaming.

or does someone know of a program that i could run for a few hours that will give me a benchmark on the ram performance, like 3dmark.

thanks,
chalk

For encoding the extra ram wont really make the difference, its just about all cpu based, but for gaming you might just get the extra few fps without the extra ram..

Chalk · 30-07-2005 10:26PM

thanks,
wouldve thought the ram would have had some sort of influence on it.

do you think id be better running less ram at the higher speed then?

airetam_storm · 30-07-2005 10:30PM

Sorry only edited now. For games i find i get more frames with my 512 of pc3200 than a gig of pc2700. Tested with Far Cry/Doom3

But encoding in really about cpu clock cycles, but id still stick with the 3200 nonetheless, unless you can be swapping the extra in and out regularely, which prob isnt good for it anyway

Chalk · 30-07-2005 10:34PM

airetam_storm wrote:

Sorry only edited now. For games i find i get more frames with my 512 of pc3200 than a gig of pc2700. Tested with Far Cry/Doom3

fair enough then
thats gonna swing it for me

reboot and whip that ram out now.

Chalk · 30-07-2005 10:41PM

post screen showed dram speed at 333mhz,
the ram was running at 400 the other day.

have to figure out how to tell the pc to sort that.

airetam_storm · 30-07-2005 10:45PM

Just a bios enty, should be in the same screen as the cpu settings

Chalk · 30-07-2005 10:46PM

ill have a look,
cpu-z says the max b/w is 200mhz.

does that sound right?

this is my first pc build btw

airetam_storm · 30-07-2005 10:50PM

Yeah 200, but Double Data Rate=400mhz

Chalk · 30-07-2005 10:54PM

hehe,

ok ok,
im a n00b,
thanks again

dubdvd · 30-07-2005 11:15PM

airetam_storm wrote:

For encoding the extra ram wont really make the difference, its just about all cpu based, but for gaming you might just get the extra few fps without the extra ram..

I would'nt fully agree with you there ...OK when it comes to video encoding the cpu will make or break a system thats going to be used solely for encoding ....but trust me ram has a big part to play in this aswell
Digital media encoding can really strain the memory subsystem of your computer, as large media files have to be streamed to the CPU very quickly and for this to happen these files have to be buffered ?????so memory those come into play ...

and if you want a FREE program to to see which of the two groups of ram runs at a faster bandwidth "as in mb's -per-sec or min" then just use the likes of SISOFTSANDRA ..it a simple to use benchmark and proformance tool ...just run each config of your ram and take note of what each is capable of ....either run we say for example 512 mb of each first and see how it goes "more than likely the 400mhz will win that one " but then run mix it up and see what you get ????????
also you could try MEMTEST This test is very thorough stand-alone diagnostic program....

but at the end of the day i'd sell of the 333 mhz and get yourself another stick of 400 mhz ..cos if your going to be video encoding you'll be much better of with at least 1 gig of ddr 400mhz

airetam_storm · 30-07-2005 11:22PM

dubdvd wrote:

I would'nt fully agree with you there ...OK when it comes to video encoding the cpu will make or break a system thats going to be used solely for encoding ....but trust me ram has a big part to play in this aswell
Digital media encoding can really strain the memory subsystem of your computer, as large media files have to be streamed to the CPU very quickly and for this to happen these files have to be buffered ?????so memory those come into play ...

But the dirrerence between 512 DDR400 and 768 DDR333 would be negligable. What cpu are you using?

Chalk · 30-07-2005 11:25PM

thanks for the links,

the pc isnt going to be solely used for video encoding or anything.
its an average spec pc that i put together from parts i bought mainly on here.

i put video encoding up as its probably the only time ill ever be stressing it to the limit,
i would have intentions of upgrading it piece by piece over the coming months,
but at the moment im trying to hang onto cash for my holidays so buying parts isnt top of my list,
ill be needing a new processor before i even consider getting more ram so i just want to see if someone could recomend how to get the best from what i have at the moment.

as i said i have 2x256 of ddr400 and 1x256 of 333,
so im trying to figure out would it be worth my while sticking the 333 stick in there and slowing the other stuff down or would 512 @ 400 be better all round.

ill see if i can get some results from sisandra,
and ill post em up when i do

dubdvd · 30-07-2005 11:48PM

sorry i picked it up wrong i thought you had 768 of 333 and 512 of 400 and not 2x256 of ddr400 and 1x256 of 333...my head never does work well when im work nights ...

768 @ ddr333 or 512 @ ddr400

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