Desktops forum: Best memory for the buck,

512@pc2700=40 bucks
512@pc3200=40 bucks
but you would need two of the pc3200 so 80 bucks.

Now the questions.
Will the mobo support pc3200?
Do you want to spend 80 bucks?
Is pc3200 faster?>yes
Will you see a diff?>hmmm.
512MB+XP+GP usage seems to be the sweet spot so if you go to 1GB will it be a plus? >unknown, try it.

Just an opinion.
I think that many folks can get as much extra perf out of the machine with some serious house cleaning as they will with making the machine bigger/more powerful.

Answer as to is it worth increasing mem for better faster and more stable performance is yes;as win xp ( esp. xp pro ) eats mem then upgrading your mem is far better and much cheaper than looking at buying faster!!! processor as its the mem that gives you the zoom zoom factor i run an AMD Athlon XP 4 processor with 1 mb of pc 2700 and trust me that makes a difference and not neccessary to use pc3200 to get that....Eightbalnut

I hope that he meant 1 gig...although I remember the days of going to Sams Club and buying 4 250K sticks so we could get 1MB and thinking that was hot stuff !! I think that package deal cost $80 back then !!

I'm doing some very old photo scans and restores. I have to use hi-res scans to get anything to work with and I get very large files ( one came out at 462 Mb ) and the processing uses so much virtual memory, I'm spending 90% of my time at the 2nd PC, waiting for the 1st to finish. I have 512 Mb now which I'm doubling ( 1 Gb is max ) which I hope will make a real difference. If that doesn't work, I'll get a new PC with 2 Gb. I've got months of work ahead. I haven't seen any Whetstones( etc ) for graphics processing. Too bad. It's really needed.

where are you getting that the fsb is only 333? is that speed inherent to the cpu or soemthing?

ok so the FSB rating on the motherboards is simply what it's capable of or is there more that i'm not getting. i mean intel chipsets commonly have FSB of 533 to 800 mhz. so would one have to use pc4800 to get full useage of a chipset with an 800MHz FSB? and in my case i'm using pc3200 so is my FSB limited to 400MHz regardless of how i'm set up oterwise? i'm amd64 3200 with nforce4 Ultra btw.

i'll mull that over...

I have an intel motherboard with 800Fsb and 512 MB DDR Ram(dual-256x2)with Win XP SP2
But on reading these posts on this forum,I checked the rams and both are Pc 400 forget the 2700/3200 stuff.

So does this mean that my pc isn't running correctly/isn't running to its potential?

If you are running at rated speed (no overclocking) then you are probably doing OK. Some manufactures rate their memory at 200 MHz, some at 400 MHz, and still call it PC3200. No real standard here in the way they are advertised, and some confusion exist because some main boards are rated for dual channel PC 3200, other boards are not. Dual channel = 200mhz (fsb) x2 (double pumped)=400mh x 2 channels = 800mhz. A machine with a FSB speed of 200mh with dual channel DDR (dual data rate - dual channel ) memory has an effective speed of 800mh.

You need to look up the specs on your computer and see what type of memory it was designed for. If would stand to reason that if you bought a ''package deal'' , that the correct memory type is in the computer. However, that memory might not be the fastest in it's class. (IE, cheap memory). In that case, trading for some faster memory in the same class, but with better latency numbers (2.5-2-2 vs 3-4-4) will make a slight (but noticeable)increase in speed of the machine. Buying PC 3700 memory won't help, if the chipset on the mainboard isn't designed to take advantage of it.

Now, you are as confused as I am Have a nice day.

I suggest you save the extra money needed for PC3200 RAM and spend it on a good English dictionary and grammar book.

Amen. And the original post is no where NEAR as bad as some of the false answers given. I suspect 4th graders aren't swapping RAM, but you would think by the grammar...

I will make this short and simple.If any of you decide to try overclocking youur processor be prepared to need a new processor very soon as you will 'burn it out' just buy extra memory instead safer and cheaper.

do you realy think that everyone that overclocks is going to burn out their cpu. well my athlon 3000 venice at stock speeds (1800 mhz) ran at 31c - 40c, with it clocked to 2655mhz it is running at 30c - 40c, got to love the Zalman CNPS7700 very cost effective and the fan can run at 1500 RPM(under 20db)so hardly noticable.

I admit there are people that just pump loads of voltage through their cpu and dont think enough about heat dissipation , but good overclockers look at it like tuning a fine car, the higher the performance the better the cooling needs to be, but overclocking is not a death warrant for your cpu unless you go at it with rose coloured spectacles and a beer in hand

[Hello fellow c/net-ters, I am one of the many people looking to upgrade my ram. I currently only have only 1 stick of 516m/b(pc2700) in a amd xp 2800 system w/ a 256/mb Fx5600 nividia graphics card on win xp. I am considering switching over to 1 gig of pc3200 is it a worthwile switch or should i just stick with the pc2700. I have heard that pc3200 was a more unstable ram then that of the 2700. I am not that new to this however i am a cheap ******* so anyone could give me an idea of what to buy so i don't waist time and money, i would be greatful. And i've looked at the all the different brands from what i have seen and read going with high end ram really only serves those who use the cpu for gaming. I use mine mostly internet and dvd backup
Thanks...]

That's really great info for Windows users, but what about upgrading RAM for Mac users? Do we have a choice? If so, which is the best?
Thanks,
MacStorm