BBAAAHH RAM Crisis! HEEELLPPPP!!!

[FraverZZMX]

ok i know how to run computers n all n i understand the componets n what they do but i cant tell what is what when i open up my case n look inside! i have a custom built pc. i just gave my cousion $1000 and let him build it. I figured he knew what he was doing cuz he works at a computer store. ok heres my problem i have 512mb i dono what pci or what evr that # is. I know i have a msi mother board with a x86 Family 6 Model 10 Stepping 0 AuthenticAMD ~1918 Mhz processor (got that from system info). i would like to buy Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail. here is the link to it.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-145-450&DEPA=0

from the little knowledge of internal setup (this is a guess) it looks like there is only 2 places to stick the ram in. I was wondering if i could stick all 3 512 chips in n make this baby fly. but i read in a post from some where that if i buy good ram n have a crappy in my ram will only go as fast as the crappy ram! that just sucks! If u could help clear things up 4 me id greatly appreciate it if u need ne more info ask n tell me where to find it n ill give it 2 u. my e-mail address is [email protected]

 

[Praetor]

WTH is with the poll?

from the little knowledge of internal setup (this is a guess) it looks like there is only 2 places to stick the ram in. I was wondering if I could stick all 3 512 chips in n make this baby fly.

Filling all 3 DIMMS will drop the memory speed to PC2700

but I read in a post from some where that if I buy good ram n have a crappy in my ram will only go as fast as the crappy ram! that just sucks!

You read correctly

 

[FraverZZMX]

Filling all 3 DIMMS will drop the memory speed to PC2700

could u possibly tell me what that means? and is PC2700 a fast speed or crappy?

WTH is with the poll?

i dono i just wanted to stick in a poll to c what people would say

If u could give ne advice on what u would do id appreciate it.

 

[xDarkWizardx]

You would want at least PC3200 (2700 would be crappy). Does that motherboard support dual channel? You would be better off running dual channel (if you can) then running all three DIMM slots if your looking for speed (I assume you are since your buying Corsair XMS).

 

[nevinenigma]

search google and download a little program called cpuz, it will tell you what you are running, open it and click the SPD tab, it will tell you how many slots you have in a dropdown box and next to max bandwidth it will tell you the ram speed(ie pc3200). If your motherboard does support dual channel and your cousin is a whiz with computers then he probably installed 2 sticks of 256 to take advantage of this, so with only two slots the max you could get by buying a 512mb stick would be 768mb, download cpuz and see(it will tell you what size is in each slot). You may still want to buy the kit and completely replace your ram and get the bump to 1gig.

 

[Praetor]

could u possibly tell me what that means? and is PC2700 a fast speed or crappy?

Well if you have 4 PC3200 dimms installed, going to PC2700 would be bad. If you have 4 PC2700 dimms installed then its not so bad.

You may still want to buy the kit and completely replace your ram and get the bump to 1gig.

No need to buy the fancy (overcharged) dual channel kit: buying the separate sticks on their own is fine (and cheaper!)

 

[FraverZZMX]

Ok i got that cpuz and i only have 2 slots the first slot is a kingston 512mb pc2700. my secon slot is empty so if i put in those nice xms sars they would b degrated down to pc2700 so should i just stick those in n take out the 512mb?

 

[Praetor]

Unless all you plan on doing ever is play games and run benchmakrs you might as well use all 3 sticks (unless you can sell the one)

 

[nevinenigma]

if you've already bought the kit then go ahead and take out the current 512 stick and put in the new 2 sticks, but if you haven't bought it yet you could just buy a 512mb stick of pc2700, which would be a much cheaper solution, that is if you're okay with not having pc3200(I wouldn't know the performance difference myself, I've only had pc3200, maybe someone else could help you there).