Quick RAM Question

pip1011261

pip1011261

New Member
What is the difference between:

DDR PC 2700
DDR PC 3200
DDR PC 4000

A site tested my computer and said I can use any of these.
What is recommended?
 
The difference between 2700, 3200, and 4000 are just the speed rating. PC2700 is rated at 333MHz, 3200 at 400MHz, and 4000 at 533MHz. The cool thing is that most motherboards are backwards compatible with these speeds of RAM and so it won't hurt anything to buy a speed faster than your motherboard recommends (or slower...whichever.) So basically, buy whichever one is least expensive. However, keep in mind that your motherboard can only use a specific type and if you buy a faster speed than is rated for your motherboard, it won't be able to utilize it at the full speed.
 
So buying a 4000 if not compatible will just run at either 2700 or 3200 and i wasted the price difference?

Is there noticable difference anyways in the speed?
 
As far as I can remember, yes, that's correct. Just buy what your motherboard calls for and don't waste the extra price for something that isn't going to give you much of a performance gain.

The speed differences between PC2700, PC3200, and PC4000 are hardly noticable. It has been said that only gamers are able to notice a slight difference (I'm not a gamer). And it seems that with RAM speeds that are beginning to age like those are, there isn't going to be a whole ton of hard-core gaming going on.
 
I use graphics programs all the time: CorelDRAW, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat Profesional etc......should i spend the extra $$$.
 
Could you list the other specs of your system? Those can sometimes be some pretty RAM-intensive programs...especially Photoshop. RAM may not be the only limiting factor in your system performance. Your CPU can be a very important time-saver when applying filters and working on large print-quality photographs/posters. Let me know the rest of the specs of your system and I can give you a better answer regarding whether better RAM would really help.

Since I don't know your system specifications yet: On your question about spending the extra cash, I would say No. It's pointless. Like I explained to you above, buying RAM faster than your motherboard is pointless. Just buy whatever is rated and recommended for your motherboard. It will likely offer more system stability and it will keep your wallet a little bit thicker (Newegg.com is the best place to purchase computer components if you're thinking about purchasing them online). If you're worried about faster RAM speeds, the only other thing you could do is buy a new motherboard which supports faster RAM, or buy a completely new PC.

Get back to me with those specs and I could help you out.
 
Ok they are in my sig. Im using 440MB RAM at the moment and also 450MB Swap with only Corel outlook and IE7 open. System on start seems to use about 300MB RAM when nothing else is running.
 
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Alright, you've got a pretty decent CPU. The Pentium 4's aren't anywhere near the newest thing, but I've got one of them running at 2.8GHz at home too and it runs Photoshop CS3 pretty well.

The thing I'm worried about is your swap. If you're using 450MB of the pagefile, that isn't exactly ideal. Upgrading the RAM sounds like a good idea.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231036

G.Skill is a great brand. That seems to be the cheapest price on a 1GB stick of RAM. You could go cheaper on a 512MB stick, but it seems now-a-days that 512MB is beginning to seem very limiting...especially with Vista although I know you're running XP.

It also shows that your graphics card is onboard. Have you ever thought about upgrading that? I'm pretty sure that you've got an AGP port on that motherboard, but there are still many AGP cards out there and it would offer a surprising increase in performance. Especially with drawing programs, it could help quite a bit.

Just some thoughts. Let me know what your opinions are on some of these and then maybe I could suggest something else if these don't quite cut it for ya.

Thanks.
 
Im pretty fine with the graphics card. Yes it is an old one but has the lasted drivers. I dont really do any gaming on the machine, and the graphics handle great on it.

When I get the extra RAM should I make the Swap smaller, will this help with performance?

I also store all my docs, images and music on an external 250GB hard drive and only put them on the internal when working with them. The internal is 35GB and i have 16.3GB available, so it is only programs that take up the space there.
 
pip1011261 said:
When I get the extra RAM should I make the Swap smaller, will this help with performance?
Click to expand...

I believe that the pagefile.sys file (swap file) is generally about 1.5x the amount of RAM you have. The ONLY reason you would ever disable the swap file entirely is if you've got a massive amount of RAM and will NEVER EVER need it. Even if you've got 16GB of RAM, the only thing you gain from disabling the page file is gaining a couple hundred megabytes. So, in my mind, it's pointless. Plus, there are a lot of programs out there, such as photoshop, which actually won't run correctly or at all if there isn't a pagefile. I think I tried disabling the pagefile entirely once and Photoshop required me to have at least 1MB in the pagefile. Strange.

So, in conclusion, no. Don't disable or mess with the pagefile. Besides, with only 1GB or 2GB of RAM there is still a pretty big chance that the system will use the swap file under certain conditions. Just upgrade the RAM and then let Windows do the rest.
 
Yes, the Virtual Memory is the same as the Swap File. What is the swap currently set at? Also, what was the size of the hard disk?
 
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Virtual Memory is set at 1500MB. Im usually always using roughly 1/3 of it so 500MB.

The hard drive is 35GB but has 16.3GB available.

The settings are also set to use Processor and RAM more for programs than the system or background services.
 
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