RAM Question..........

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escodotcarter

New Member
on the front of my computer there is a sticker saying that it uses
PC2-3200 DDR2 SDRAM but when i scan my computer at Crucial.com
it comes out that i should get PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM .
why is that so?? and does it make a difference?
 
Your computer I assume was prebuilt came with the DDR2 400 memory installed. The PC2-4200 according to the system configuration tool used at Crucial is showing that DDR2 533 memory is supported. The one way to see if that is correct is to look at the system specifications on the model you to see the memory it supports. Installing memory that is faster then supported by the board itself faces it to run slower if it works at all. What make and model are you running?
 
Do your computer have a seal that voids your warranty when you break it? If you open your case you will not be under warrant anymore.
 
Besides voiding any factory warranty the PC2-4200 is not even supported. If the system is now out of warranty you could move upto 2gb to replace the pair of 512s that came with it to see a gain there. That would smooth things out a little especially if you are planning an upgrade to Vista or already have on there.
 
so it looks like what I need is pc2-3200 and not 4200. I just want to add 2x512 sticks and not replace the ones that came with the comp.
btw I'm not on vista and not planning on upgrading and I'm not a gamer I just want smoothnes and efficiency.
 
Kingston is one of the better brands to look at anyways. I took note that newegg didn't have any other PC2-3200 1gb(2x512mb) kits by anyone else suggesting they held that one just for you. :P

I've been running 2gb of the Kingston DDR400 184pin Value Ram with good results being seen here. The next build will most likely still see Kingston memory used.
 
The one thing to be advised of if mixing brands there would be to place the current second dimm on the same channel as the first. If they are on A1 and B1 you would take the second use the A2 slot. This will help if any incompatibilities between the two sets is found.
 
wait a sec....i have no clue what your talking about...can u please explain that in a little simpler way please i want to get this thing right.....
 
I'd just plug the new RAM in, if you have problems getting it to work change the slots you have the RAM in. You shouldn't have any problems unless you end up mixing single and double sided RAM, then there's a chance it wont work right.
 
I wasn't sure if they still made single sided DDR2 memiry until coming across this article by Tom's Hardware dated 2/27/06 seen at http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/02/27/in_search_of_true_ddr2_bleeding_edge_memory/page3.html

The most likely thing that would be seen however is a slight difference in memory timings between the two pairs even if the original was Kingston just as well. Otherwise the new memory should go in and run without worries. You're not mixing performance dimms like the HyperX with value ram there.
 
I can disagree with that somewhat having gone from 1gb of Corsair xms series dimms to 2gb of Kingston value memory and seeing some games like Half Life 2 and other programs running a lot better with less problems. Video capturing/editing, burning dvds even plus some of the newer games out seem to grab at memory as well as cpu time.

Going from 1gb to 2gb smoothed things out here just on the last build. The same 2gb is now running Vista as normal as you can get it I imagine at this time.(if that's possible? :confused: :P )
 
What I meant was that upgrading the RAM will not have a bigger impact than changing the CPU and/or your graphics subsystem. Of course changing any part of your computer will effect the performance, its just by how much.
 
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