Getting new RAM

salvy41 · 27 Mar 2006 at 10:58

I'm thinking I'm going to buy more RAM, but I'm a bit unsure of what to get. At the moment I have a Kingston 512mb PC3200 stick, and I've been considering getting a 2x512 Pc3200 giving me 1.5gb. I was thinking of either the crucial or corsair stuff which is £50... I've heard that mixing RAM isn't advised but if they're all the same speed is it ok? Also is it better to have 2x512 or a 1GB stick? My motherboard is Asus P4P800-VM if that's relevant. Thanks

pieman109 · 27 Mar 2006 at 11:58

Mixing ram is ok, unless you hit some compatibilty issues, it'll default to the lowest speed and timings. Quite honestly, if it were Me, I'd flog the existing ram and get something like the OCUK value ram for £105 inc vat + del. That way you're future proofing the system, getting VERY good value for money, and all the timings and speed are identical, so you should be able run something like 2.5-3-3-7-1t @ 200. In this day and age, quantity (at the lower cost end) is better than quality (high speed, 230mhz and higher).
On the other hand, you could go for somemore expensive ram, say the ocz or gskill 'frinstance and over clock a fair bit with reasonable timings, but I reckon you'll only see the results in benching. In gaming, surfing, I doubt very much you'll see any tangible increase.
With 2gig, you most deffo will btw, games like FEAR, BF2 and COD2 will run a lot smoother, and prog and applications will open much quicker.

salvy41 · 27 Mar 2006 at 12:32

Thanks for the reply. The thing is I can only spend around £50.. So I'm not sure whether I should get 2x512 or 1gb and also which to get.

Dreadi · 27 Mar 2006 at 14:02

dunno if that motherboard supports it (can be bothered to look) but keep inmind if it is a dual channel board, 3 sticks wont run dual channel

salvy41 · 27 Mar 2006 at 19:51

According to its description : "Dual-Channel DDR400Dual-channel DDR technology doubles the bandwidth of your system memory" is a feature. I'm still in the dark about getting 2x512 or 1gb, and is there any way to know if the RAM will run fine with my existing 512.

pieman109 · 27 Mar 2006 at 20:18

I'd get a 1gig stick meself, don't bother with dual channel, quantity seems more important nowadays, and you can sell the remaining 512 stick at a later date and get another 1gig stick, go dual channel, and have your games and apps run a lot smoother.

salvy41 · 28 Mar 2006 at 15:16

My friend told me that 3x512 would run better than a 1gb and 512. I'm still a bit unsure of what to do, which 1gb (or 2x512) is best for ~£50

Sumanji · 28 Mar 2006 at 17:09

I'd sell the current Kingston stick and get a new 1Gb Dual Channel kit (2 x 512MB). If you aren't bothered about overclocking and stuff, then cheapest is best

but brands like Crucial and Corsair Value have a lifetime warranty which is a bonus. If/when you feel you need 2GB, you can then buy another 2 x 512MB.

Neither 3 x 512MB nor 1Gb + 512MB are good combinations, so your mate is right and wrong! Two matched sticks (size and make) is the best combination, followed by four matched sticks.

Hope that helps,

Suman