Help upgrading memory

Mr Muppet

Mr Muppet

Mr Muppet

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Hoping someone out there will be able to help me out.

I was wondering if it was worth upgrading my existing 1gb memory (2x Crucial DDR PC2700 512mb) to 2gb and what difference it would make? i.e. would games like Company of Heroes be more responsive or close down quicker when i exit to windows?

I was looking at the Crucial DDR2 PC4200 2gb set on OcUK for £108, mainly because i don't think my motherboard will support anything above 533mhz.

My system is:
ASRock 775 Dual VSTA
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 2.4ghz
Memory as above
GeForce 6800GT

So basically will an upgrade be worth the money and will it have noticeable effect in terms of gameplay or video editing?
 
2gb will always make a difference in gaming and everyday tasks, including video editing.

And AFAIK both the OCZ and Geil PC6400 kits on offer atm should run fine in the ASRock 775 Dual VSTA, albeit at the slower speeds that the board allows.

I'd certainly invest £114 in pc6400 before I'd pay £108 for pc4200.
 
Thanks Cob - could you just clarify something for me? I've been on a few memory sites to see what i could upgrade to and they all claim i could go up to PC-8000 (which is just a bit out my price range). However, i thought (naively?) that the speed of the memory had to match the FSB of the processor - i.e. if i've got a Conroe E660 running at 1066mhz then the only memory i can upgrade to is one at 533mhz (half the FSB - motheroard doesn't support the PC-8500+ modules) - is this just nonsense?

Like you say i don't want to waste money on memory if it isn't going to be value for money.
 
You can run your memory faster than your fsb. It's what the memory multipliers (or dividers) in the BIOS are for.

Tho with the ASRock 775 Dual VSTA you'll probably be running at matched speeds if you overclock it at all. If you keep the fsb at stock (266/1066), you can run pc5300 on the x2.5 multiplier (or whatever it's called in your board) and have the RAM running at 667mhz. That's about the limit for the board.

There's nothing stopping you putting pc8000 into the board, but it won't run higher than pc5300 speeds. pc6400 would be a far better bet considering the price that the OCZ and Geil is atm.
 
the DUAL-VSTA doesnt let you control the ram volts very well..... i think the max for the board is 2.0V, using the "High" setting for DDR2. Thus make sure you pick ram that runs fine at that speed, my Crucial 10th Aniv cant run at stock speeds with this board!
 
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