Memory for E2180 / ASRock 4DualCore??

[stevenp1968]

Hi All

I have a E2180 on an ASRock 4DualCore (I know this is not the best set up in the world but it works OK) Its a bit slow on multitaking and rendering.

I currently have plans for a new system but for now I want to add some more RAM to help it spedd up a little. I have 2gb of GeIL DDR2 PC2-6400 (400mhz).

Can anyone tell me what benefit I'd get from an upgrade to 4gb and also what to buy?

Thanks

Steve

 

[WJA96]

Hi All

I have a E2180 on an ASRock 4DualCore (I know this is not the best set up in the world but it works OK) Its a bit slow on multitaking and rendering.

I currently have plans for a new system but for now I want to add some more RAM to help it spedd up a little. I have 2gb of GeIL DDR2 PC2-6400 (400mhz).

Can anyone tell me what benefit I'd get from an upgrade to 4gb and also what to buy?

Thanks

Steve

4Gb might get you a small benefit on multitasking, but rendering is CPU limited and I can't see it being massively improved with more RAM.

Given that you have a 200/800MHz FSB CPU, are you running the RAM 1:1 ie. at it's full 400MHz speed? Either that or try tightening the latencies which might make the system feel snappier in multitasking.

It should be a cheap upgrade though, and unless you're going to switch to i7 it will stand you in good stead for any forthcoming upgrade of motherboard and/or CPU.

RAM is quite spectacularly cheap at the moment. PC2-6400 is especially good value. If you can, try to get 2 x 2Gb sticks instead and sell the 2 you have now.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB)

This is very good, stable RAM and it's dirt cheap for branded stuff.

 

[stevenp1968]

Thanks

My next upgrade will prob be in the summer and I'll go for a Q6600 with an Asus P5Q.

I guess that a £40 investment may speed my current system up a bit? and will be able to be reused in any new build as I will not be moving to an i7 just yet.

Steve

 

[Keyser Soze]

Have you overclocked that E2180, if the board is holding you back i would suggest putting the money towards a better clocking motherboard.
Then clock the nuts off it.

 

[WJA96]

I guess that a £40 investment may speed my current system up a bit?

It really won't be much of an improvement (5% tops?), but you should be able to sell your existing RAM for £15 or so, hence the price to change is more like £25.

I would try tweaking the timings of what you have currently before you spend any money, but realistically, your limiting factors in your current situation are;

1. The CPU is limiting your rendering speed, overclocking it would help a little. The answer, as you have obviously already worked out, is a Quad-core.

2. The motherboard is stopping you overclock your CPU, but otherwise it's not holding back rendering or multi-tasking. Again, I think you are fully aware of this.

Your RAM is about the least of your worries really, but it can't hurt.

 

[WJA96]

Thinking about what Keyser Soze posted - this mATX Gigabyte motherboard would give you upto a 50% potential overclock with that CPU - my own wife's machine is running the GeIL PC6400/E2160 combination and it's running at nearly 3GHz. The key to that motherboard is that you need RAM that runs fast at low voltages as there is no RAM voltage adjustment on the board, although everything else is adjustable. The GeIL RAM runs at 400MHz at 1.9V, so it's ideal. And you can slot a Q6600 in later if you like.

If you still have AGP graphics (it's the only reason I can think you have the 4DualCore), you might be very surprised at how good the onboard graphics are on that motherboard as well.