Memory noob question

Mark M · 24 Feb 2009 at 10:23

I currently have 4 x PC2-4300 (266 MHz) 512 MB DDR2 in my machine and want to increase it.

There isnt that much choice of 266Mhz anymore, is it ok to put a higher "spec" of ram in? Will it just ran as fast as the board will allow it to or will it cause problems?

Thanks, Mark

Admiral Huddy · 24 Feb 2009 at 10:24

Higher frequency ram is fine providing it's the same type i.e. DDR2. In your case, installing PC2-6400 will be fine.

The system can be adjusted so that the RAM can operate faster than the BUS speed (Asyncronous memory) by changing the memory divider in the BIOS. Some do this automatically. Otherwise, the RAM will operate at the same speed as the FSB (Syncronous).

Further info is here

Mark M · 24 Feb 2009 at 11:06

Thanks for the help and the further info

Am I correct in thinking that the lower the latency timings the faster it will be?

Ie CL5 ( 5-5-5-15 ) is quicker than CL7 ( 7-7-7-20 ) ?

Admiral Huddy · 24 Feb 2009 at 11:27

Having higher frequency RAM is at the cost of the latency but higher frequency RAM is better.