which brand and how much

legend_of_chaos · 9 Mar 2006 at 16:01

Just installed xp home after using 98se from the day dot

,and currently have 512mb of 333mhz pc2700,i know it's quite old but it will do me for now,my question is what brand is best and how much do i need,my choices are as follows...

1.Crucial 1gb 333mhz pc2700

2.Crucial 1gb dual channel kit-2x512mb(1024mb)

3.Corsair 1gb ddr value select pc2700 kit(2x512mb)

4.Kingston 2x512mb pc2700

Is it better to go for 2x512mb sticks or a single 1gb stick,my board can take 3gb..MSI KT3 ultra2,so im thinking of getting either 2x512 or 1gb stick now, and then getting more in a few weeks,any response would be much appreciated,cheers.

jbloggs · 11 Mar 2006 at 17:12

legend_of_chaos:

If you gave the specs of your system, ie motherboard etc it would be very helpful.

Of the choices you have listed I would choose Corsair 1gb ddr value select pc2700 kit(2x512mb).

But THIS choice of Ram I think is better.

It is better to buy 2 x 512MB sticks of Ram rather than a 1GB stick, because if your motherboard supports dual channel, with 2 x 512MB sticks fitted it will run in dual channel, but with a single 1GB stick fitted it will not.

DasFruitMachine · 11 Mar 2006 at 17:37

For older (non-P4) systems the dual channel malarky was just a marketing ploy; it had very little real-world impact other than benchmarks looking a bit better. I'm not sure if that mobo even supports dual channel.

The corsair stuff is good for the money in my experience.

jbloggs · 11 Mar 2006 at 23:42

legend_of_chaos:

My apologies, you did give your make of mobo!

If you look Here, you will see your the MSI KT3 ultra2 does support dual channel.

ajgoodfellow · 12 Mar 2006 at 02:14

Buy PC3200 memory not PC2700 memory

The price difference is minimal and PC3200 memory will downclock itself to PC2700 speeds automatically

It just gives more room for overclocking and if you choose to go A64 (Socket 754/939) then you can keep your memory and run it 1:1 with the CPU (A64 does support PC2700 memory but with a slight performance drop)

Larok · 12 Mar 2006 at 08:37

Aim for a matched pair.

Maybe get one 1gb stick of OCUk value stuff now, pc3200. Then another later.