Questions about DDR RAM

I'm planning to add some memory to a PC. The motherboard supports "DDR up
to 333 MHz (enhanced) memory bus."

333 MHz (PC2700) or slower DDR SDRAM isn't easy to find on today's market,
and when you do find it, it's considerably more expensive than the DDR
which runs at 400 MHz (PC3200). What would happen if I bought 400 MHz DDR
RAM and installed it in a motherboard which only supports speeds up to 333
MHz (PC2700)? Would it work? If it did work, would it work as well as the
slower PC2700 RAM?

I've gotten conflicting answers to this question. Two computer stores told
me that it wouldn't work. Another store and a book I consulted said it
would.

I'd also like some opinions on which brand of RAM I should get. Kingston
and Samsung are ubiquitous where I live, so the choice comes down to one
of those. Both brands are about the same price, with the Samsung being
marginally cheaper.

Finally, would a 128 MB stick of 266 MHz DDR RAM be able to run in the
same computer as, say, a 512 MB stick of 400 MHz DDR RAM? If so, would
using both at the same time degrade the performance of the faster RAM?

--
(Note: I'm using a bogus reply-to address to avoid spam, so please don't
reply by email.)

Igor wrote:
I'm planning to add some memory to a PC. The motherboard supports "DDR
up to 333 MHz (enhanced) memory bus."

333 MHz (PC2700) or slower DDR SDRAM isn't easy to find on today's
market, and when you do find it, it's considerably more expensive than
the DDR which runs at 400 MHz (PC3200). What would happen if I bought
400 MHz DDR RAM and installed it in a motherboard which only supports
speeds up to 333 MHz (PC2700)? Would it work? If it did work, would it
work as well as the slower PC2700 RAM?

I've gotten conflicting answers to this question. Two computer stores
told me that it wouldn't work. Another store and a book I consulted said
it would.

I'd also like some opinions on which brand of RAM I should get. Kingston
and Samsung are ubiquitous where I live, so the choice comes down to one
of those. Both brands are about the same price, with the Samsung being
marginally cheaper.

Finally, would a 128 MB stick of 266 MHz DDR RAM be able to run in the
same computer as, say, a 512 MB stick of 400 MHz DDR RAM? If so, would
using both at the same time degrade the performance of the faster RAM?


If you tell us the motherboard make and model, we give better advice.
If the machine is Dell or HP, tell us the model number etc.

Faster DDR is compatible with slower speed applications.

Whether mixing RAM makes sense, really depends on what speed the motherboard
and its current configuration, would support. If your processor is limiting
the speeds that the Northbridge can run the memory, then maybe removing the
128MB stick would make no difference.

Details count. Motherboard and processor information would help. You can
also get some hints from looking at both:

http://www.crucial.com ("Crucial memory advisor")
http://www.kingston.com ("Memory search")

HTH,
Paul

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:50:59 -0400, Paul wrote:

snip


If you tell us the motherboard make and model, we give better advice.

I don't see how that information is relevant to my two primary questions,
or even why it would be necessary to venture an answer to the third.
They're pretty general questions. Are you one of those guys who likes to
make everything more complicated than it needs to be?

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:54:49 -0400, Igor
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:50:59 -0400, Paul wrote:

snip


If you tell us the motherboard make and model, we give better advice.

I don't see how that information is relevant to my two primary questions,
or even why it would be necessary to venture an answer to the third.
They're pretty general questions. Are you one of those guys who likes to
make everything more complicated than it needs to be?


Paul does a good job of answering questions and posing
details of variables that may matter. Sometimes the rest of
us just make assumptions instead of putting forth as much
effort. His point was good, that providing details of your
hardware is a good idea, it allows a reply more applicable
to specific hardware.

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:44:03 -0400, kony wrote:

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:54:49 -0400, Igor
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:50:59 -0400, Paul wrote:

snip


If you tell us the motherboard make and model, we give better advice.

I don't see how that information is relevant to my two primary
questions,
or even why it would be necessary to venture an answer to the third.
They're pretty general questions. Are you one of those guys who likes to
make everything more complicated than it needs to be?


Paul does a good job of answering questions and posing
details of variables that may matter. Sometimes the rest of
us just make assumptions instead of putting forth as much
effort. His point was good, that providing details of your
hardware is a good idea, it allows a reply more applicable
to specific hardware.

I didn't mean to jump on Paul, I'm sure he's a friendly and knowledgeable
guy, but why did he assume that I had wanted that level of detail in a
response?

If I had wanted a specific, tailor-made reply, I would've provided the
details of my hardware. In this case, I just wanted a simple reply, so I
didn't feel the need to provide such details.

I found the insinuation that I *should have* provided the make and model
of my motherboard, that not doing so was an oversight on my part, and that
my questions couldn't be properly answered as I had posed them, just a bit
patronizing.

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 05:38:58 -0400, Igor
wrote:



I found the insinuation that I *should have* provided the make and model
of my motherboard, that not doing so was an oversight on my part, and that
my questions couldn't be properly answered as I had posed them, just a bit
patronizing.


maybe, but on the other hand if you can't make the effort to
do that, why should others make the effort to guess about
what is likely, instead of knowing more certainly if you
have hardware upon which the details might be more likely,
and/or known problems?

More details are always less

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 05:38:58 -0400, Igor
wrote:

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:44:03 -0400, kony wrote:

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:54:49 -0400, Igor
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:50:59 -0400, Paul wrote:

snip


If you tell us the motherboard make and model, we give better advice.

I don't see how that information is relevant to my two primary
questions,
or even why it would be necessary to venture an answer to the third.
They're pretty general questions. Are you one of those guys who likes to
make everything more complicated than it needs to be?


Paul does a good job of answering questions and posing
details of variables that may matter. Sometimes the rest of
us just make assumptions instead of putting forth as much
effort. His point was good, that providing details of your
hardware is a good idea, it allows a reply more applicable
to specific hardware.

I didn't mean to jump on Paul, I'm sure he's a friendly and knowledgeable
guy, but why did he assume that I had wanted that level of detail in a
response?


Because it depends on the motherboard and chipset you are
considering for this upgrade.


If I had wanted a specific, tailor-made reply, I would've provided the
details of my hardware. In this case, I just wanted a simple reply, so I
didn't feel the need to provide such details.

... but there is no simple reply, if there were there
wouldn't have been any further inquiry to what specific
system hardware/chipset it is.



I found the insinuation that I *should have* provided the make and model
of my motherboard, that not doing so was an oversight on my part, and that
my questions couldn't be properly answered as I had posed them, just a bit
patronizing.

If you can't bother to provide details of the system upon
which you try to upgrade the memory, you won't get the
correct answer because it depends upon the variables we
asked about (or else, we wouldn't have bothered to mention
it at all).

"Igor" wrote in message newsp.tzl7q8aokkm7ou@a...
On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:44:03 -0400, kony wrote:

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:54:49 -0400, Igor
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:50:59 -0400, Paul wrote:

snip


If you tell us the motherboard make and model, we give better advice.

I don't see how that information is relevant to my two primary
questions,
or even why it would be necessary to venture an answer to the third.
They're pretty general questions. Are you one of those guys who likes to
make everything more complicated than it needs to be?


Paul does a good job of answering questions and posing
details of variables that may matter. Sometimes the rest of
us just make assumptions instead of putting forth as much
effort. His point was good, that providing details of your
hardware is a good idea, it allows a reply more applicable
to specific hardware.

I didn't mean to jump on Paul, I'm sure he's a friendly and knowledgeable
guy, but why did he assume that I had wanted that level of detail in a
response?

If I had wanted a specific, tailor-made reply, I would've provided the
details of my hardware. In this case, I just wanted a simple reply, so I
didn't feel the need to provide such details.

I found the insinuation that I *should have* provided the make and model
of my motherboard, that not doing so was an oversight on my part, and that
my questions couldn't be properly answered as I had posed them, just a bit
patronizing.

Igor, I'm sure you misinterpreted Paul's response. I've *never* seen
him flame anyone. Also, he may know of, say, some mobos that would accept
the different sticks and merely run both at the rate of the slower stick;
and at the same time know of other mobos which would balk from the get-go.
I've seen some ram spec'd as "known to work on the following ": see the
long list, somewhat fine print he


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=017


I'm sure you will find your answers here on this ng. Sorry I could
offer no more than the "run at the rate of the slower", which I can only say
I've seen in several personal instances; I'd hesitate to extrapolate them to
be generally-expected results.
Thx and good luck and please remember to reply to posted questions any
info you feel helpful. s

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:31:38 -0400, Igor
wrote:

I'm planning to add some memory to a PC. The motherboard supports "DDR up
to 333 MHz (enhanced) memory bus."

333 MHz (PC2700) or slower DDR SDRAM isn't easy to find on today's market,
and when you do find it, it's considerably more expensive than the DDR
which runs at 400 MHz (PC3200). What would happen if I bought 400 MHz DDR
RAM and installed it in a motherboard which only supports speeds up to 333
MHz (PC2700)? Would it work? If it did work, would it work as well as the
slower PC2700 RAM?

Yes it'll work and do so as well/fast as PC2700, providing
it has timings spec'd at least as (Low) fast as the PC2700
module had. This is not a large difference in performance
though so a random suggestion would be to get a CAS2.5 @ 2.5
or 2.6V spec'd part.



I've gotten conflicting answers to this question. Two computer stores told
me that it wouldn't work. Another store and a book I consulted said it
would.

Avoid those two computer stores from now on when seeking
advice, or at least the particular techs you spoke with as
PC3200 is always backwards compatible. It's the same memory
only the maxium speed the PC3200 is guaranteed to be able to
run stabily is higher, and the prom on the module is
programmed with timings to validate this if/when a
motherboard checks to see what the memory can do.



I'd also like some opinions on which brand of RAM I should get. Kingston
and Samsung are ubiquitous where I live, so the choice comes down to one
of those. Both brands are about the same price, with the Samsung being
marginally cheaper.

Which country do you reside in? Often buying online is
cheaper unless there's a particularly good sale or rebate
ongoing. Kingston's valueram tends to be lower spec, many
other name brand modules are better or cheaper for the same
specifications.



Finally, would a 128 MB stick of 266 MHz DDR RAM be able to run in the
same computer as, say, a 512 MB stick of 400 MHz DDR RAM? If so, would
using both at the same time degrade the performance of the faster RAM?

The two could run in single channel mode, which would be the
mode it was in currently. Some motherboard chipsets can run
dual channel mode for a performance increase (which varies
from very little to a fair amount) and some of these require
two of same size and compatible timings, modules. Some only
require two modules with compatible timings but need not be
the same size (would then support dual channel mode only up
to the amount of memory of the smallest module total on one
channel, times 2). nForce 2 is an example of such a chipset
that can do this, though unless using integrated video the
performance gain from dual channel mode is minimal.

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:38:51 -0400, kony wrote:

snip



I'd also like some opinions on which brand of RAM I should get. Kingston
and Samsung are ubiquitous where I live, so the choice comes down to one
of those. Both brands are about the same price, with the Samsung being
marginally cheaper.

Which country do you reside in? Often buying online is
cheaper unless there's a particularly good sale or rebate
ongoing. Kingston's valueram tends to be lower spec, many
other name brand modules are better or cheaper for the same
specifications.



I live in Canada. Which Internet-based retailers would you recommend?

The more popular mailorder places in the U.S. won't ship to Canada, most
likely due to import/export restrictions.

I don't like eBay for a variety of reasons and will not do business
through them.

I looked at the prices at tigerdirect.ca and didn't find them to be
appreciably better than the computer stores in my neighbourhood (a $3 or
$4 difference, not counting shipping). Frankly, for such small potential
savings, I prefer the convenience of buying locally.