Random RAM questions....

[ArkiStan]

I'm looking for a good 2Gig set of RAM, and everybody's recommending Crucial as a good source for it.

1. I checked out Crucial.com, and for my system, they recommend some brandless 240-pin DIMMs, which I assume is their "Crucial" line, and the Ballistix brand RAM, and some that are "Intel validated." Does the brand really matter with RAM? How good is the Crucial brand RAM?

2. Also for about $80 more, I see that I can upgrade from PC2-4200 to PC2-5300. How much of a speed difference will I experience here? Is it worth the extra money?

3. If I want 2gigs of RAM, it is best to simply get a "2GB(1GBx2)" kit? What if I get two "1GB(512MBx2)" kits? Will there be a difference in speed?

[modena]

1. Brand name is better, check the timings. If crucial is 3ms and you can find a 2.5ms or better for a little more, go with the lowest timing you can afford.

2. You will see a decent speed increase, however, the RAM speed is capped by your FSB speed, so make sure the mobo and cpu support the faster ram, because if it only supports 4200 and you buy 5300, it will run like 4200.

3. Get the least amount of sticks to get to you total, so do 2 sticks of 1 gig. Will allow for easier upgrade as well.

Hope this helps!

[DarkFury]

The thing with Crucial RAM is... it's guaranteed to work in your system. This is very important to those folks who have these "off brand" computers that use very proprietary RAM.

Overall, Crucial RAM is good.... they use Micron memory chips in there product which tend to have slightly better performance as tested on several popular hardware websites.

I personally use Crucial Ballistix RAM now... mainly for it's ability to overclock (if I should desire to do that with my setup...) however for general everyday computer operations, the standard Crucial RAM is good as well.

BTW... does your motherboard support advanced RAM timings and speed adjustments? If so, then it may be worth your while to go with the faster RAM (if you just gotta go faster...), but honestly the standard RAM still will get you by just fine if you don't care about being out there on the "bleeding edge" of speed.

[ArkiStan]

I just ordered one of the Dell Dimension 9100 deals. According to the specs I get a "Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT Technology (3GHz, 800FSB)." Do you know if that's compatible with the PC2-5300 speed RAM?

Just FYI, when I used the Crucial websites RAM advisor wizard to search for compatible RAM, it gave me the PC2-5300 results as well. So I'm almost sure I can use it.

Here are the specs for the two Crucial RAMs:

Module Size: 2GB kit (1GBx2) - US $245.99
Package: 240-pin DIMM
Feature: DDR2 PC2-4200
Configuration: 128Meg x 64
DIMM Type: UNBUFFERED
Error Checking: NON-ECC
Speed:
SDRAM Timings: CL=4
Specs: DDR2 PC2-4200 • CL=4 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR2-533 • 1.8V • 128Meg x 64


Module Size: 2GB kit (1GBx2) - US $311.99
Package: 240-pin DIMM
Feature: DDR2 PC2-5300
Configuration: 128Meg x 64
DIMM Type: UNBUFFERED
Error Checking: NON-ECC
Speed: 667
SDRAM Timings: CL=5
Specs: DDR2 PC2-5300 • CL=5 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR2-667 • 1.8V • 128Meg x 64


p.s. Wow, RAM cost is like gold huh? The price for the PC2-4200 went up $15 in one day.

[bachviet]

YOu are not going to see much difference btw the DDR2-533 and DD2-667 in your system so save the money and get DDR2-533.

[DarkFury]

I agree with bachviet...

With a Dell system, I HIGHLY doubt that you are going to be overclocking your memory to take advantage of the additional speed of that memory.

I'd say go for the DDR-533 as well.

And yes... RAM prices are very voilitile... every little thing that happens over in Taiwan seems to have a drastic affect on the price. Supply and demand at it's finest.

[modena]

Yea, I say go with the 533 as well. Its your best performance to money....

[ArkiStan]

thanks everybody. 533 it is!

[modena]

np! happy to help

[Grimm]

3. If I want 2gigs of RAM, it is best to simply get a "2GB(1GBx2)" kit? What if I get two "1GB(512MBx2)" kits? Will there be a difference in speed?

If you want Dual Channel you can only use two sticks. Four sticks will prevent this.

[Freelance Superhero]

i was looking to upgrade the RAM on my Dell as well, about three months ago. i went to the Crucial website and did the compatibility search too, since my Dell is a bit older.

for what it's worth, i got my RAM delivered ahead of schedule, popped it right in, and my comp's been running like a charm.

[bachviet]

If you want Dual Channel you can only use two sticks. Four sticks will prevent this.

Huh??? Dual channel still works with 4 sticks of RAM as long as each two-banks (dual channel) has the same configuration.

So you could get 2GB dual-channel by using 4x512MB configuration.

[DarkFury]

Huh??? Dual channel still works with 4 sticks of RAM as long as each two-banks (dual channel) has the same configuration.

So you could get 2GB dual-channel by using 4x512MB configuration.

Stability is the issue when you run 4 sticks in dual channel...

It's just harder to maintain stability with 4 sticks versus 2.