DDR2 RAM and SATA HDD Question

[Art Vandelay]

I was wondering about adding RAM. I friend at work asked me today if she could add 800MHZ DDR2 RAM to her system that has 2 sticks for a total of 1GB PC2-4200/PC2-4300/533MHZ RAM. If RAM is added to this sytem does it have to be 533MHZ or can she go with a faster speed and keep the present RAM in the PC?

With adding a 2nd SATA HDD how much trouble is it? If you have a board with 3 open SATA plugins and avaliable power plugins. Meaning do you have to fight with the BIOS or does XP see the new drive and walk you through it, assuming the drive purchased doesn't come with software like some of the seagate 7200 drives come.

Thanks.

[jm1647]

I was wondering about adding RAM. I friend at work asked me today if she could add 800MHZ DDR2 RAM to her system that has 2 sticks for a total of 1GB PC2-4200/PC2-4300/533MHZ RAM. If RAM is added to this sytem does it have to be 533MHZ or can she go with a faster speed and keep the present RAM in the PC?

With adding a 2nd SATA HDD how much trouble is it? If you have a board with 3 open SATA plugins and avaliable power plugins. Meaning do you have to fight with the BIOS or does XP see the new drive and walk you through it, assuming the drive purchased doesn't come with software like some of the seagate 7200 drives come.

Thanks.

Faster RAM will slow down to the mobo speed and can be used for future upgrades.

Add the 2nd drive, format it with Disk Management or the mfr setup program and then your good to go.

[Art Vandelay]

@jm1647

Faster RAM will slow down to the mobo speed and can be used for future upgrades.

Since it is built with 533MHZ RAM can I assume that is what the mobo is built for? Is it woth getting faster RAM or just go with 533 since it is already in the PC? Can faster RAM work with the mbo if it already has 533MHZ RAM in it?

Add the 2nd drive, format it with Disk Management or the mfr setup program and then your good to go.

is disk management a windows pgm. installed with XP. will XP see the drive when I reboot the PC? I ask since I see a new Seagate SATA 7200 320GB drive online but doesn't come with software or cable?

thanks

[UncasMS]

go for the faster 800 ram as one never knows when an upgrade with new hardware might take place

the 800 ram will run as 533 and adapt itself to a lower speed



disk management:

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B309000&x=8&y=14

keep in mind that sata drives have a completely different cable: much smaller

[Furiousg]

I agree with Uncas.

And also keep in mind that often times I have seen the 667 and 800 RAM selling for less than the 533. So it can't hurt to look around

[Art Vandelay]

@Furiousg

Interesting about the pricing. What about the brands are they all the same or is there really a diff between Brand X 800MHZ and Brand Y 800MHZ RAM?

@UncasMS

If I were to get 2X 1GB DDR2 sticks they would run at 533 since the other 2 sticks are 533. Would it really make a diff. if I removed the 2 533 sticks and went with all 800 MHZ RAM? Is the diff. between 800 and 533MHZ going to be really noticable. I will never use this PC to play games just rip/encode with Shrink or DVD-RB and HCenc. It is a media center so I have it mainly as a PVR.

thanks

[Chewy]

You ALL have neglected to mention cas levels for the ram, saying 533 or 800
doesn't really say a lot without a cas spec to go with it.

Sorry to nitpick

[Art Vandelay]

@Chewy,

I never herd of CAS, so I had look and found;

CAS Level 2. The CAS level refers to your memory’s latency, the time it takes for your memory to respond when given instructions. Lower numbers are better; CL2 is faster memory than CL2.5, which is in turn faster than memory rated at CL3.

I have been looking online and don't see a CAS # in the specs. on the sellers web site.

thanks Chewy

[Chewy]

you download a program like everest or ctspd and get the cas level of the ram installed and then make sure any new ram ordered will be compatible.

Using my ddr as an example

SPD Memory Modules:
DIMM1: Micron Tech. 256 MB PC4000 DDR SDRAM (2.5-4-4-10 @ 250 MHz) (2.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)
DIMM2: Micron Tech. 256 MB PC4000 DDR SDRAM (2.5-4-4-10 @ 250 MHz) (2.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)

since my memory is running at 250 and cas 2.5/4/4/10

to add more ram I would look for ddr500(250x2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...R+500+(PC+4000)

vendors that don't list cas are not vendors they are shills

[Art Vandelay]

@Chewy

downloaded Everest and this is what it says;

under Motherboard:

Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 08/02/2006-C51/MCP51-A8M2N-LA-00
Motherboard Name Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type AMD Hammer
Real Clock 200 MHz
Effective Clock 200 MHz
HyperTransport Clock [ TRIAL VERSION ]

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type Dual DDR2 SDRAM
Bus Width 128-bit
DRAM:FSB Ratio CPU/9
Real Clock 267 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 534 MHz
Bandwidth [ TRIAL VERSION ] MB/s

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket AM2
Expansion Slots [ TRIAL VERSION ]
RAM Slots 4 DDR2 DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset GeForce6150LE
Extra Features [ TRIAL VERSION ]

Motherboard Manufacturer
Company Name ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Product Information http://www.asus.com/products1.aspx?l1=3
BIOS Download http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us


this is what it says under memory SPD:

Field Value
Memory Module Properties
Module Name Hyundai HYMP564U64BP8-C4
Serial Number 0000201Bh (455081984)
Manufacture Date Week 38 / 2006
Module Size 512 MB (1 rank, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered DIMM
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Speed DDR2-533 (266 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 1.8
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us)

Memory Timings
@ 266 MHz 5-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 16-28-2-4-2 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR)
@ 266 MHz 4-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 16-28-2-4-2 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR)
@ 200 MHz 3-3-3-9 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 12-21-2-3-2 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR)

Memory Module Manufacturer
Company Name Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
Product Information http://www.hynix.com/eng/02_products/01_dram/index.jsp


I see under memory timings it lists under 266MHZ with the CAS #'s then it lists 266MHZ with another set of CAS#'s then the CAS# at 200MHZ. My real clock speed looks to be 267MHZ.

Please advise what should be done whenn adding 2GB's of DDR2 RAM, which CAS# should I be going after?

Thank you,

[Chewy]

Memory Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets, Supports PC 4200 (533 MHz) and PC2 5300 (667 MHz) DDR2 DIMMs, non-ECC memory only, unbuffered Maximum HP/Compaq approved memory is 4 GB*

but the other model

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00757470&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3239113

but still looks like the slots support 1 gig modules

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=2GB+(2+x+1GB)

now looking at this list you can see faster ram is cheaper

WRONG!

to get to her ram specs you go down past the cas 5 ram(sucks)

now looking at the 512's

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147+1052308476+1052108080&name=240-Pin+DDR2+SDRAM

skip the crap(no specs wintec)
kingston cas 5
till you hit the corsair value select cas 4

I hope this sheds a little light on the subject

[Art Vandelay]

@Chewy,

Not that this is the answer, but HP says on the box my PC came in that listed the specs. that it can go to 4GB max, 1 GB per slot.

The page at newegg isn't working but I will look into some Corsair value select CAS 4. I assume 533MHz, but can't see the page. So stay away from the cheaper faster stuff. Brand names do really make a diff. when it come to RAM I can assume.

Thank you.

[jm1647]

I hope this sheds a little light on the subject

@Chewy - You kept me straight when I was gonna order my RAM, thanks to you I got CL2

[Chewy]

we did some benchs a while back, star wars 3 and shrink if I remember right,
most times depended upon cpu for the amd64's but some differences became obvious with systems that had faster ram

now figuring out why my cas 2.5/250/500 ram is faster than cas 2/200/400
is the hard part

ddr2 just made it a lot harder to figure

cas 4 533 should be better than cas 5 667
but without testing you never know, what if that cheap 667 won't do cas 4
at 533, then you'll slow you existing cas 4 ram to cas 5


now with better mobos that go up to 800 and higher I would love cas 3

[Art Vandelay]

What is the Diff.?

@Chewy,

I see this Corsair RAM online, can you tell me what the diff. is between these these 2 is it the word Dual. Is the 1 stick of DDR2 for a PC that isn't dual core and the other add is for a dual core PC like the one inquestion. The PC in question has a AMD Athlon 64 X2 +4600 dual core processor.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=13313&vpn=VS2GBKIT533D2&manufacture=CORSAIR

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18584&vpn=VS1GB667D2&manufacture=CORSAIR

Thank you, I am slowly learning.