Comapring these 2 RAM

[blayez]

I'm using a 32bit OS so will only be able to get around 3.5 gigs from the 4, but comparing these 2 which would yield greater performance for Xp playing the higher end games out there. One is 2x2gb and one is 2x1, but both seem to have similar timings and cache latencys, u can double check to be sure:

Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Customer Reviews Of CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

 

[NightSurge]

What you could do is get a set of 2 x 1GB and a set of 2 x 512mb. That will give you 3GB dual channel memory and without upgrading to 64bit OS, that is about the highest you could go. Plus with XP, that is all you would need as XP is much less of a memory hog than Vista.

 

[blayez]

Hmm can you run 2x1gb and another 2x512mb and have them both dual channel?? I have 4 slots on my board, 2 are occupied by some 2x1gb of pc2-5300 (333MHz) according to CPU-z.. im afraid if i dont upgrade this it will bottleneck a 8800 series card

 

[NightSurge]

Yeah you can run both in dual channel. If there are 4 slots, you go every other one to use dual channel. So it would be 1GB stick - 512mb - 1GB - 512mb. And I would definitely upgrade to higher RAM speeds if your motherboard supports it!

 

[blayez]

My board:

nForce4 SLI Intel edition
nforce 590 sli
model no: 0Yf432


How can I check to see how high it supports? I'd like to get 2x1 of the highest it can run

 

[NightSurge]

I couldn't find a clear answer, but it looks like the maximum speed supported by that computer is 667MHz DDR2. Can I ask, did you really buy this computer for $5000 when it was new?

 

[blayez]

Hah, no! I originally purchased a Dell XPS 600 for around 2,000, but after about a year I started having some trouble out of it. At about the same time Dell stopped making the 600's and they were unable to send me a new computer just like my old one. They couldnt replace my computer with anything less than what I paid for according to the warranty, so I was sent the XPS 700 which was new at the time.. the 7900 GTX 512mb was brand new at the time and cost about 600 or so off the shelf... my original computer had just a 7800 gtx 256

They also increased my cpu speed and doubled my 2 hardrive's space that i have in raid 0

Kinda nice of them at the time... but now :<

 

[NightSurge]

Oh so it's an XPS 700. Well it looks like it is still limited to DDR2 667MHz of up to 4GB.

 

[blayez]

Hmm... so buying 800 would not help at all.. I think that my the settings on my ram are completely wrong because according to CPU-Z the timings and Mhz listed are pretty bad. Here is exactly what cpu-z lists under my memory:

Type: DDR2
Channels#: Dual
Size: 2048 MBytes
Timings:
DRAM FReq 332.5 mhz
FSBRAM: 6:10
cas#latency(cl) 5.0 clocks
ras# to cas# delay 5 clocks
ras# precharge 5 clocks
cycle time: 13 clocks
bank cycle time 18 clocks

Under the SPD section:
max bandwidth: pc2-5300 (333MHz)
manufacturer: samsung
part number: M3 78T2953CZ3-CE6
serial num: F42C6274
correction: none
week/year: 20/06

Timings table:
it has 3 columns, each listed with 200, 266, and 333 mhz listed at the top... im guessing that this is the correct timing that I should expect when I set each ram module to the specific timings (the next part is in order of Cas latency, ras to cas, ras precharge, tras, and trc, then voltage)

200mhz: 3-3-3-8-11 (1.8 volts)

266mhz: 4-4-4-11-15 (1.8 volts)

333 mhz: 5-5-5-13-18 (1.8 volts)

Thats all the information I can get.. im thinking the stats are a little low because thats what they sitting at my desktop idle.. ill see if they change when im playing a game...

Anyway, is there anything I can do to improve the performance of the ram either that i have now (overclocking, settings new timings, etc) or perhap a better speed/quality that is compatable with my board

EDIT: I just pulled up LOTRO and ran thru a couple of the more visual heavy areas of the game in windowed mode while watching the ever changing info on cpu-z at the same time.. the core speed on my processor went from 2394.4 mhz idle to 3.392 mhz.. so my processor is running at the rate of 3.40 like expected. However under the timings section of my RAM, the DRAm freq stayed around 332.6 (maybe changing a few tenths of a point here and there)

I could possibly overclock my pentium D as I have never tried, but im not sure what I can do with the ram. Most of my "fps issues" is texture popping in the distance as it loads I think from RAM because once I have actually loaded up an view everything seems to get smoother

 

[colby21]

I don't think my board supports anything higher than 667 as well. I need to find out how to overclock what I have or learn more about getting the best timings.