RAM Compatibility (N00B Question)

[monaro_man_91]

Hi guys long time no post for me

Well I've been thinking whether or not I should upgrade my RAM from 256mb to something bigger. 512mb would be nice, but I would really like even more. I'm wondering that if I get a 512mb stick will it be compatible with my 256mb stick currently in my PC and work 100% fine.

Sorry this is such a n00b question, but I want to be 100% sure before I go out and buy anything

Cheers

 

[NickFas]

You have to know how many pins that other piece of ram is. I am not quite positive what kind of RAM you have so that is my best advice. Once you find out how many pins tha 256mb ram is then you just look for RAM that has that many pins

 

[monaro_man_91]

Oh ok well the 256MB stick is DDR2700 333mHz and same with the 512MB stick I'm looking to buy. Hope that tells you about the pins :S

 

[idiotec]

It's all 184 pin DDR RAM, so it would be no problem putting that 512 stick in there. Also, on a side note, DDR400 RAM will work just fine as well, it will just be underclocked to your DDR333 speeds. The only reason I say this, is a lot of times DDR400 will actually be cheaper than the slower stuff just because it is the most common.

 

[NickFas]

im pretty sure that is a 184 pin setup...and yes if the other one is the same then it should work

 

[monaro_man_91]

Cool, thank you, I'll go for the 512MB stick and then I'll have 768MB

And with the DDR400 RAM I'm not sure that my motherboard supports that.

 

[Camden]

If you want more though, ditch (sell?) the 256 stick and go for 2x 512. Then you have 1 gig of ram, esp. if your motherboard suppoarts dual channeling

 

[monaro_man_91]

Well I've decided to get the 1bg of RAM.

Just wondering, will PC3200 400mhz RAM work on my motherboard which is an Abit VA-10. Hope it does, so then I will get two sticks of 1gb for 2gbs of RAM!

 

[Camden]

Just wondering, will PC3200 400mhz RAM work on my motherboard which is an Abit VA-10. Hope it does, so then I will get two sticks of 1gb for 2gbs of RAM!

I'd look it up, but I couldn't find a abit va-10 mobo online anywhere ~_~

 

[monaro_man_91]

Yeh I just found out that it doesn't support PC3200 RAM, so I went and bought myself two sticks of 512mb PC2700 RAM for Christmas. Thanks for the help guys.