RAM Question

[ptran127]

I have a PC that only supports PC2100 DDR Ram of up to 2GB. I currently only have 256MB installed, and I want to buy an additional 1GB. Therefore, I have these questions:

1) Should I buy from the same company as my 256MB? Currently, it's Ultra, but I can't seem to find many of those from web sites. I usually see Kingston or Corsair on sale and never Ultra.

2) Should I only buy PC2100 RAM? I usually see PC2700 or PC3200 on sale for so much cheaper than if I were to buy a PC2100 stick. I know that it would only operate at PC2100 speeds. It would cost me less but I didn't know if it would end up messing up.

3) Would a 1GB stick work well with a 256MB? There's such a difference in the capacities I didn't know if it would end up frying on me.

 

[M@$t3r_N30]

The brand really shouldn't make much difference. I added an extra 512 or PC2100 ram to my dell 2350 last year and I know that is all it supports. I am pretty sure it isn't compatible with anything else. What brand is your PC?

A 1 gig stick will work fine with a 256 as long as your motherboard supports that much. eg. If your motherboard only supports 1 gig you will have to take out the 256 stick.

 

[Camden]

What motherboard do you use?

 

[ptran127]

It's a custom built, my first one. I'm still trying to figure stuff out. The MOBO is a MSI-P4MAM Socket 478.

So buying PC2700/3200 Ram is out of the question because it wouldn't work at all anyways?

 

[Camden]

yes, only pc2100.

and if you're mobo supports dual channeling (only info i found searching htat was a barebones rig..), I'd recommend scrapping the 256 mb and forgetting the 1gig, opting for 2x 512 mb sticks instead

 

[souschef]

I think, please correct me if I'm wrong, you can buy the higher speed ram if you want. It will just clock down to whatever speed your mobo supports.

 

[ptran127]

Can anyone else confirm this? That the RAM like PC3200/4000 would clock down to PC2100 speeds? Because there are sales going on that would put them under $90, but my 2100 would cost over 100.

 

[Ste]

yes they will work.

 

[FghtinIrshNvrDi]

as long as you get ram that your motherboard agrees with (OCZ, Corsair, Kingston) then PC 3200 ram will downclock to your 2100 speeds. It's cheaper because it's the DIMM Standard right now.

Ryan

 

[ptran127]

Would a DDR2 module work on my motherboard that supports DDR? I figure it would be the same as my previous question, that it would clock down. But I didn't know if DDR2 and DDR are completely different.