DDR or DDR2 and other questions about RAM

[nilesp]

It's been a long time since I actually bought/installed any hardware of dignity and am, nowadays, a little lost when it comes to choosing what to buy.

I have a PC with an Intel 4 (Prescott) 3.60GHz CPU with 2x 512 Mb of DDR-400 (PC-3200) (max frequency 200MHz) installed (the manucaturer is Micron technology), the CAS latency is 3.

I'd like 2Gb total of ram and I'm wondering a couple of things;

1. I can't very well use DDR2 or can I/should I?
2. Should whatever memory I buy have the same CAS latency and frequency?
3. Should I buy a 1Gb and keep my 2 512's or should I buy 1 2Gb or 2x1Gb?

Thankful for any useful tips
/Emil

 

[Mekaonija]

Im not sure if the amazing people here at techspot can answer this without knowing what your motherboard is. I AM NOT AN EXPERT, I KNOW LITTLE OF MEMORY, but I will try to answer these questions.

1. I can't very well use DDR2 or can I/should I?

Depending on what your motherboard suports you should be able to use DDR2. DDR3 Is new in the market but still costs a lot, and your motherboard may not suport it so I would stick with DDR2 unless you have a couple hundred to spare.

2. Should whatever memory I buy have the same CAS latency and frequency?

I dont think It has to be the same but I would recommend not switching it up to much becuase of errors that may start occuring, buying a pack of ither 2x 1GB or 2GB would probably be best.

3. Should I buy a 1Gb and keep my 2 512's or should I buy 1 2Gb or 2x1Gb?

Im not sure if this has any effect on performance but as long as you have a total of 2 GB I dont think it matters, but I would either try to keep my slots free and go with the 2 GB stick, or spare the memory you already have and add on 1 GB. I would just be aware that If you keep the 2x 512's and buy a new 1 GB stick there might be errors due to the differences.

Again dont make and major dessicions baced on my responce because for all I know everything I've just said is completely wrong.

Anyway hope this helps.

 

[nilesp]

Thanks for the help!

I have one them prebuilt computers from fujitsu-siemens (Scaleo T) that haven't even got manuals or specifications for the parts so I'm a little unsure over the mobo, but I think it's named "D1826-G" (someone with the same mobo posted this:

"Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID <DMI>
Motherboard Name FUJITSU SIEMENS D1826-G

Chipset Properties
Motherboard Chipset Intel Grantsdale i915P
Memory Timings 3-3-3-8 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)"

Also if I could use DDR2 (and whys is DDR2 cheaper than DDR?) could I still keep my 1Gb of DDR?

 

[SNGX1275]

You may not have slots for DDR2, in which case you'll have to stick with DDR because it won't physically fit. DDR2 is cheaper than DDR because DDR doesn't have a high demand anymore and lots more DDR2 modules are being made.

Go to www.crucial.com and run their memory advisor, it will tell you the specs of RAM you can use. You don't have to buy from them (but I would recommend doing so if it doesn't cost you much more money) and then you'll know what the specs are of what you can put in.

 

[kpo6969]

I would get these these 2 free programs and run them to see what's in your system.
Belarc Advisor
Cpuz

And as previously posted go to Crucial and do a scan. Sometimes even Crucial can't tell you what you have (like my old system I had built at a local computer shop in 2002. At least with these 2 programs you can see what type, kind, and speed ram you have now. At the very least you could buy what's in it now. I would suggest buying everything you want new and not re-use the current sticks to avoid compatability issues (won't work).

 

[Tedster]

https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic65114.html

 

[nilesp]

thats' brilliant, thanks all!