Question about mix-using memory PC2700(333 Mhz) and PC3200 (400 MHz)

[ares_toronto]

Hi all, I am new here and have a question and actually need some advise.
Recently I bought an Athlon 64 3400+ 2.4Ghz with Asus K8S-LA.
It had only one PC3200 512MB DIMM installed, in total two slots for memory.

I happen to have one 256MB PC2700 in hand and am thinking if I should plug in the PC2700 memory I have since the onboard Video Card has occupied 128MB already.

My question is, is there any harm could cause it I mix the Pc2700 With PC3200 in the machine, and how it wil afftect the peromence, will it improve my system but assing this PC2700 or not?

What is going to happened if I do so and in one day if I get anther PC3200, can I just simply replace the PC2700 without sending up extra thing.

Thanks a lot in Advance

 

[N3051M]

adding that extra ram wont harm anything, and it will total your ram to 728mb or something.. but it depends if your mobo is picky or not

although you will get the memory boost the mobo will automaticaly downclock itself to match speeds with the slowest ram, so you wont be running on 3200 but 2700's speed (correct me if im wrong )

changing from the 2700 to a 3200 in the future is ok, and it will set it back to the 3200's speed, although you MUST make sure that you use the same brand and type of ram so you dont run into problems

 

[ares_toronto]

Thanks a lot for the information, I installed the PC2700 and checked the BIOS afterwards and it did show now all 728 MB memory are recognized as PC2700.

However, I still don't quite understand about that in the future if I buy another PC3200 to replace the PC2700 I just pluged in, why I have to buy the same brand and type of PC3200, I remebered that I saw from some forum that it should be able to take any PC3200 DDR no matter waht is the brand since the mobo is not supporting DUAL stuff.

???

 

[N3051M]

valid question..

you can mix and match ram sizes and types/speeds etc but it all depends on how your mobo can handle it, and whether you want teh dual chanel thing (which i gather won't be related to your case).
general rule is to get the same or identical ram because that way you have the most chance of not having any memory related problems or bottlenecks/system slowdowns in the future
of course, like every rule there is exeptions to, and its just a matter of experience and compatibility, as well as a bit of research..

 

[ares_toronto]

Now I understand, I guess I will go for the same brand by default in the future (Once I found I need it or price is good).
One last question, for my case here, the PC2700 I have is a 256MB and it is of course not the same brand as the 512MB PC3200 comes with the machine.

Even now I put the 256MB PC2700 into my machine and it runs OK, however from your point of view, does it even worth to put in this extra PC2700 to increase the memory since it downgrade the speed to 333Mhz?

In the meantime, how can I know the performance get better or worse after I put in the PC2700? Is there any PC related shareware to test that?

 

[N3051M]

well as you said, it does ok.. if you need the memory it should be alright.. only if you'd realy nitpick on the performance you might notice it abit (but you really, really have to look).. maybe while the pc's churning up some big maths that is..

there are what are called memory benchmarking programs available, most are free as well, just google for one or one of the guys here might knwo some good ones will post it..

 

[Exscind]

I would add the extra RAM. The disadvantage of a lower frequency is offset by the benefit of the extra RAM, especially considering you have integrated video card.

And to clear up the question, albeit it seems you got it: Your RAM should always be the same brand, same model, and same # of sticks. Basically, the same period. This is to create fewer potential conflicts, which would cause you nothing but headaches down the road. DFI is a good example. DFI's motherboards are notoriously picky when it comes to RAM and often go crazy (or not run at all) when one puts two different brands of RAM in there. This is not exclusive to DFI though; if you want the gamble, go for it. But to save a few headaches in the future, even with you having an ASUS board, I'd try looking for the same RAM all the way down to the number of sticks.

 

[Charles Hammond]

If you mix PC2700 and PC3200 your computer might run ok and it might not.

You should use the exact same Ram both brand and model number of the exact same item.

Even the Latency of the RAM (CL2.5, CL2.O, etc.) can cause the RAM to slow down.

If you mix RAM of two different speeds it will run at the lowest speed and the lowest latency.