Which memory should i get

[onesmartidiot]

i have an msi k8t-neo fis2r (amd64 3000+)

im looking to buy new memory for this and put the old memory in my other machine. the manual says that i can have a max system memory of 2gb, i know this is stupid but im gonna ask it anyway... does this mean that its 2gb ber slot (theres 3) or 2 gb between all 3?

my second question is about heatsinks

newegg wants 15 more bucks for memory with heat spreaders on them, are they worth it?

third question - timing

what the crap do i need to know here?

the 2 sets im looking at are

2x 1gb dual channel g.skill pc 3200 or
2x 1gb dual channel patriot signature pc 3200



and i know someone will ask

this is an all in one system- i play games, do wussy internet stuff, and flash/photoshop cs2.

so i'd prefer somthing thats stronger for flash and stuff rather than high performance for gaming

 

[nickslick74]

If you aren't hardcore gaming, then don't worry about the heat spreaders. Either memory should be fine as long as its compatible with your mobo. When in doubt, there's always corsair value ram.

If you ARE going to hardcore game, then look in to corsair xms or good ocz memory, it will have lower latencies then the cheaper stuff. But if just general gaming value type ram will be fine for flash.

 

[Tedster]

https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic47210.html

 

[Grandenhag]

go for it

yeah, i would go for the ram with heat spreaders. if your going to do any gaming at all its worth it to have the faster ram (worth it in the sense that you will feel better about it then worth it in the sense that you will see a performance increase)
What kind of video card do you have??

 

[onesmartidiot]

ati radeon 9800 256mb pushing 2 17 inch crts at 1280x1024 a piece

is corsair the "lexus" of computer memory these days?

 

[Mirob]

Corsair is good. So are the others.

Heatspreaders are just for looks, it's the chips used underneath them that matters.

 

[onesmartidiot]

so regardless of the brand on the package, its the chip manufacture??

on my memory chips, they say simpletech, and the other one says adata (they are both simpletech pc3200)

and let me ask this, if the sticket says ddr333, is it still considered pc3200?

i got to looking and what were bought as 2 packges of 512 mb pc3200 ddr400, one of them says 333. i always wondered why it didnt have a dual channel speed boost

 

[Grafficks]

so regardless of the brand on the package, its the chip manufacture??

on my memory chips, they say simpletech, and the other one says adata (they are both simpletech pc3200)

and let me ask this, if the sticket says ddr333, is it still considered pc3200?

i got to looking and what were bought as 2 packges of 512 mb pc3200 ddr400, one of them says 333. i always wondered why it didnt have a dual channel speed boost

I'm pretty sure you're talking about your current RAM that you have on your PC, not newly purchased right? And that one of them is Simpletech and the other is A-Data?


DDR-333 means it is 333MHz. That is the speed.

DDR-333 has PC-2700, which means it's capable of a theoretical 2700 MB/s (2.7 GB/s) data transfer.

So to answer your question, no, DDR-333 is not PC3200.

DDR-400 is PC3200.

If the two sticks of RAM work together, it means that they are running at the lower speed of the two (in this case, 333MHz, so the one that is DDR400 has 67MHz wasted/un-used).

my second question is about heatsinks

newegg wants 15 more bucks for memory with heat spreaders on them, are they worth it?

The heatsinks are just for looks, and they don't actually help that much in diffusing the heat created by the RAM. I for one would definately prefer to look at a nice RAM heatspreader than a bare green+black chip.

third question - timing

what the crap do i need to know here?

Doesn't look like anyone's answered this yet.
Memory Latency (timings) is defined as the length of time between sending a request and receiving the response. Low-latency RAM responds faster.

Latency can be determined by a string of numbers on the RAM's specs. For example, RAM spec'd at 4-4-4-12 timings will take less time to respond (will respond faster) than RAM spec'd at 5-5-5-15. Make sense?



If ever you want to get RAM for a dual channel config, get them in Dual channel kits. It's much easier and you're almost guaranteed they will work together, since they were tested together before packaged.

Good luck

 

[Tedster]

did you even READ my link? All your questions are answered there.

 

[Mirob]

Just because memory is rated at 333mhz does not mean it won't run 400mhz, it's just not guaranteed to, and the SPD is not programed with timings for that speed. Some DDR-400 with Samsung TCCD chips can be overclocked past DDR-600! But it's not just the chips but also the design of the PC board they are soldered to that can limit it's speed. All memory can run slower than it's rated specs. Some only work with certain timmings while others can go faster with looser timmings. Still other types go faster with more voltage.

 

[Tedster]

overclocking memory is very risky and a sure fire way to burn it out. I NEVER recommend overclocking RAM. And only under special circumstances would I condone overclocking a CPU.