Ram

[InFiNiTi]

Right now i have 256 DDR SD PC2100. For christmas i got 512 DDR PC3200 ram and some person told me that you can't have 2 different speeds of it will mess you motherboard up or something. Is that true?

 

[Nodsu]

Usually it works.. The faster module will run at the speed of the slower one. Just try it out. If it doesn't work, change the order of the modules.

There will be no harm besides your computer being unbootable or unstable. Remember to run a memory test after you have installed the new stick.

 

[meatologist]

no no no

you could cause severe damage to the PC3200 chip.

although you would have thought that it would be backwards compatible, it's not.

it may run for a while, but then your machine would probably freeze up and you'll have to turn it off from the power point.

i know this as I done it myself.

i thought "ah sod it. it'll be fine"

how wrong i was. my machine froze every 10 minutes.....eventually, as im as stubborn as an Ox - i left the RAM in there and it burnt out.

running different speed RAM is not a good idea. underperformance is as damaging as overperformance.

sell your lower end mem on eBay and just get a strip of PC3200 to match your new one.

you dont want to burn it out completely, then it'd be useless.

good luck

 

[Nodsu]

"severe damage"? How the hell could that happen? Did someone change the voltage specification for DDR memory or something? And how it would help him to buy a new PC3200 stick if his motherboard supports only PC2100 maybe?

In modern computing - if it fits then it won't break anything. The hardware makers have learnt the lesson from thousands of ignorant people in the past.

And DDR modules are backward compatible (in theory at least). That's why I said to try it and see. One may have to use less agressive memory timings to get it to work maybe.

 

[Didou]

Mixing different ram speeds will not damage the Ram modules unless you're trying to get the slower module running at the same speed as the faster one. Underclocking does not damage components contrary to overclocking.

 

[meatologist]

I'm just speaking from personal experience.

I know what the white papers say. but theyre even wrong sometimes.....