Advice on adding memory to MSI 865PE-FIS2R

[Peter]

I am planning on upgrading my home brew computer from Win98/512MB to
WinXP Media Center/1GB. I currently have two sticks of KHX3200K2/256MB
and I have the timings set to 2-2-2-6 with MAT/PAT enabled. According
to Memtest86 I am getting a write speed of 2570MB. I see that Kingston
no longer makes this memory.

Should I get 2 more sticks of 256MB, such as:

OCZ Enhanced Latency 512MB (2 x 256MB) (2-3-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146895

Kingston HyperX 512MB (2 x 256MB) (2-3-2-6):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144113

Patriot 512MB (2 x 256MB) (2-2-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220032

or should I get 2 sticks of 512MB either in addition or in lieu of the 2
sticks of 256 MB:

Patriot 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-3-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220006

OCZ Enhanced Latency 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-3-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146896

gigaram Mach 1000 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-3-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820221134

Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-2-2-6):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820148007

Kingston HyperX 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-3-2-6):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144114

I have read an article on memory and the 865PE
(http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=1839)
and it seems I would be better off either adding two more 256MB/SS
sticks of memory or replacing them with 2 sticks of 512MB/DS, since it
would appear that I would take a speed hit by mixing SS with DS sticks
of memory.

What would you advice?

Also, if you feel that I should just add 2 more 256MB/SS sticks of
memory, which one would give me the best speed with the memory that I
already have? Is there any impact of using slower speed memory with the
2-2-2-6 memory I have?

My processor is an Intel P4 2.4C, and I plan on using the system mostly
for transferring family video to DVDs with ocassional game play.

I might even add a TV Tuner card (that is why I am going for WinXP MCE
2005) in the near future (Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16815116628).

Thank you for any and all help/advice.

Please remove "nospam" if you send me a reply via e-mail

 

[Erick]

If you mix higher speed RAM with lower speed RAM, the faster memory will
drop down to match the slower. You're best bet would actually to be to buy 2
sticks of good 512MB RAM and use the 256MB sticks in something else, or sell
them as used. The price difference between 256MB and 512MB is not much at
all.


I am planning on upgrading my home brew computer from Win98/512MB to
WinXP Media Center/1GB. I currently have two sticks of KHX3200K2/256MB
and I have the timings set to 2-2-2-6 with MAT/PAT enabled. According
to Memtest86 I am getting a write speed of 2570MB. I see that Kingston
no longer makes this memory.

Should I get 2 more sticks of 256MB, such as:

OCZ Enhanced Latency 512MB (2 x 256MB) (2-3-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146895

Kingston HyperX 512MB (2 x 256MB) (2-3-2-6):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144113

Patriot 512MB (2 x 256MB) (2-2-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220032

or should I get 2 sticks of 512MB either in addition or in lieu of the 2
sticks of 256 MB:

Patriot 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-3-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220006

OCZ Enhanced Latency 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-3-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146896

gigaram Mach 1000 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-3-2-5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820221134

Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-2-2-6):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820148007

Kingston HyperX 1GB (2 x 512MB) (2-3-2-6):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144114

I have read an article on memory and the 865PE
(http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=1839)
and it seems I would be better off either adding two more 256MB/SS
sticks of memory or replacing them with 2 sticks of 512MB/DS, since it
would appear that I would take a speed hit by mixing SS with DS sticks
of memory.

What would you advice?

Also, if you feel that I should just add 2 more 256MB/SS sticks of
memory, which one would give me the best speed with the memory that I
already have? Is there any impact of using slower speed memory with the
2-2-2-6 memory I have?

My processor is an Intel P4 2.4C, and I plan on using the system mostly
for transferring family video to DVDs with ocassional game play.

I might even add a TV Tuner card (that is why I am going for WinXP MCE
2005) in the near future (Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16815116628).

Thank you for any and all help/advice.

Please remove "nospam" if you send me a reply via e-mail

 

[Peter]

Thank you Eric for your response, but alas my computer has been on the
fritz since I updated the BIOS from 1.3 to 2.5. I finally resurrected
it thanks to the MSI Forums and not the tech support from MSI. They
wanted me to send the MB in for repair.

I wound up purchasing the Patriot 512MB (2 x 256MB 2-2-2-5), but now I
wonder why I even bothered. Since I upgraded to the new BIOS (to
support the new 200GB drive I bought) I cannot get my system to run
stable at anything but 2-3-2-6 with the speed set at SLOW (no PAT/MAT)
(2232 MB/s). I have not installed the new memory yet, but I have the
Kingston Memory still at 2.65V. With BIOS 1.3 I was able to run at
2-2-2-6/Ultra-Fast (PAT/MAT 2642 MB/s). When I place the memory in the
same configuration with BIOS 2.5 I get a throughput of 2712 MB/s
reported by MemTest 86+ with no reported errors, but I cannot run
Win98SE of Linux (Simply Mepis 3.3.1-1) without either crashing .

Thank you again and sorry for the late reply,
Pete