memory speed differences

[Guest]

hey all,
i'm wanting to install more memory in my desktop. From what i see in my bios
i see the memory speed is 533 MHz. And I went to a memory configurator on the
web for my system and it says the memory speed available for my pc is 667 MHz

will this really work for my pc?

thanks,
rodchar

 

[Shenan Stanley]

hey all,
i'm wanting to install more memory in my desktop. From what i see
in my bios i see the memory speed is 533 MHz. And I went to a
memory configurator on the web for my system and it says the memory
speed available for my pc is 667 MHz

will this really work for my pc?

The speed ratings can be deceptive (in many ways.)

If you buy RAM that is 'faster' than what you need - given your motherboard
manuals say it supports it - the faster memory will just 'clock down' to the
speed of the slowest memory in the system. The speed rating is the 'tested
okay at' speed.

Use http://www.crucial.com/ to find what memory you need to buy, what
configuration it must be in, etc. They guarantee their selections.

 

[Guest]

thank you for clearing this up.

The speed ratings can be deceptive (in many ways.)

If you buy RAM that is 'faster' than what you need - given your motherboard
manuals say it supports it - the faster memory will just 'clock down' to the
speed of the slowest memory in the system. The speed rating is the 'tested
okay at' speed.

Use http://www.crucial.com/ to find what memory you need to buy, what
configuration it must be in, etc. They guarantee their selections.

 

[M.I.5¾]

hey all,
i'm wanting to install more memory in my desktop. From what i see in my
bios
i see the memory speed is 533 MHz. And I went to a memory configurator on
the
web for my system and it says the memory speed available for my pc is 667
MHz

will this really work for my pc?

#
The faster memory will simply be clocked at the lower speed if the
motherboard does not support the higher speed.

However, be aware of a gotcha. Many motherboards although designed for the
faster memory speeds are frequently not actually tested, because the memory
didn't exist at the time of release. Occasionally, fitting the specified
fast memory leads to mysterious and frequent crashes, freezing and so on.
If this happens then manually configure the motherboard for the next lower
speed (consult the motherboard handbook for how to do this).