Memory speed

[Tom]

Hi all,
I just bought a new pc with Vista Home Premium, it came with: 1GB PC2-6400
DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB. I wanted more memory so I bought a 2GB kit
PC2-*5300* DDR2 SDRAM, because it was on sale for $60. The 6400 speed would
have cost me over $200. The salesman assured me it would work fine and I
wouldn't notice any difference. I installed it when I got home and
everything works great, no problems. But I still can't stop wondering if the
difference in speed WOULD matter. Can anyone explain, or provide a link
explaining, when, if ever, I would benefit from the faster memory. I mostly
use my PC for surfing the web, email, and some photo editing.
Thanks

 

[Mark]

This might be of interest:
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=149049
Shows less than2% gain between PC5300 and PC8888.

As always, benchmarks seldom reflect real use and only provide a data point
by which you can compare.
That said, you have mixed memory ratings in your computer. The FSB will not
operate at two speeds and most likely automatically downshifted to
accommodate the slower memory. I doubt you will notice since you also
increased the total memory making Vista more efficient.

 

[Ken Blake]

Hi all,
I just bought a new pc with Vista Home Premium, it came with: 1GB PC2-6400
DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB. I wanted more memory so I bought a 2GB kit
PC2-*5300* DDR2 SDRAM, because it was on sale for $60. The 6400 speed
would have cost me over $200. The salesman assured me it would work fine
and I wouldn't notice any difference. I installed it when I got home and
everything works great, no problems. But I still can't stop wondering if
the difference in speed WOULD matter. Can anyone explain, or provide a
link explaining, when, if ever, I would benefit from the faster memory. I
mostly use my PC for surfing the web, email, and some photo editing.

So called "memory speeds" are actually speed ratings. Theses are the speeds
the memory has been tested to work satisfactorily at. The actual speed it
runs at is set by the motherboard.

So you are presumably running that slower memory at the higher speed your
computer ran at before. That's called overclocking. It may work fine now,
but don't be surprised if it fails prematurely. I personally think
overclocking is a foolhardy tying to do.

 

[Tom]

So called "memory speeds" are actually speed ratings. Theses are the
speeds the memory has been tested to work satisfactorily at. The actual
speed it runs at is set by the motherboard.

So you are presumably running that slower memory at the higher speed your
computer ran at before. That's called overclocking. It may work fine now,
but don't be surprised if it fails prematurely. I personally think
overclocking is a foolhardy tying to do.

 

[David P.]

So called "memory speeds" are actually speed ratings. Theses are the
speeds the memory has been tested to work satisfactorily at. The actual
speed it runs at is set by the motherboard.

So you are presumably running that slower memory at the higher speed your
computer ran at before. That's called overclocking. It may work fine now,
but don't be surprised if it fails prematurely. I personally think
overclocking is a foolhardy tying to do.

Well, I'm not so sure. Though I realized that some motherboards allow
changes to settings that pertain to RAM, and also that some may use the term
"overclocking" more broadly, mostly overclocking means running the CPU at a
speed faster than it is rated. That is where you may shorten the life of
the computer, or at least the CPU.

AFIK, the only disadvantage to inserting slower RAM is that the computer may
take a performance hit, which as another poster noted, will be minimal.

I believe his MB will automatically detect the type of his RAM and run it at
the correct settings, though he could call his computer's manufacturer to
find out for sure.

I think that the OPs decision to save $140 was reasonable and I shouldn't
think he needs to worry that he has harmed his computer in any way.

 

[David P.]

So called "memory speeds" are actually speed ratings. Theses are the
speeds the memory has been tested to work satisfactorily at. The actual
speed it runs at is set by the motherboard.

So you are presumably running that slower memory at the higher speed your
computer ran at before. That's called overclocking. It may work fine now,
but don't be surprised if it fails prematurely. I personally think
overclocking is a foolhardy tying to do.

Or, he could use cpuz.exe

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Under the memory tab if the DRAM speed is 333 MHz, then his PC2-5300 memory
is being run at its rated speed.

 

[Ken Blake]

Well, I'm not so sure. Though I realized that some motherboards allow
changes to settings that pertain to RAM, and also that some may use the
term "overclocking" more broadly, mostly overclocking means running the
CPU at a speed faster than it is rated. That is where you may shorten the
life of the computer, or at least the CPU.

No, there's more than one kind of overclocking. You're talking about
overclocking the CPU, which is commonly done. I'm talking about overclocking
the RAM; it's not as common, but it is also done.

 

[David P.]

Just so.

But, I don't think that it is a given that his PC2-5300 RAM is being
overclocked just because it is attached to a MB that originally was loaded
with PC2-6400 RAM.

I suspect that he his RAM was being overclocked to that degree his system
would be unstable. If I remember correctly from my overclocking days, that
would represent a big jump.

CPUZ should make it easy for him to find out though.