Memory....

AndyG · Post by **AndyG** » 30 Jun 2006, 20:30

..misty water coloured memory......

Enought already. It turns out that the bulk of the problems my PC has been having were memory related. One of the 3 sticks of PC3200 512 MB RAM I had installed has died, taking it out has transformed my system. :dance:

This now leaves me with a spare DIMM slot. Can any of you experts tell me whether I can fill that slot with a stick of PC3200 1 GB?

Thanks

AndyG

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 30 Jun 2006, 20:44

You can but just be aware that some motherboards slow the RAM down when more than 2 sticks are present.

Also try and get a stick that matches what you already have. A 1Gb stick will have a lower CAS rating than your existing RAM though.

AndyG · Post by **AndyG** » 30 Jun 2006, 21:32

Thanks for the answer. As it has two sticks anyway I don't think adding a third will slow it appreciably, especially as that will be doubling the available RAM!

AndyG

ianhind · Post by **ianhind** » 30 Jun 2006, 21:44

It may - you might have to slow the existing RAM down for the 3rd stick to work.

I di dnot realise this when I added aa 3rd stick to my Intel 845 motherboard, and it never saw the third stick. Swapping thme around made no difference - only ever saw 2 of 3. IF I had changed the refresh speed all might have been ok. I now have new motherboard (Intel 865PE) with 4 slots and any mix seems ok.

Ian

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 30 Jun 2006, 22:51

AndyG wrote:Thanks for the answer. As it has two sticks anyway I don't think adding a third will slow it appreciably, especially as that will be doubling the available RAM!

AndyG

It will lower the FBS speed and therefore reduce your memory bandwidth. You would be better off buying 2x 1Gb sticks.

AndyG · Post by **AndyG** » 01 Jul 2006, 07:25

Charlie Bravo wrote:
AndyG wrote:Thanks for the answer. As it has two sticks anyway I don't think adding a third will slow it appreciably, especially as that will be doubling the available RAM!

AndyG
It will lower the FBS speed and therefore reduce your memory bandwidth. You would be better off buying 2x 1Gb sticks.

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the help guys.

AndyG

Sl4yer · Post by **Sl4yer** » 01 Jul 2006, 11:24

Charlie Bravo wrote:It will lower the FBS speed and therefore reduce your memory bandwidth. You would be better off buying 2x 1Gb sticks.

Not necessarily. Dual channel boards would normally have two or four slots. It sounds like this board only has three, so it is unlikely to be dual. What model is the actual board?

I personally have seen no benefit from going from 1GB to 2GB anyway. Its a struggle to get Windows to use 1GB!

James

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 01 Jul 2006, 19:56

Dual channel has nothing to do with it.

My old K8N (single channel board) runs RAM at 400mhz with either 1 or 2 sticks. Add a third and it drops to 333mhz.

With a dual channel board, you require 2 or 4 sticks to run in dual channel mode. 1 or 3 sticks will run in single channel mode and therefore lower the bandwidth even though the FSB speed will remain at 400mhz.

Most modern games benefit greatly from 2gb... but FS is old and so...doesn't :roll:

AndyG · Post by **AndyG** » 01 Jul 2006, 20:06

Well PC World had graciously reduced the price by Â£25, to Â£70, so it seemed rude not to do it really. I haven't simmed yet, but the BSOD has gone, and Dreamweaver, Photoshop et al seem to appreciate the change!

AndyG

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 01 Jul 2006, 20:08

AndyG wrote:Well PC World had graciously reduced the price by Â£25, to Â£70, so it seemed rude not to do it really. I haven't simmed yet, but the BSOD has gone, and Dreamweaver, Photoshop et al seem to appreciate the change!

AndyG

What brand was it?