confused about upgrading ram....

[~It_is_Andrew~]

I have a 3+ years old P4 1.7 GHz machine with 256 mb SDRAM (133MHz).
My motherboard supports both SDRAM & DDRRAM.
I was thinking of upgrading my ram, by adding another 256 mb stick to total 512 mb. (also because thinking of buying a dvd writer soon).
now my question is -
which is better?
1) to add another 256 mb SDRAM stick (costing around 2k here ).
OR 2) dumping the already installed 256 mb SDRAM(hard to sell) & buying 512 mb DDRRAM?
3) get more ram/dont get any ram? (my cpu is kinda old , so is mobo & no graphics card so not much use i think)

I know DDR is faster than SD but Some friends were saying SD more reliable or something, is there any ground to that statement?
Thanx,
It_is_Andrew

[PrinceHeart]

My guess would be that ur mobo should have 4 slots for RAM.
How many RAM sticks you got at present?
Keep the no. of sticks less for future in case u need to upgrade to more RAM.
For using DVD-writer - 256 MB is enuff. But depends on your PC usage you should upgrade to more RAM. Choice is yours.

cheerz

[~It_is_Andrew~]

i have 4 slots in mobo ( 2 for sd, 2 for ddr ), using 1 sdram stick (256mb); 32 mb shared for inbuilt graphics.

[akshayt]

1) Dump SD, get DDR.

2) This is anyways probably your last ram upgrade with this motherboard and all, so filling even both ddr sockets doesn't make a difference.

3)Depending on the graphic card games will be determined. If your cpu is willamette then forget about gaming unless you want to play games of 2000-2002 or older. If you have northwood and decent graphic card you might be able to play 2002-2004

[~It_is_Andrew~]

i bought a 256 mb SDRAM stick of some Orchids brand for ~1800/- (the vendor said its of hynix).
I already have a 256 mb SDRAM with 133MHz speed.

Now there is nothing written in the cover of the new RAM about its speed!

How to be sure its of 133MHz too (the vendor it is claimed but he didnt look sure), not less!?
Please help!

[akshayt]

1) download CPU-Z. It will tell manufacturer, speed etc.

2) have a look at the bios for the speed.

[~It_is_Andrew~]

1) download CPU-Z. It will tell manufacturer, speed etc.

2) have a look at the bios for the speed.

It says : DRAM Frequency 100.0 MHz; FSB: DRAM 1:1
This is for both the ram sticks (one 133Mhz for sure another might not be) attached together or separately one at a time! That means even if i attach only the 133Mhz old module it still shows the same above speed.

But i have selected 133MHz sdram speed in bios for all the cases!


It shows Max Bandwidth PC133 (133 Mhz ) for both modules.
For the new module in SPD there are two tables one for 100Mhz another for 133Mhz. Fot old module only one table.
same sata shows in sisoftsandra.
Im confused!!!