All Memory (Ram) related queries here.

[sabret00the]

Hey guys I think once again we are heading in the direction where DDR3 is slowly creeping in to suddenly phase out DDR2; like DDR2 did to the DDR sometime last year. Thus we may say the RAM market is as dynamic as the GPU or CPU market and with so many choices galore..one may find it really difficult to decide...he we may discuss all RAM related queries here...

[Abhishek Dwivedi]

OK...lets start...can ne 1 xplain ne da concept behind da MRAM (magnetoregistant or sumlike dat)

[sabret00the]

Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) is a non-volatile computer memory (NVRAM) technology, which has been under development since the 1990s. Continued increases in density of existing memory technologies, notably Flash RAM and DRAM kept MRAM in a niche role in the market, but its proponents believe that the advantages are so overwhelming that MRAM will eventually become dominant.

[sabret00the]

My brother has a PC with a Gigabyte motherboard model GA-8ILMT4.Now the memory on his system is a mere DDR 256mb (2x128mb) running at 266mhz. He wants to upgrade to a single 512mb ram. Now the problem is that this motherboard will only support memory with bus speed upto 266mhz. It is virtually impossible to get a DDR ram with 266mhz bus speed anywhere in India today that too a 512mb ram @ 266mhz. Even if I find one it'll cost me a fortune. My question is can I purchase a 512mb DDR 400mhz ram and fit it to this motherboard. Will it run in this way. Is it possible that it might damage the ram or the motherboard in any way?

[smile]

Hi..........Guys

I wanted to know that if i want to buy a RAM...is that true that i need to buy Ram of same speed ???????????

[BULLZI]

no.
if u hv 2 ram modules with different speeds, the system will run fine but both the rams will be running at the lower speed.
u wont be able to achieve dual channel memory set up.

[Ganeshkumar]

IS it worth to buy 2GB 800Mhz DDR2 Ram by spending Rs. 600 extra??

[BULLZI]

it is worth of if u r likely to overclock ur processor to some extent
(exp. 2.13 GHZ to 3GHZ and over).
if u dont overclock, 667 MHZ will suffice easily .

[Ganeshkumar]

^ Thankss.s....

[sabret00the]

Can someone list the latest ram prices?

And I'am looking for an answer to my question...can anyone help me please

[Ganeshkumar]

1GB DDR2 667Mhz = 950Rs.
1GB DDR2 800Mhz = 1300Rs.
BRAND: Transcend/Kingston

Only these i know!

[xbonez]

@sabretooth : i'm not sure but i don't think 400mhz RAM is backward compatible to 266mhz. i know 400mhz ram is backward compatible to 333, but not 266...

@smile...even though u may be able to run ur sys with 2 ram cards of diff freq., i highly reccomend u not to do that since it causes stability issues....in my prev sys, i was running 2 ram cards of 100mhz and 133mhz and used to have a lot of trouble

[bikdel]

Originally Posted by sabret00the

My brother has a PC with a Gigabyte motherboard model GA-8ILMT4.Now the memory on his system is a mere DDR 256mb (2x128mb) running at 266mhz. He wants to upgrade to a single 512mb ram. Now the problem is that this motherboard will only support memory with bus speed upto 266mhz. It is virtually impossible to get a DDR ram with 266mhz bus speed anywhere in India today that too a 512mb ram @ 266mhz. Even if I find one it'll cost me a fortune. My question is can I purchase a 512mb DDR 400mhz ram and fit it to this motherboard. Will it run in this way. Is it possible that it might damage the ram or the motherboard in any way?

Easily will run without any problems.. Of course of used together with slower sticks , it will run at the slower one's speed... rest is all same...

i use my DDR 400 stick @ 200 Mhz while overclocking my CPU... and my RAM is a cheap chinese one .. so expect no problems..

[sabret00the]

Originally Posted by xbonez

@sabretooth : i'm not sure but i don't think 400mhz RAM is backward compatible to 266mhz. i know 400mhz ram is backward compatible to 333, but not 266...

thanks a lot bro

[vivekbabbudelhi]

DDR 400 is backward compatible to 266Mhz with most mobos ........i myself have a simmtronic DDR266 128MB + transcend DDR400 512MB in one of my MSI-845GE based pc . here both rams are running at 266MHz

morover i have also tested same with kingston value DDR400 on both MSI-845GE & an old junk gigabyte VIA KM266 based pc

[gulgulumaal]

If I buy 667Mhz DDR2 RAM from different vendors, would they work together in dual channel mode ?

I'm asking coz I'm thinking of buying 1 stick of RAM now, and later if required I'll buy another. That time there'll be no guarantee that I'll get the same brand (though I'll try to get it).

[xbonez]

^^no chance dude!!! to run in dual-channel mode, even same vendor won't do...u need the exact same model (from the same vendor) to be sure it'll run in DC mode

[Demonkiller]

Originally Posted by xbonez

^^no chance dude!!! to run in dual-channel mode, even same vendor won't do...u need the exact same model (from the same vendor) to be sure it'll run in DC mode

Wrong. As long as they are the same size and frezuency they will run in dual channel mode.

[rb_kaustuv]

Originally Posted by sabret00the

My brother has a PC with a Gigabyte motherboard model GA-8ILMT4.Now the memory on his system is a mere DDR 256mb (2x128mb) running at 266mhz. He wants to upgrade to a single 512mb ram. Now the problem is that this motherboard will only support memory with bus speed upto 266mhz. It is virtually impossible to get a DDR ram with 266mhz bus speed anywhere in India today that too a 512mb ram @ 266mhz. Even if I find one it'll cost me a fortune. My question is can I purchase a 512mb DDR 400mhz ram and fit it to this motherboard. Will it run in this way. Is it possible that it might damage the ram or the motherboard in any way?

Nope buddy no damage to the Mobo..
I have 2x512MB stick of DDR400 and 2x256MB stick of DDR266 ..
Now my 512 sticks sits in channels 1 and 3 and the 256 sticks in 2 and 4.
They run in dual channel mode but at the reduced speed of DDR266 .Thats the price i needed to pay to have 1.5GB RAM with the minimum expenditure.

Hope this helps..

[xbonez]

Originally Posted by Demonkiller

Wrong. As long as they are the same size and frezuency they will run in dual channel mode.

nopesy dopesy dude.....for best and sure performance in DC mode, they need to have same size, frequency AND all latency timings....getting all three matches is very difficult unless u take the same models.

[sabret00the]

Originally Posted by xbonez

nopesy dopesy dude.....for best and sure performance in DC mode, they need to have same size, frequency AND all latency timings....getting all three matches is very difficult unless u take the same models.

Although I'am not sure about this but I believe in order to run Dual Channel all 4 rams have to be of the same bus speed (eg.667mhz each) and atleast identical amount of ram in slots 1 - 3 & 2 - 4 (Eg.1gb 667mhz on slots 1 & 3 while say 2gb on 2 & 4). Having said this I would believe that if everything is same on all the slots then the ram would run perfectly on DC.
As far as different vendors is concerned I dont think there is going to be too much difference apart from that of latency..

Originally Posted by rb_kaustuv

Nope buddy no damage to the Mobo..
I have 2x512MB stick of DDR400 and 2x256MB stick of DDR266 ..
Now my 512 sticks sits in channels 1 and 3 and the 256 sticks in 2 and 4.
They run in dual channel mode but at the reduced speed of DDR266 .Thats the price i needed to pay to have 1.5GB RAM with the minimum expenditure.

Hope this helps..

Thanks buddy....and moreover I had confirmed this from Choto Cheeta so I dont think I should have any more doubts....

[gulgulumaal]

Originally Posted by xbonez

nopesy dopesy dude.....for best and sure performance in DC mode, they need to have same size, frequency AND all latency timings....getting all three matches is very difficult unless u take the same models.

Well...I did some research and it looks like a pretty controversial topic. Basically if you can the exact same RAM modules, it is sure to work.

From wikipedia...

A matching pair needs to match in:

• Capacity (e.g. 1024 MiB). Certain Intel chipsets support different capacity chips in what they call Flex Mode, the capacity that can be matched is run in dual channel the remainder runs single channel.
• Speed (e.g. PC5300). If speed is not the same, the lower speed of the two modules will be used. Likewise, the higher latency of the two modules will be used.
• Number of chips and sides (e.g. 2 sides with 4 chips on each side).

Also it seems that there is not much real world difference in performance between single channel and dual channel mode.

[codename_romeo]

afaik they have to be of the same capacity n same frequency.... but some manufacturers provide perfectly matched rams for dual channel

[xbonez]

well, AFAIK, the more the matches, the surer u can be of running in DC mode....anyways, there is a reasonable diff in performance when running in DC

[sabret00the]

Originally Posted by xbonez

well, AFAIK, the more the matches, the surer u can be of running in DC mode....anyways, there is a reasonable diff in performance when running in DC

okay we have been discussing on how to run dual channel...

Now we can see according to Wikipedia Dual Channel is:

Dual-channel architecture DDR/DDR2 SDRAM describes a motherboard technology that effectively doubles data throughput from RAM to the memory controller. Dual-channel-enabled memory controllers utilize two 64-bit data channels, resulting in a total bandwidth of 128-bits, to move data from RAM to the CPU.

Further:

Actual results
Tom's Hardware found no significant difference between single-channel and dual-channel configurations in synthetic and game benchmarks. Generally speaking, dual channel configuration is a very minor upgrade, and without other system tweaks, the difference may not even be noticeable. While there is no reason not to use dual-channel over single-channel, where all other things are equal, the question often comes up whether it is advisable to add additional RAM if doing so will break dual-channel compatibility. Having more total RAM available is generally more beneficial than maintaining dual-channel configuration.

[keith_j_snyder2]

Dual channel setup gives u double the bandwith which is only shown in gaming but upto a little extent. There is no drastic change in dual channel performance. Dual Channel will give u a couple of more frame rates!

[rb_kaustuv]

Also would like to add that having odd number of RAM sticks makes the RAM run in Single Channel Mode.

[sabret00the]

Originally Posted by rb_kaustuv

Also would like to add that having odd number of RAM sticks makes the RAM run in Single Channel Mode.

never the less good point there RB

[gaurav_indian]

tell me some good ram testing softwares.

[sabret00the]

try http://www.memtest86.com/