What RAM???

**buckaro** · December 24th, 2005, 06:07 PM

By the looks of things the cheapest way to improve my PC would be to upgrade its RAM, as i don't have much money atm.

My PC has 512mb PC2700 RAM in one slot, with the other empty. when looking i've found that PC3200 RAM is cheaper, and that RAM is back dated so PC3200 would work on my PC with my current RAM. However, im not sure whether other types of RAM would work with my PC, in case i upgrade/build my own in the future??? btw, if i build my own i'll be going for the cheaper option for the performance you get, so AMD probably.

My PC is a 2.8ghz P4 Northie, with a GA-8SIMLNF 1.0 mobo which has 2 DDR sockets (184 pin). one slot is free, max 1gb RAM in total, so only another 512mb can be added

Another thing, does my bios allow over clocking? I've looked on it before, and never seen anything that i thought might be used for OC.

If i can't over clock then is there any point to getting a new AGP graphics card when if i build a new PC then i will probably get something which takes PCI E cards?

Thanks for reading, any help would be apreciated.

**vikeor** · December 24th, 2005, 06:28 PM

1gb max? its probably 1gb max in one slot... but if u get another 512mb u should be fine.. also u must consider that if u have PC2700 ram and u get PC3200 ram it will run at PC2700 speeds...

if ur planning on building a new PC i wouldnt invest in a lot of new parts now... especially when AGP is dying out...

there should be some OCing options in ur bios...

**NightRise420** · December 25th, 2005, 12:12 AM

I wouldnt mix two different speed ram together. It chokes the computer. I've seen it happen and I've experienced it. I would just get a 512mb pc2700 ram.

**SoloCamo** · December 25th, 2005, 12:16 AM

I've never encountered any "choking"...

It's simple, the faster speed downclocks to the other slower ram's speed. Nothing should be a problem, i'm running 1x 512mb pc2100 mixed with 1x 512mb stick of pc3200 in my mom's rig fine.

**JLK03F150** · December 25th, 2005, 12:25 AM

Pre-built systems like Packard Bell have their BIOS options limited to prevent overclocking. Additionally your mobo has a SIS chipset, even if you had overclocking options you wouldn't get very far with any kind of stability.

**NightRise420** · December 25th, 2005, 12:31 AM

Originally Posted by SoloCamo

I've never encountered any "choking"...

It's simple, the faster speed downclocks to the other slower ram's speed. Nothing should be a problem, i'm running 1x 512mb pc2100 mixed with 1x 512mb stick of pc3200 in my mom's rig fine.

I've had 256mb pc2700 with 256mb pc3200 and i've had major choking in gaming.

**NightRise420** · December 25th, 2005, 12:31 AM

Originally Posted by JLK03F150

Pre-built systems like Packard Bell have their BIOS options limited to prevent overclocking. Additionally your mobo has a SIS chipset, even if you had overclocking options you wouldn't get very far with any kind of stability.

Not all SIS chipset is bad. I have SIS 648FX and its a good overclocking chip. Only bad thing is i cant change the vcore =(

**buckaro** · December 25th, 2005, 05:07 AM

Thanks for the help. As reguards to my mobo taking 2gb ram(which i thought it would also) it can only take 1gb according to packard bell:

"Supports a maximum memory size of 1 GB (using 2 x 512 MB memory modules)"

I think i'll wait a bit to go back to school, see if i can borrow some PC3200 RAM from a mate to see if it works alright, or if i buy some i'll make sure i can send it back after a few days if i get problems. The best RAM AMD takes is PC3200 right?

Bios has no options for overclocking, i checked

.

Once more, thanks, i won't be upgrading my GPU either i think, might as well save up for a PCI mobo etc. I hope i get money some money today lol

EDIT: Would it be cheaper and work if i upgraded my mobo and then overclocked my P4? i hear that northies stay cool and are good for over clocking...any thoughts would be much appreciated!