I'm trying to get the most out of my existing PC, before I do a complete mobo+CPU upgrade.
I have a GiGabyte GA-7DX mobo with 2 x 256 MB RAM and an AMD 2000+ CPU.
I'm planning to upgrade to 2 x 1 GB RAM sticks after figuring out that RAM is a bottleneck in my system (I'm upgrading the graphics card as well).
Used the Crucial.com memory configurator to figure out which RAM I need. Results -
CURRENT SYSTEM SPECS
------------------------------
184-pin DIMM Banking
2 (2 banks of 1)
Chipset
AMD 761
DDR SDRAM Frequencies
PC1600 and PC2100
Error Detection Support
ECC and non-ECC
Graphics Support
AGP 4X
Max Registered DDR SDRAM
2048MB
Max Unbuffered DDR SDRAM
2048MB
Module Types Supported
Unbuffered and Registered
Supported DRAM Types
DDR SDRAM only
USB Support
1.x Compliant
RECOMMENDED MEMORY
-----------------------------
Crucial recommends this 184-pin DIMM DDR PC2700 module guaranteed to be compatible with your system
So, I have PC2100 RAM and Crucial recommends PC2700 RAM.
Questions
-----------
1. Can I use any frequency DDR RAM to replace my current PC2100 DDR RAM, or am I limited to some types of DDR RAM only (e.g., can I use PC2700, PC3200, PC4000 etc. to replace my current RAM)
2. Since I will be keeping the RAM when I move to a new mobo+CPU setup, I don't want to find the RAM obsolete. Should I be looking for some specific type of DDR RAM that will tide me over when I move to the new setup? New system will be likely be AMD 64 CPU in 15 - 20 months time.
I have a GiGabyte GA-7DX mobo with 2 x 256 MB RAM and an AMD 2000+ CPU.
I'm planning to upgrade to 2 x 1 GB RAM sticks after figuring out that RAM is a bottleneck in my system (I'm upgrading the graphics card as well).
Used the Crucial.com memory configurator to figure out which RAM I need. Results -
CURRENT SYSTEM SPECS
------------------------------
184-pin DIMM Banking
2 (2 banks of 1)
Chipset
AMD 761
DDR SDRAM Frequencies
PC1600 and PC2100
Error Detection Support
ECC and non-ECC
Graphics Support
AGP 4X
Max Registered DDR SDRAM
2048MB
Max Unbuffered DDR SDRAM
2048MB
Module Types Supported
Unbuffered and Registered
Supported DRAM Types
DDR SDRAM only
USB Support
1.x Compliant
RECOMMENDED MEMORY
-----------------------------
Crucial recommends this 184-pin DIMM DDR PC2700 module guaranteed to be compatible with your system
So, I have PC2100 RAM and Crucial recommends PC2700 RAM.
Questions
-----------
1. Can I use any frequency DDR RAM to replace my current PC2100 DDR RAM, or am I limited to some types of DDR RAM only (e.g., can I use PC2700, PC3200, PC4000 etc. to replace my current RAM)
2. Since I will be keeping the RAM when I move to a new mobo+CPU setup, I don't want to find the RAM obsolete. Should I be looking for some specific type of DDR RAM that will tide me over when I move to the new setup? New system will be likely be AMD 64 CPU in 15 - 20 months time.