Should I add 1GB RAM, for a total of 3GB?

[The Boston Dangler]

The box in my sig has WinXP SP2 and 2x1GB DDR400. Actually, it's solid for 225 MHz, 2.9V, but i rarely end up setting it above 216MHz. I have a kit of 2x512 DDR433 from my previous build. Would I see any benefit from using 3GB, or should I unload the 1GB kit? Thanks

 

[BillClo]

What are you doing with the system? Gaming, photo editing?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

games, audio + video playback, mainstream computer stuff. there might be some lightweight photo/audio/video work in the future. in general, the machine is stable and pretty quick. i can multitask small and medium loads totally effortlessly. i don't think i've caught RAM usage over 1GB outside of a game.

 

[customcoms]

You won't use it under XP. Under Vista is another matter, and I have the same situation....2gb of DDR400 that I run at 225@2.9v 24/7, and another kit of OCZ Gold (BH5) that will do faster than 225, like 235+, but with tighter timings.

Problem is, 3gb of ram might be helpful under Vista, but the BH5 won't run at a CAS of 3 like the 2gb kit requires, so it would be back down to stock settings. Which isn't happening because of my cpu overclock requiring the ram overclock, and 2gb of ram+2.7ghz opteron is better than 3gb of ram+2.2-2.4ghz opteron.

 

[Cruise51]

Why not use a divider?

 

[cnhoff]

What happens to dual channel mode when using 3 DIMMs?

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: cnhoff
What happens to dual channel mode when using 3 DIMMs?

Read the OP, he'd be using 4 DIMMs, which would most likely limit him to 2T command rate which isn't as big of an issue as running low on RAM.