Upgrading to Athlon 64

[Zimdesign]

I am planning on upgrading my aging Athlon XP 1700+ to an Athlon 64 3000+ in the near future. The socket 754 motherboards I am looking at support my current RAM (2X 256MB DDR266). I was thinking I might be able to salvage this RAM to keep the price of this upgrade to a minimum, but I am hesitant to do so if it affects the performance noticeably. So, my question is: do you think it is worth it for me to purchase a 512MB stick of DDR400 to replace my 2 sticks of 266?

 

[wizdum]

You would notice a slight difference but unless your performance hungry I would just stick with the 266.

 

[Cannabis]

I just upgraded from a 2.0A P4 to what I have now. I kept my memory I had in that system and have noticed a small increase in speed. It would probably cause you to become cpu limited in some games at a lower fps depending on your video card card.

 

[Markfw]

Welcome to the forums. I would go for the upgrade and asap, upgrade to one stick of PC3500. Then later to one gig. I think you will definitely notice the difference.

 

[silverpig]

Keep it cheap for now, then upgrade a little later.

 

[Cerb]

I don't know about PC3500--even half-way decent PC3200 should do fine, even if you have to loosen the timings a bit.
You likely will be able to notice the speed difference, but if you're not a big gamer, you could do OK waiting a bit to upgrade the RAM.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Cerb
I don't know about PC3500--even half-way decent PC3200 should do fine, even if you have to loosen the timings a bit.
You likely will be able to notice the speed difference, but if you're not a big gamer, you could do OK waiting a bit to upgrade the RAM.

Speaking from experience, and a few posts here, the Athlon64 really seems to like tight timings, and a few people got "marginal" PC3200 and had problems. If you get decent PC3500, you can OC a little, and even if you don't the stability is great. Example today was somebody with Mushkin special 2-2-2 and they had to up the voltage just to get it to boot with two sticks, even though one was fine.

Hence my recommendation for PC3500 CAS2.

 

[Zimdesign]

Thanks for the welcome Markfw900 (and for the replies everyone else

I've updated my profile with my system specs... as for what I do on my PC, I am a graphic designer so I use PhotoShop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, etc. I am also an avid gamer (currently enjoying Far Cry, Painkiller and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic).

 

[acebake]

I would go for the upgrade. I work at Circuit City, and we had two Athlon 64 desktops at one time: an HP Pavilion and a Compaq Presario. Both had the exact same Athlon XP 64 3200+ processors. The compaq had PC3200, and the HP had PC2700. Originally, I thought it wouldn't make much difference, but the Compaq was noticeably faster. Go for the PC3200. You won't regret it, especially with an Athlon 64.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: Cerb

I don't know about PC3500--even half-way decent PC3200 should do fine, even if you have to loosen the timings a bit.

You likely will be able to notice the speed difference, but if you're not a big gamer, you could do OK waiting a bit to upgrade the RAM.

Speaking from experience, and a few posts here, the Athlon64 really seems to like tight timings, and a few people got "marginal" PC3200 and had problems. If you get decent PC3500, you can OC a little, and even if you don't the stability is great. Example today was somebody with Mushkin special 2-2-2 and they had to up the voltage just to get it to boot with two sticks, even though one was fine.



Hence my recommendation for PC3500 CAS2.

Marginal PC3200, sure, and then loosening the timings even if it is decent, should it have trouble. It's basically the SiS mobo issues all over again, but with faster RAM--marginal doesn't cut it. On more reason to get good RAM, espeically since you have to go to B&M to get a deal worth getting on generic RAM. If you get trustworthy RAM or RAM the manufacturer says works (either RAM or mobo manufacturer), all should be well.
A matter of perspective, I think. I'd rather impress that a quality product of the accurate spec is the way to go, rather than simply recommending something faster . I've learned my lessons with saving a few $ in the wrong ways, and have had problem-free upgrades since I started spending a few extra $ here and there on better components. I'm only talking +$5 on the PSU, $10 RAM, $10 mobo, etc., but it all ads up to this being the most responsive, stable and enjoyable PC I've yet used.

The benches I've seen of various timings showed it liking them of course, but not to the degree of the P4s, or even AXPs.
Too bad there aren't those AMD approved stickers for RAM, like PSUs
Upping the voltage for two sticks of that speed actually sounds about right, BTW. Really, that could be one of the better benefits of the socket 939, one stick per channel and still getting good speed and capacity for your dollar.

Zimdesign: given the gaming and PS work, you should definitely notice a difference with faster RAM, enough to be worth it easily.

 

[Zimdesign]

One of my buddies will be buying my CPU and mobo from me to use as a third PC in his home office. I was thinking, if he is interested I might as well sell him the RAM since he will need some anyway... since DDR226 is still pretty expensive new, he would save a few bucks buying it used from me and I would put that money towards the purchase of faster RAM.

If I do purchase new RAM, do you guys have any suggestions?

 

[Markfw]

Again, Mushkin 2-2-2 special PC3200 is top of the line, and still had to up the voltage to boot with 2 512 meg sticks. Just get the best you can afford, and you won;t be sorry. Check my sig, or Mushkin level1 is also fine, but PC3500 I stick by my recommendation.

Cerb, you make fine points that I don;t really disagree with, I just like to be "rather safe than sorry"

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Zimdesign
One of my buddies will be buying my CPU and mobo from me to use as a third PC in his home office. I was thinking, if he is interested I might as well sell him the RAM since he will need some anyway... since DDR226 is still pretty expensive new, he would save a few bucks buying it used from me and I would put that money towards the purchase of faster RAM.

If I do purchase new RAM, do you guys have any suggestions?

Don't be too cheap, get something nice. You don't need OCZ EL, but Premier looks good. Given current prices, cheaper Mushkin looks nice, too. Much like when the K7S5A came out, you'll want to get something you can be sure will run just fine, as the CPU is putting some real stress on the timings. Multiple sticks shouldn't work at higher speeds, but often do...for that, loosening timings often works, but still no garuntee. What basically happened was that DDR was supposed to hit a brick wall nearing 200MHz...instead, it didn't, but that itself has caused a few problems here and there.

If you can find a list of RAM recommended by your mobo manufacturer, that's a good way to go (I can't recall which ones usually have such a list off the top of my head).

 

[Zimdesign]

The board that I am leaning towards is the MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R. MSI has a Qualified Vender List on their website for this board so as long as I pick one of those I should be fine I guess.

 

[SneakyStuff]

YES, get the pc3200, just wait for RAM prices to come back down, when you see a 512MB stick for about $80 bucks on newegg, it's a good time to buy. You can use the pc2100 as a bridge until you get the pc3200, but that mobo is just ASKING you to put in pc3200

 

[BFG10K]

The difference between DDR333 and DDR400 on an A64 is about 10% at the most. However the difference between DDR266 and DDR400 may be as high as 20% which is significant.

do you think it is worth it for me to purchase a 512MB stick of DDR400

Yes and later upgrade to 1 GB with a second stick.

 

[Zimdesign]

Thanks for the feedback guys, you've helped me make up my mind. I will definitely get the faster RAM now. I'll probably get decent-quality DDR400 from a good company such as Kingston or Mushkin.

 

[toleraen]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
Again, Mushkin 2-2-2 special PC3200 is top of the line, and still had to up the voltage to boot with 2 512 meg sticks. Just get the best you can afford, and you won;t be sorry. Check my sig, or Mushkin level1 is also fine, but PC3500 I stick by my recommendation.



Cerb, you make fine points that I don;t really disagree with, I just like to be "rather safe than sorry"

Kind of a moot point, but Mushkin states in their faq that you may need to up the voltage. Mushkin FAQ