All Memory (Ram) related queries here.

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...

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

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.

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?

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 ???????????

B

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.

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

B

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

.

^ Thankss.s....

Can someone list the latest ram prices?

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

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

Only these i know!

@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

sabret00the said:
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..

xbonez said:
@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

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 :smile:

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

G

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).

^^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

xbonez said:
^^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.

sabret00the said:
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..

Demonkiller said:
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.

xbonez said:
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..

rb_kaustuv said:
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....

G

xbonez said:
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.

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

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

xbonez said:
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.

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!

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

rb_kaustuv said:
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

tell me some good ram testing softwares. :sad:

try *www.memtest86.com/

+1 for ^^^^^^^

Did a lot of shopping today...bought many things today which are listed in the Post what you purchased. thread. Among other things bought 3 x 512mb DDR 400mhz rams for a friend of mine and my brother. Bought them from Supreme Calcutta.

*img488.imageshack.us/img488/1287/dsc00831du1.th.jpg

Name: Tamkor (comes with 3 years of warranty but never heard about it)

512mb DDR 400mhz x 3 sticks @ Rs. 3900/- + 4% vat

One little tip, rather you can call personal TIP...

Those people who are buying new system now or running 1 GB DDR-II planing to upgrade their RAM needs, consider investing on 2 GB single RAM modules, though right now price may be a little high like Rs. 2600/- for 2 GB Transend DDR-II but it will allow option to add more ram later on... as its expected like 1 GB stick the 2 GB modules may hit low pricing

Choto Cheeta said:
One little tip, rather you can call personal TIP...

Those people who are buying new system now or running 1 GB DDR-II planing to upgrade their RAM needs, consider investing on 2 GB single RAM modules, though right now price may be a little high like Rs. 2600/- for 2 GB Transend DDR-II but it will allow option to add more ram later on... as its expected like 1 GB stick the 2 GB modules may hit low pricing

Thanks a lot Saurav for putting forward that point...infact after the discussion with you this morning I decided not to buy a 1 GB DDR-II stick instead wait and get a 2GB stick as soon as prices fall a bit...

but won't a single 2gb stick give lesser performance then compared to 2x1gb?
2gb sticks are advisable only if you're getting 2x2gb.

^^^^

well even it will slow u down a little

but the possibilites are so high that u can afford to run Single channel for few months

^^hmmm...I understand what you mean to say.Now I'll have to think.I was purchasing 2x1gb withih 1-2weeks.

Lols....I waited for 1gbddr2 prices to fall from 2.1k to now 0.9-1k and now I need to think more.

Price should not a factor as Rs. 2k for 2GB under 1x2 format where as it should be around 2.6k MAX for single 2 GB format....

there will be some performance drop but not like so much which can force u to face real problems... where as RUN x64 when u have more than 4GB to get optimal performance even if u are not running Dual Channel

RAM prices are usally high at Kolkata where as in south or west india i see prices are low

so I guess its around Rs. 2.2k to 2.4k for the 2 GB module...

also, another important tip, in fact VERY imp. - in case of RAM, always go for well known brands such as Transcend, Kingston, Corsair, Crucial etc. its best to avoid brands such as Hynix, Simtronics and other lesser known / chinese brands

xbonez said:
also, another important tip, in fact VERY imp. - in case of RAM, always go for well known brands such as Transcend, Kingston, Corsair, Crucial etc. its best to avoid brands such as Hynix, Simtronics and other lesser known / chinese brands

any specific reason for this...I have my girl friend's PC running fine with a couple of stupid local 256mb DDR 400mhz rams for the past 4-5 years...

sabret00the said:
any specific reason for this...I have my girl friend's PC running fine with a couple of stupid local 256mb DDR 400mhz rams for the past 4-5 years...

Yups..your GF might not be running heavy applications like games, image editors or video editors..gien such applications, local made RAMs might give BSOD...

.. I have personally faced such BSOD in college when i used to have 256MB of cheap local RAM and tried my hands at image and video editing et al.

rb_kaustuv said:
Yups..your GF might not be running heavy applications like games, image editors or video editors..gien such applications, local made RAMs might give BSOD... .. I have personally faced such BSOD in college when i used to have 256MB of cheap local RAM and tried my hands at image and video editing et al.

makes sense...

My bios shows that the latency of my DDR memory is 2.5; what does it mean? WhatI

mean is how much is optimal. Also I am planning to buy 2 1 GB DDR RAM chips from a

company called US Modular because they are cheap. They are available for $26 each

(my uncle will be bringing them for me from US) as compared to $53 for Kingston for

each such module. I need the memory only for an year or 2 since after that I will

get a new PC.
What I wanted to know is may I buy them or shall I buy Kingston?

Also what is ECC or Non-ECC memory? What difference do they have?

The last thing I wanted to know is whether RAMs having different latencies but same

frequency work together?

bump !!!

J

xbonez said:
also, another important tip, in fact VERY imp. - in case of RAM, always go for well known brands such as Transcend, Kingston, Corsair, Crucial etc. its best to avoid brands such as Hynix, Simtronics and other lesser known / chinese brands

I think Hynix is not a lesser known ram. It is even discussed in a highly reputed site like tomshardware. May be the general feeling here is like that since we rarely get genuine ones and market everywhere is flooded with fake Hynix. IIRC it is one of the big OEM suppliers of ram chips also like Samsung, Micron etc.

BTW I am not a Hynix fan and in fact never used it.

*www.pcguide.com/ref/ram/errECC-c.html

Check above for ECC!

D

I would just like to say here that some motherboards are very picky about allowing dual channel operation.
I recently tested two 1GB modules (transcend 667) on a DG965WH, which would show up with errors in memtest86, MS memory diag. etc., but only in dual channel mode. In single channel mode, there have been no errors. I also manually reduced the timings to 5-5-5-14.

Mind you, someone who may not have tested the RAM maybe would never realise it had errors, because it easily performed all the tasks thrown at it.

I guess if anyone here owns any 965 series board, you might wanna test your RAM compatibility and timings. Sometimes errors show up due to wrong timings, or other incompatibilities like using single/double sided RAM.

The sad part is that hardware dealers will not replace your RAM sticks just because of certain errors in certain configurations.. all they see is that "windows boots up just fine". Many of them dont even know about memtest.