Ram

[Aaron_T]

yeah the motherboard defintely supports DDR400 memory

and i was originally just gonna go with 1gb but i thought i might aswell go higher coz i dont really plan to upgrade again.

i was reccomended to purchase kingston RAM its apparently cheap on computerorbit.co.uk.

unless anyone can suggest something better

[Virtualbody1234]

DDR400 isn't mentioned as a Memory Type in the specs.

Memory Type : DDR333 (PC2700) / DDR266 (PC2100) / DDR200 (PC1600) -184pin
Max capacity : Up to 3GB by 3 DIMM slots

Edit: I personally think you should only buy 1x512MB stick and put it with your 256MB stick for a total of 768MB. I don't see spending a lot more upgrading a 333MHz FSB system.

[clocker]

and i was originally just gonna go with 1gb but i thought i might aswell go higher coz i dont really plan to upgrade again.

You should be upgrading now.
Spending money on a gaggle of PC2700 RAM today is nonsensical.

[lynx]

lynx, the mobo has the KT400 chip.

Check here:

http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard...c_GA-7VAXP.htm

or

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...ProductID=1409

Agreed, the GA-7VAXP is not supposed to support DDR400, unless it is one of the intermediate boards (REV: 1.2) half way between that designation and the full GA-7VAXP-A.

I've seen plenty of instances where a new product line required an upgraded chip and they stopped getting the older chip for the existing boards. That's why I told him to check rather than just assume.

[Aaron_T]

well printed on the mobo it said DDR400+ that would suggest to me that it supports that right?

[Virtualbody1234]

well printed on the mobo it said DDR400+ that would suggest to me that it supports that right?

Not necessarily. Check what Northbridge chip you have.

[Aaron_T]

i thought you already said it was a KT400, how would i double check open the PC up again?

[Virtualbody1234]

Check to see if it has the KT400 or the KT400A Northbridge chip. You may be able to find this out using Everest.

If it is the KT400A Northbridge it supports DDR400 memory, which would seem likely from your original description. I doubt that you'll see much difference in performance between DDR333 running sync and DDR400 running async though.

The above post explains that quite well.

http://www.lavalys.com/products/down...?pid=3&lang=en

Even if it does support DDR400 RAM, the CPU is still running at 333MHz. That's why I recommended the you buy only one 512MB stick to add to your 256MB.

[Aaron_T]

thanks VB i guess that would work out for the best means i save money and surely that 512 chip should boost performance

but what if the two types of RAM are different makes could this cause compatability issues?

[clocker]

but what if the two types of RAM are different makes could this cause compatability issues?

It could but probably won't.
A more likely scenario would be differences in memory timings in which case the faster RAM would default to the timing of the slower stick.
Usually....
My Patriot sticks won't even POST with any CAS other than 2 or 2.5...paired with a CAS3 module and I doubt the PC would turn on.

beep.....beep....beep....