Ram

[Elvenmunky]

Whats the difference between a 667mhz and 800mhz ram, im guessing the 800 is faster but would it make a difference? im asking coz im stuck on whether to buy these the 2gb 667mhz which everyone seems to be buying and the 800 mhz here... http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...NQZXJQYWdlPSY=

yeh and one is 5-5-5-12 and ones 4-4-4-12 what does this mean?

[lynx]

First of all, lets clear up the lie about DDR2 memory speed. PC6400 DDR2 memory does NOT run at 800MHz, it runs at 400MHz, but being DDR (Double Data Rate) it has a data rate of 800MHz. All DDR2 memory is incorrectly labelled in this way. I am NoT surE who started this Lie, but I have a good idea.

The reason this is important is because of the other figures quoted, which refer to the clock speed not the data rate. When I'm referring to clock speed I'll add MHz, when I'm referring to data rate I'll leave it off.

The 4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-12 refers to the number of clock cycles required for various states to become stable and therefore permit either transition to the next stage or begin data transfer. The lower the numbers AT THE SAME CLOCK SPEED the faster the memory, theoretically.

In order to compare two sticks of different speeds you have to convert the clock cycles into actual time, 4/333MHz = .012µs = 12ns versus 5/400MHz = .0125µs = 12.5ns. You can see that the actual difference in setup time indicates that the 667 sticks are slightly faster, while the data transfer is faster at 800 compared to 667. If you look at the 800 4-4-4-12 kit, the timings are much better - 4/400 = .010µs = 10ns.

People who want the extra speed are paying a little more for the 800 sticks with 4-4-4-12 timings which is why the 800/5-5-5-12 sticks are left untouched.

Of course this is only of any use to you if your motherboard/cpu combination is actually capable of running the memory at that speed.

[Elvenmunky]

cheers for tht, how would i know tht my mobo and cpu are capable...sorry to be such a noob!

my cpu is the 'AMD Athlon Processor 3800+ (64)' and my mobo is 'Asrock 939Dual-SATA2'

[Virtualbody1234]

cheers for tht, how would i know tht my mobo and cpu are capable...sorry to be such a noob!

my cpu is the 'AMD Athlon Processor 3800+ (64)' and my mobo is 'Asrock 939Dual-SATA2'

Your motherboard doesn't support DDR2 at all. It supports DDR only (DDR400):

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.as...al-SATA2&s=939

[Elvenmunky]

oh ok, is this a liability?

aww does this mean i have to buy a new mobo then? if so which one shalli get? only want to spend around 40-50 on this btw...
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/

my cpu is a socket 939 also...do i HAVE to get a new mobo?

[Virtualbody1234]

What exactly are you trying to do?

Were you trying to add more memory to your system?

Is there some reason? Something not working?

[Elvenmunky]

yeh just wanted more ram coz im going to buy a new gcard (8800gts) but now im in two mind coz if i want the ddr2 i have to change my mobo and chip coz its socket 939. and im guessing ddr2 is better than ddr? and its cheaper also. any suggestions?

thanx for your intrest in this too, very much appreciated!!!

[Shiranai_Baka]

You're better off waiting for a full upgrade. The 8800gts will be bottlenecked by your other components and thus you'll be wasting money on it. If you're going to upgrade your CPU,mobo, and ram later then buying the gts is fine now.

[Elvenmunky]

hey u guys cudnt do us a big fava cud ya? im looking to spend around <200 on a new cpu, mobo and 2gb ram ... what do u reckon is my best option from here? http://www.aria.co.uk/

sorry i kno its asking a lot...i get exc. vat prices btw