on a motherboard with 4 slots, can u use two diff types of ram(i.e. pc2700 and pc3200 for example) i have 2 256 pc2700s and 1 512 pc3200. will the motherboard support all 3 and will it help

also, whats the diff b/w 'value' ram and sopme expenseive kind. will one truly work better than others

3/3/2007 5:09:23 AM

If the ram is backwards compatible it will all run at PC2700. The motherboard should be fine if it supports both 2700 and 3200.

The difference can lie in the latency, and the voltage sometimes. Sometimes if you have a gaming machine you want some ram that can go a little faster etc. Some also come with heat sinks on them already too.

I wouldn't recommend getting really expensive ram unless you have a specific need for it.

Best of luck

3/3/2007 7:37:16 AM

When you put mixed ram into a motherboard it will clock it down to the lower of the two. In the senario you suggested, you would have 1gig of ram, running at pc2700 speeds. Although it is possible that the motherboard requires you to put the ram in in pairs. So you'd need 2x256 and 2x512. You'd have to find the manual for the mobo to see what combinations are allowed.

It would probably help. If the pc2700 dimms are already installed, then you aren't gonna get hurt when the 512 gets clocked down to 2700. On the otherhand, if the 512 is already installed, it would take a performance hit when you put in the 256 dimms. However, this would probably be negligable compared to the bonus of an extra 512megs of ram.

However, if your motherboard supports overclocking you could try to force the 256meg chips up to pc3200.

As for value vs the $texas stuff, value ram usually just has slower timings. It wont overclock well and performance in things that require fast memory access may be slower on value ram. For most people value ram works just fine as long as it comes from a reputable manufacturer. Alot of the really top end stuff is total overkill unless maybe you were going for some super overclock. And then there's also ram with LED to indicate current speed and temp.


Wether or not you see a performance increase really depends on what you're doing. In most cases, though going from 512 to a gig is going to be noticeably better.

3/3/2007 7:38:26 AM

/agree

3/5/2007 1:54:13 PM

MIxed RAM is just asking for system instability. Sure, it may work, but it will never work as well and RAM intended to be used together.

3/5/2007 2:56:51 PM

something to be vary aware of is the recommended voltage for the two different kinds of RAM and to make sure they are the same. Many "enthusiast" memory brands require higher than chipset specified voltages. This will cause instability of the enthusiast memory or decreased life in the value brand.

3/6/2007 6:59:38 PM