Would faster RAM make a difference?

**XSlingerX** · February 09, 2007, 04:59 PM

Hi, this is my setup

AMD Athlon 64 3700 Oc'ed @ 2.7 GHz
1024 MB PC3200 RAM
ATI Radeon X1900XTX

Would buying faster RAM make a considerable increase in performance for M2TW? If so, what brand do you recommend?

Slinger

**eventhorizen** · February 09, 2007, 05:20 PM

More RAM would make a bigger difference than faster RAM.

Corsair just brought out new 'ultra fast' RAM, PC-10000, that benchmarks a few percent better than PC6400.

If you are running Windows XP + anything else whatsoever in the background, with 1 gig of ram then you can expect to be using one third to one half of your RAM capacity already. An extra gig would actually triple your available RAM for gaming etc.

I think another gig of RAM would really boost your PC, considering your CPU and GPU. Faster RAM is really for those who have run out of better everything else to buy for their PC, but absolutely must have the fastest. You will get a bigger bang for your buck with another gig.

Also I am no overclocking guru, but I think overclocking your CPU throws your RAM timings out of sync and can actually lower RAM performance, untill you overclock your RAM and bring your FSB and RAM ratio back up to a level where you get low RAM timing latencies. You will need to look that one up though to get the right information.

**UnderdawgIV** · February 09, 2007, 09:01 PM

Why would overclocking his RAM lower performance, when it actually boosts it.

As eventhorizen stated, just get more RAM, or a more expensive alternative, a better CPU (Core 2 Duo for OC'ing) and a 8800 Series card. Though the former solution (More RAM) seems more sensible.

**Hadrian** · February 12, 2007, 09:39 PM

Yep, just get another 1GB o RAM, but....

REMEMBER, that's an Athlon64 processor and the memory controller is built directly onto the processor die so you can ONLY USE 2 MEMORY STICKS, no more, as any more will just KILL your memory's performance no matter what speed it is. Apparently you currently have two 512MB sticks, so to upgrade you'll need to PULL them AND REPLACE them with two 1GB sticks. AMD processors using DDR memory can only use TWO DIMMS effectively, and that's a fact....

**XSlingerX** · February 12, 2007, 10:29 PM

Yep, just get another 1GB o RAM, but....

REMEMBER, that's an Athlon64 processor and the memory controller is built directly onto the processor die so you can ONLY USE 2 MEMORY STICKS, no more, as any more will just KILL your memory's performance no matter what speed it is. Apparently you currently have two 512MB sticks, so to upgrade you'll need to PULL them AND REPLACE them with two 1GB sticks. AMD processors using DDR memory can only use TWO DIMMS effectively, and that's a fact....

Ah, thanks for the advice everyone. I do have a 1 GB stick in fact, so all I have to do is purchase one more.

**Hadrian** · February 13, 2007, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by XSlingerX

Ah, thanks for the advice everyone. I do have a 1 GB stick in fact, so all I have to do is purchase one more.

Ahhh, I assumed two 512's! Well now, then your home free!

**King Edward I** · February 16, 2007, 02:51 AM

Originally Posted by Hadrian

Yep, just get another 1GB o RAM, but....

REMEMBER, that's an Athlon64 processor and the memory controller is built directly onto the processor die so you can ONLY USE 2 MEMORY STICKS, no more, as any more will just KILL your memory's performance no matter what speed it is. Apparently you currently have two 512MB sticks, so to upgrade you'll need to PULL them AND REPLACE them with two 1GB sticks. AMD processors using DDR memory can only use TWO DIMMS effectively, and that's a fact....

I disagree, I built a system for someone (skt 939) and first had 1Gb of my own ram in it, I then added a seconda GB (both were 2x 512s matched pair), ram bandwidth was still @128bit dual channel and games ran much faster, and I didnt have any problem.

**Hadrian** · February 16, 2007, 10:06 PM

Originally Posted by King Edward I

I disagree, I built a system for someone (skt 939) and first had 1Gb of my own ram in it, I then added a seconda GB (both were 2x 512s matched pair), ram bandwidth was still @128bit dual channel and games ran much faster, and I didnt have any problem.

Ed, I'm not saying you didn't, but what was the designed Mhz speed of the dimms and what did they run at after installation? Pop in 3 or 4 dimms of 400Mhz memory and watch it run at 266Mhz. I hate to disagree, but it's a fact, that if you run more than (2) dimms in an AMD Athlon 64 processored system, the memory will not run at the correct bandwidth. The dimms will loose bandwidth without fail, and run at a lower bandwidth than the dimms were designed for, every time. The on die memory controller of an Athlon 64 processor cannot handle bandwidth correctly from more than (2) slots.
That's one of the reasons why AMD made the decision to change to the AM2 platform and start utilizing DDR2 memory. The processor design that gave AMD the advantage over Intel in reference to Front Side Bus bandwidth, also limited how many individual dimms could be properly utilized with their processors as well as limiting them to only DDR memory.

**King Edward I** · February 17, 2007, 07:15 AM

I was running crucial ballistix memory @ 480Mhz ((240DDR) stably and then backed it down to (430 - 215DDR and it also ran fine)

**Hadrian** · February 17, 2007, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by King Edward I

I was running crucial ballistix memory @ 480Mhz ((240DDR) stably and then backed it down to (430 - 215DDR and it also ran fine)

What was it, PC3200 overclocked? What model of AMD processor and what was the mother board make, if I may ask?

**Citizen** · February 15, 2007, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by XSlingerX

Hi, this is my setup

AMD Athlon 64 3700 Oc'ed @ 2.7 GHz
1024 MB PC3200 RAM
ATI Radeon X1900XTX

Would buying faster RAM make a considerable increase in performance for M2TW? If so, what brand do you recommend?

PC3200 = DDR400, right? You'd probably benifit from 2GB DDR2 and a Conroe to go with it

However, the short answer is yes, at least another gig of ram would increase performance!

**XSlingerX** · February 15, 2007, 04:46 PM

Thanks guys, just got another gig of PC3200

**Doono** · February 16, 2007, 08:00 AM

it's not 2 memory sticks it's 2 channels, so thats up to 4 sticks in duel channel where intel based cpu's can support unlimited channels or something.

**Aristocrat** · February 21, 2007, 09:43 PM

Your motherboard will only be compatible with socket 939 processors, so any AM2 processors will not work in it.

There are dual core socket 939 processors out there, so just make sure you get one of those.

And Ram affects everything (pretty much).