Memory CPU question

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GuitarPlayer
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2006/07/31 18:57:18 (permalink)

Memory CPU question

I am considering upgrading my RAM to 2 or more gig (I already have a 1gig DDR400 stick in there). Is it better to have the same brand of memory throught or will various brands "play nice" together? What's the potential downside of mixing brands? And which will improve performance more: the RAM upgrade or bumping the CPU from Athlon 64x2 3800 to 4400?

Thanks!
Bob

AMD Athlon 64x2 4800, Gigabyte GA-K8U-939, 2Gig Corsair DDR400 RAM, RME HDSP9652, Yamaha 01V96, 2xUAD-1, Sonar 6PE
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    brendantownsend
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    RE: Memory CPU question 2006/07/31 19:58:39 (permalink)

    Hi Bob.

    Thanks for your UPS feedback, so here's my 2c regarding memory...

    My old DAW has four slots occupied with 512Mb each of DDR400. Two are of one brand (can't remember which) and two of Kingston. However, I don't believe there to be many/any issues of mixing memory types as it only becomes a critical issue if using fast DDR2 as they are addressed differently. There may be issues regarding latency timings if generically applied by your motherboard BIOS, though as far as I can recall my particular mobo allowed me to set the parameters for each memory slot individually so this may not be an issue either.

    Regarding use, if your needs are such that you start going into swapfile to supplement a memory shortfall then this would absolutely crucify performance, in which case a memory upgrade would be to your considerable advantage. However, if you are using XP then it would probably be a good idea anyway to upgrade to at-least 1.5GB or even 2GB for a DAW. It really depends on how you intend to load/use your RAM and what the resource figures look like during normal use.

    I couldn't comment on the AMD CPU upgrade I'm afraid as I'm only an Intel user (waiting for the pricey new Intel skt.775 screamer to come down a bit in price before I go there )

    Hopefully this has been of some help though.

    All the best,

    Brendan.

    ______________________________________________
    S6Pro; P5v2; XV-5080; V-Drums+SPD11; 2x Delta 1010; Soundcraft 24ch; TC M3000 Reverb; Keystation Pro88; Alesis M1Active 620; Dual 3.2GHz 2+2MB; 4GB 800MHz XMS-2; 5x 10krpm HDD; RAID-0; XP PRO & 64
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    Opus
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    RE: Memory CPU question 2006/08/01 16:46:49 (permalink)
    You won't feel much of a bump on the cpu side.
    Have you dellved into the black art of overclocking?
    If not try Hard ocp, lots of pc brainage !
    Memory is a different horse all together!
    Depending on your Mother board, Like (the same) memory is important.
    I'm running DDR in dual mode and thus the timings are very tight.
    I bought aready packaged "twin sticks" that are tested in dual configuration.
    You can use different types of memory, but what will happen is that the system will run at the slowest stick.
    Corsair Memory for me thankyou. Lifetime warranty and great customer support.
    I really don't see a need for more then 2 gigs right now, but then again, I'm waiting for the dust to settle on the new core 2 duo
    sounds hella fast.
    h let's not forget the Power supply !
    Don't get me wrong I'm runnin AMD right now and if AMD should match Intel who knows ?
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