Future Conroe memory support: Keep current 2GB PC2-5400 DDR2 or Upgrade

[Burner27]

I have a really dumb question, so I will ask it. I currently have 2GBs (4 x 512MB) of Kingston HyperX PC2-5400 DDR2 (667) in my machine now. The processor I am using is a P4 840D XE CPU that runs on the 800MHz FSB.

My question is this, am I holding back performance in any way by using PC2-5400 ram? Should I invest in some PC2-6400 (800MHz) ram now fro future Conroe support?

Thanks

[JimboJoe43]

Should you buy new memory modules?
Is there something wrong with your current sticks?
Then yes.
If not then no.

Better and cheaper chips will come out with the release of AM2/Conroe anyways..

If I were you I wouldnt even update memory even after conroe comes out and wait a bit until you install Vista or something when you actually need more memory.

Right now there is not much competition.

OCZ had the only PC8000 at newegg for a while and were $600+.
They are now selling Patriot PC8000 modules and the OCZ chips took over a $100 nosedive...
Yesterday I saw some Geil Ultra PC8000 2gig kits for about $400.

Just wait, competition will heat up and you the consumer will reap the benefits.

[Burner27]

Should you buy new memory modules?
Is there something wrong with your current sticks?
Then yes.
If not then no.

Better and cheaper chips will come out with the release of AM2/Conroe anyways..

If I were you I wouldnt even update memory even after conroe comes out and wait a bit until you install Vista or something when you actually need more memory.

Right now there is not much competition.

OCZ had the only PC8000 at newegg for a while and were $600+.
They are now selling Patriot PC8000 modules and the OCZ chips took over a $100 nosedive...
Yesterday I saw some Geil Ultra PC8000 2gig kits for about $400.

Just wait, competition will heat up and you the consumer will reap the benefits.

Nope, nothing wrong with the memory I am using now. I was just curious as to whether I was hindering performance of my machine by using memory that was not running at the FSB speed.

[ORCBEAST]

Nope, nothing wrong with the memory I am using now. I was just curious as to whether I was hindering performance of my machine by using memory that was not running at the FSB speed.

I wouldnt see the need for it unless your extreme overclocker with phase units etc.

Check at fuggers results he running Memory: 2x512MB PC2-4200 Mushkin @ 3-2-2-4 (1:1)

1:1 ratio and his at 1333 FSB with 345Mhz on the memory.


http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98115

Anyway what I do is if I can get a good deal on my old stuff and then sell them and with that money replace them with the newest and latest then yea i would do it..

[Burner27]

I wouldnt see the need for it unless your extreme overclocker with phase units etc.

Check at fuggers results he running Memory: 2x512MB PC2-4200 Mushkin @ 3-2-2-4 (1:1)

1:1 ratio and his at 1333 FSB with 345Mhz on the memory.


http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98115

Anyway what I do is if I can get a good deal on my old stuff and then sell them and with that money replace them with the newest and latest then yea i would do it..

So is the memory I have (Kingston HyperX PC2-5400 DDR2) good ram?

[ORCBEAST]

So is the memory I have (Kingston HyperX PC2-5400 DDR2) good ram?

Ive never owned a pair but I wouldnt say its crap. I will wait till someone else can give u a straight answer.

I wouldnt worrie about it untill you start seeing problems when you own a conroe setup. ;)

[Salohcine]

Your memory is outdoing the cpu im afraid. The Intel processors use a quad pumped FSB, the real FSB speed is 1/4 of that advertised and is also the speed your memory runs at. Unless you are running a divider on the ram then your ram will be running at 200mhz like your CPU fsb and your ram can manage 266fsb.

Conroes use 1066 quad pumped so its really 266mhz the speed your ram will do, however the faster 1333 fsb models they are marketing are infact 333mhz real fsb speed which your ram might do when overclocked.

[macci]

Unless you are running a divider on the ram then your ram will be running at 200mhz like your CPU fsb and your ram can manage 266fsb.
PC5400 is rated for 333MHz not 266. and it will do fine w/ Conroe - low latency would not hurt however..

PC3200 = 200MHz (aka DDR400)
PC4200/4300 = 266MHz (aka DDR533)
PC5400 = 337.5MHz (aka DDR667)
PC6400 = 400MHz (aka DDR800)
PC8000 = 500MHz (aka DDR1000)

[DaWaN]

So is the memory I have (Kingston HyperX PC2-5400 DDR2) good ram?
It's infineon 3,7ns ram with some fancy HyperX spreaders and a 5400 spd. Most of them don't even reach 700mhz. I think they aren't really great for overclocking but for normal use they will do well.

[vintage_guitar]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820144326
Would those work for conroe overclocking, possibly going from 2.4 to 3ghz (e6600) they are rated for ddr2 667 but reached 942 on the tomshardware tests.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/04/11/live_memory_test/page2.html
What do you guys think?

[kyleslater]

Yeah low latency helps a lot. But with the P4's higher bandwidth helps a lot. For me going from (setting) of 533 to setting of 667 with the same ram got me another 80 marks with 3D Mark 2006 (and that's not a benchmark that should be changing with that setting).

I wish I had gone with some good DDR2-800 but it's not necessary. I do think that DDR2-533 is too slow though. Not enough room to lower the ram if you want to for really high FSB's

[Burner27]

I am not an overclocker, but I do want to make sure that my ram is not holding me back.

Is using 4 x 512MBs worse than using 2 x 1GB sticks in terms of performance?

So you guys are saying the ram I am using now is good enough to use with the 1333MHz FSB Conroes?

[freecableguy]

BW will be more important for Conroe than low latency. The load pre-fetch ability of the Conroe to keep it's L1/L2 caches full do a lot to keep the penalty of low-latency DDR2 down.

[Burner27]

BW will be more important for Conroe than low latency. The load pre-fetch ability of the Conroe to keep it's L1/L2 caches full do a lot to keep the penalty of low-latency DDR2 down.


So what does that mean for me and my Ram, FCG?

[freecableguy]

Meaning that the higher the ram rating (8000 vs. 6400) the better, assuming:
you can reach that FSB (RAM and CPU speed). The best timings for that speed will be just fine.

Investing in anything right now because of upcoming Conroe support is not really a wise move. Waiting until Conroe is available before buying nre DDR2 will probably allow you to save money and get the newest and best at that time. I would just sit tight if I were you.

[kyleslater]

Keep in mind that my DDR2-667 @ 4-4-4-6 has a latency of 11.7Ms (or whatever the rating is the number is 11.7).
My old DDR400 of 2.5-3-3-5 had latency of 12.7 due to the lower bandwidth.
If you can get DDR2-1000 with 5-5-5-15 that would be sweet stuff (if you can actually use the bandwidth). My recommendation is the G.Skill DDR2-800. It's the best of both worlds... 4-4-4-12 (should run @ -6 as mine is rated the same) and the 800 MHz bandwidth. I am using Mushkin EM2 ram if that helps any (got it because it was really cheap and I trusted Mushkin).

[Daveb2012]

do you guys think this would be acceptable for a conroe e6600:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227030

[FUGGER]

Thats a great price

Most likely Elpida, 4-4-4-15 @ 800 should be possible with voltage.