RAM question

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vskid
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RAM question

Post by vskid » Sat May 20, 2006 7:37 am

My computer's ram is 266mhz. Most of the cheap ram online is 400 mhz. Will the faster ram work in my slow computer?
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timmeh87
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Post by timmeh87 » Sat May 20, 2006 9:02 am

well if its cheaper i wouldnt call it wasteful. if anything, id recomend the opposite: get the faster ram so that in the future you have the option of getting a better processor without having to replace all your ram
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Post by vskid » Sat May 20, 2006 9:17 am

timmeh87 wrote:well if its cheaper i wouldnt call it wasteful. if anything, id recomend the opposite: get the faster ram so that in the future you have the option of getting a better processor without having to replace all your ram
Thats the way I was thinking. Now that I know it will work, we might get some (it has 512 now with 32 going to video, I want to upgrade to 1gig).
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Post by codeman » Sat May 20, 2006 11:08 am

well...it might not work. The frequency of the bus on the motherboard limits the speed of the memory as well. If the bus speed on your motherboard is only 266MHz, then putting in RAM rated for 400MHz will do nothing...it will still run at the same speed as the RAM rated for 266MHz. So check the specs on your motherboard before spending money.
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Post by vskid » Sat May 20, 2006 11:21 am

codeman wrote:well...it might not work. The frequency of the bus on the motherboard limits the speed of the memory as well. If the bus speed on your motherboard is only 266MHz, then putting in RAM rated for 400MHz will do nothing...it will still run at the same speed as the RAM rated for 266MHz. So check the specs on your motherboard before spending money.
I know that, its just that 400mhz ram is generally cheaper than 266mhz.

EDIT: my bus speed is 266mhz
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Post by bicostp » Sat May 20, 2006 11:25 am

As long as the RAM is the same type as your existing RAM it should work. Make sure it uses the same pin layout (ie don't buy DDR RAM if your motherboard uses SDRAM), and make sure you don't get ECC RAM if your motherboard can't handle it.

Go to http://www.kahlon.com to find out what kind of memory works in your PC. It will also tell you how much your motherboard can address (if you exceed its maximum you'll get an error on the POST) and what speeds it will work at.

If you go to the store to buy it, make sure you get the faster RAM. It should work with a slower bus speed. The RAM speed is dependant of your motherboard, but if you have, say a PC100 ram stick in there and you add a PC133 stick, the PC133 RAM will run at 100 mhz.

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Post by vskid » Sat May 20, 2006 6:30 pm

Here is my current ram info
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So will my mobo work with this?
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