• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Why buy PC2700 if PC2100 is sufficient? (if not OCing)

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

fuzzywuzzy

Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2003
Location
Toronto, Canada
Hi everybody,

I'm a newb when it comes to overclocking, and I've begun to do some research, however, I haven't been able to find an answer to this one...

CAS and RAS timings for memory modules is important. Fine. I understand that much.

Scenario: I will be purchasing an MSI KT3-Ultra2 mobo (266Mhz) and an AMD AthlonXP 2100+ to match. I intend on purchasing no name PC2700 DDR333 RAM.

Is purchasing no name DDR333 just as good for overclocking as good name brand DDR266 for overclocking? (I'm assuming the RAS/CAS timings are crappy for BOTH, but I'm asking whether the extra 'bandwidth' of DDR333 would some how make up for that, if I were to overclock)

Is there *any* reason why I would want to purchase DDR333 if I were not going to overclock? (My CPU only needs DDR266 anyhow, why spend $15 more??)
 
If performance matters not to you, cheap out on the ram. Buying quality ram allows you to run higher clock speeds and/or lower latency timings at a given clock speed. Cheap PC2700 ram may actually be slower than quality PC2100 ram as it may not tolerate tight timings even at 266MHz. There are precious few times when you can decide on buying the cheapest and not pay a price. Were it not so there would only exist the cheapest form of each component.

That being said expense is not always the best indicator of a given stick of memory's potential. If you knowledge of the particular item in question is limited to the basic spec-sheet figures (psuedo knowledge, as I refer to it) you set yourself up for a dissapointment no matter how much you spend. Each PC component has its own unique qualities, and knowing the manufacturer, specs, or price may not scratch the surface of what there is to know about it.

So in summary, unless you really know something about ram don't buy the cheapest thing you can find. My Kingston Value Ram PC2700 was the cheapest when bought and performs on par with the best. This type of relationship occurs very infrequently, and you really have to know what you are looking at to spot it when it does. Since the heyday of Winbond chipped Value ram many other varieties have surfaced that don't perform nearly as well.

Basically the only thing you risk by buying cheap ram for a non-overclocked rig is it may not run on the fastest timings. This is not a huge concern, but if performance matters $15 is not too much to spend to pursue it.
 
Thanks for the responses...

I think I might have confused everyone though...

I suppose my primary question was...

If I'm running an Athlon XP 2100+ CPU (266 FSB), and am intent on going cheap and buying no name DDR RAM, is there any reason why I would want to buy DDR333? (instead of DDR266)

I'm getting the feeling that good name brand DDR266 (PC2100) is far superior than no name brand DDR333 (PC2700). Good.

That aside, no name DDR266 vs no name DDR333. Why would I want to get DDR333? (I don't intend on upgrading to a 333FSB CPU anytime, so that knocks out a possible reason.)
 
Terry said:
And cheap memory can do some very strange things...
Yeah, like not even work at it's rated spec. :mad: The cheapest deal can be the best deal, but not always. I saved $5 on my most recent memory purchase, and all I had to do in exchange for that $5 off was to de-overclock my memory/fsb and reduce my timings from best that my motherboard has to worst. Double :mad:
 
fuzzywuzzy said:
Thanks for the responses...

I think I might have confused everyone though...

I suppose my primary question was...

If I'm running an Athlon XP 2100+ CPU (266 FSB), and am intent on going cheap and buying no name DDR RAM, is there any reason why I would want to buy DDR333? (instead of DDR266)

I'm getting the feeling that good name brand DDR266 (PC2100) is far superior than no name brand DDR333 (PC2700). Good.

That aside, no name DDR266 vs no name DDR333. Why would I want to get DDR333? (I don't intend on upgrading to a 333FSB CPU anytime, so that knocks out a possible reason.)


If you buy yourself some pc2100 try to find a brand name, Infenion or Samsung will be fine. For your purpose I would say that your pc2100 no name should work fine and odds are it will or should run faster timing settings.

Cisco KId
 
To answer your question, get pc2700 if your motherboard supports 3:4 memory ratio. Then you can run your memory @ 333 while your FSB is 133. If your motherboard only has 1:1 ratio, get PC2100.
 
How to determine whether a mobo supports this ratio stuff? I'm considering the following mobos :

MSI KT3 Ultra 2
Asus A7V333 or A7S333

(Note I'll be running an Athlon XP2100+, 266FSB. So, if the mobo doesn't support this 3:4 memory ratio, I'm wasting money buying the PC2700.)

TheNamelessOne said:
To answer your question, get pc2700 if your motherboard supports 3:4 memory ratio. Then you can run your memory @ 333 while your FSB is 133. If your motherboard only has 1:1 ratio, get PC2100.
 
fuzzywuzzy said:
How to determine whether a mobo supports this ratio stuff? I'm considering the following mobos :

MSI KT3 Ultra 2
Asus A7V333 or A7S333

(Note I'll be running an Athlon XP2100+, 266FSB. So, if the mobo doesn't support this 3:4 memory ratio, I'm wasting money buying the PC2700.)


All of those are 333MHz capable boards so PC2700 would be optimal...just not necessary.
 
Yes, they're all 333Mhz capable boards, but how do I find out if they support this memory ratio stuff as mentioned TheNamelessOne?

Jon said:


All of those are 333MHz capable boards so PC2700 would be optimal...just not necessary.
 
Back