can I get some help with memory please?

Hello,

I think I posted this in the wrong spot so I hope I am putting this on the right one now.
I just joined so hello to everyone. I see all these messages on PQI chips and I am wanting to upgrade. I currently have the asus p4p-800 deluxe and 512 3200 "tccc" samsung ram. I am wanting to upgrade them and am thinking, would it be better to just buy three more ram chips of the same samsung I have or can I just get these 1GB PQI Dual Channel PC4000 DDR 500 Turbo timing on the memory is 3-4-4-8 . And if I do get the samsung memory, can I mix and match it? I mean can I get the tccd and tccc chips and mix them? Will it cost me some performance?
I am looking to spend not more than 200 total plus my current chip. So about 260. What do you all think I should do? Would 2 gb of normal memory be better than 1 gb of high end memory? and would that 2 gb of normal memory be ok if they are slightly different chips? I hope I am not bieng to vague or ambiguous here and just plain confused so I hope you all can shed some light as to what my best option would be.

Thanks for all the help,

Ducman

p4p800 deluxe
200 gb hard drive
512 samsung pc3200
thermaltake case and a shi**y video card...

oops I just realized that the mobo's limit is ddr400 for ram and that pqi is 500 so it wouldnt work together. But any advice would be greatly appreciated still.

They may or may not run together, but I believe that you have better options available today. While the PQI (probably Hynix based) you've referenced is probably fine for running a 2.4c or similar P4, it gives up faster timings in exchange for the 250 fsb.

Hitting 250 today is not that difficult, with a variety of modules capable of doing it and doing it at much faster timings than 3-4-4-8. Much of the better PC3200 currently available will easily overclock to and beyond DDR500 speeds.

Examples would include any of the ram based on Samsung's TCCD, as well as the Crucial Ballistix and if you add a DDR Booster to your board, you could pick up either new OCZ eXtreme Voltage or the TwinMOS with the Winbond UTT chips or the old reliable, some used BH-5, either on eBay or in the classifieds here (once you have the requisite posts).

These days the TCCD is very popular because it will not only run 2-2-2-x at DDR400, but with slightly relaxed timings (2.5-3-3-7) will run DDR500. In many cases the 2-2-2 timings stretch way beyond DDR400 speeds and this ram is capable of hitting 275-300 speeds with timings that are much tighter than the 3-4-4-8 which the Hynix based PQI sports. Another plus for this ram is that it plays very well with A64 rigs, should you choose to go that route some day.

The Ballistix also runs very well into the DDR500 range and is certainly a contender for anyone looking for fast ram. It comes in both a PC3200 and a PC4000 package.

Then there is the new voltage loving (actually...voltage NEEDING) ram based on the Winbond UTT chips. These are capable of 245-275 at 2-2-2-x timings, provided you can hit them with 3.3v-3.6v and the OCZ brand is even warranted at those voltages.

There are lots of threads which discuss these various ram options. Read through some of them to see which one has the attributes that best fits your needs and budget and if you need clarifications or suggestions, based on your specific system, post them and I'm sure the guys will be happy to help.

Let us know how if you need links to any of those threads or reviews of specific ram.