Upgrading RAM on an old computer (DDR2 800)

I currently have 4 GB RAM on my computer, 2x2GB DDR2 800, A-DATA VITESTA matched for dual channel. Won't be replacing the whole PC any time soon, but still have a good GFX card (nVidia 460GTX) and recently got a cheap lapped e8600 processor. So I thought taking it up to 8 GB makes sense now.

The options are like this:

2x2GB DDR2 1066 A-DATA VITESTA sticks, matched
2x2GB DDR2 800 designer sticks with heatsinks, matched, same price, but obviously different from my current A-DATAs
generic 2x2GB DDR2 800 sticks from a reliable manufacturer, no heatsinks, half the price

2x4GB DDR2 800 sticks, three times the price of the 2x2 route, usually without heatsinks even if manufacturer is good

I can find 8GB sticks, but for two of those I could have a new PC with DDR3, so nope.

Alternatively, I can continue on 4 GB, and life will go on. (At least until I eventually find 2x2 800 Vitesta sticks on an auction.)

Apart from just getting a new PC, what looks like the best course of action here to you?

What's your usage? Gaming?
Are you actually using all of your RAM?

Using a different brand of RAM in the two open slots should be okay as long as the voltage and timings are similar in the 800 mhz apeed profile of the RAM you are adding. So go to the manufacturer's web site and look that up. For instance, if the new RAM and the old RAM both use 1.8v at 800 mzh and the CL is the same you should be okay. 1066 RAM will run at 800 mhz. To a certain extent the motherboard bios will help the different brands of RAM negotiate common ground as long as the disparity isn't too great. So I would probably go with just adding two 2x1gb sticks. I think that would be the most economical option.

Keep in mind that adding more memory will not automatically improve performance. It will only help if you are using memory intensive apps or keeping a lot of apps open at the same time. If you find the hard drive is working hard a lot while you are computing this is the best indicator that your are short on memory as you would be using the swap file a lot (aka, virtual memory).

And you say your motherboard doesn't retain bios settings? Have you tried replacing the CMOS battery?

ATMINSIDE said:

What's your usage? Gaming?

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Gaming and work. Work inolves advanced text processing software that runs on Visual Basic runtimes, and sometimes I need to open huge files, and I'm short on memory then.

As for gaming, I think strategies have the potential to fill up all the memory I can spare and then slow down.

Are you actually using all of your RAM?

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Occasionally when processing huge files or when playing a strategy game like Crusader Kings 2, yeah.

trents said:

Using a different brand of RAM in the two open slots should be okay as long as the voltage and timings are similar in the 800 mhz apeed profile of the RAM you are adding. So go to the manufacturer's web site and look that up. For instance, if the new RAM and the old RAM both use 1.8v at 800 mzh and the CL is the same you should be okay. 1066 RAM will run at 800 mhz. To a certain extent the motherboard bios will help the different brands of RAM negotiate common ground as long as the disparity isn't too great.

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Thanks. I was thinking about 1066 CL6 sticks to perhaps keep up at CL5 when reduced to 800 (I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's possible my sticks could go even at CL4).

Keep in mind that adding more memory will not automatically improve performance. It will only help if you are using memory intensive apps or keeping a lot of apps open at the same time. If you find the hard drive is working hard a lot while you are computing this is the best indicator that your are short on memory as you would be using the swap file a lot (aka, virtual memory).

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Yeah, I think that's the case. I certainly get to the point where resources are so clogged up that Alt-Tabbing out of a game can take minutes to execute or fail altogether.

And you say your motherboard doesn't retain bios settings? Have you tried replacing the CMOS battery?

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Oh yeah, I've tried everything short of replacing the mobo or BIOS sticks. Previously I could sometimes get away with saving changes, nowadays every launch or reset results in Press F1 or F2 blah blah.

Newbie, you may be better off just picking up a matching set of 2 x 4g or 4 x 2g DDR2 sticks, then trying to find a matching set of the Vitesta's. The Vitesta's are a really good set of sticks and usually cost an arm and a leg even used.

Trying to add another 2 x 2g set of sticks can work also just try and find something with similar timings to the Vitesta's.

Bios sticks? The bios is stored in a chip on the motherboard. If you have already tried replacing the CMOS battery and that did not result in the bios retaining values then you have a corrupted bios and would either need to replace the bios chip or get another motherboard. Or, I suppose it is possible that reflashing the bios might restore it so I'd try that first. I certainly would not invest in new RAM until you get the bios issue fixed.

I would go with Mandrake's idea.

Mandrake4565 said:

Newbie, you may be better off just picking up a matching set of 2 x 4g or 4 x 2g DDR2 sticks, then trying to find a matching set of the Vitesta's. The Vitesta's are a really good set of sticks and usually cost an arm and a leg even used.

Trying to add another 2 x 2g set of sticks can work also just try and find something with similar timings to the Vitesta's.

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Does it make a difference if the new pair doesn't have heatsinks? I sort of like the way my current sticks can take some heat without breaking too much sweat.

I could probably find some 1x4 GB sticks somewhere, but they usually cost about 150% of 2x2GB, even a generic bone. (Unless they are server memory, those are somewhat readily available and cheap here, except they require ECC config.)

I guess I could buy a single 4 GB stick right now and add another one a while later to up it to 12 GB at some point.

Anyway, right now I'm mostly wondering if I should buy a pair of designer sticks, not necessarily A-DATA but anything with a name and a heatsink (perhaps a 1066-rated pair in order to match the CLs of the Vitesta when clocked down to 800 MHz), or a cheaper pair, something like a generic Kingston without a heatsink or any special properties. Thoughts?

Does it make a difference if the new pair doesn't have heatsinks?

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No, unless you're planning on overclocking them it's more for show then anything.

Anyway, right now I'm mostly wondering if I should buy a pair of designer sticks, not necessarily A-DATA but anything with a name and a heatsink (perhaps a 1066-rated pair in order to match the CLs of the Vitesta when clocked down to 800 MHz), or a cheaper pair, something like a generic Kingston without a heatsink or any special properties. Thoughts?

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The reality is there aren't that many manufacturers of memory IC's so whether it's Crucial, OCZ, Corsair etc they may all have the same IC chips in them. Unless you're really planning on OCing the sticks just pick up a set you can afford with decent timings.

It seems I can somewhat easily find GEIL sticks with very similar properties, i.e. 4-4-4-12 and 2.0v, while my A-Data sticks are rated 4-4-4-12 and 1.9-2.1v. I'd be sticking with the GEILs then.

The problem is, as I just recall, though, that filling out all four banks reduces the bandwidth, so instead of 800 MHz I'd have 667 MHz and be left to play with CL's only.

So, I realize that a memory upgrade to 8 GB will not normally increase application speed but only eliminate choke points that occur when the 4 GB runs out. BUT, I do worry that I could actually suffer an fps drop in games due to downgrading to 667 in terms of speed. Is this really the case?

You most likely will not see any difference, maybe a couple of FPS.

Yes, you will notice a little slow down going from 800 to 666 mhz. But if your bios permits you to set the memory frequency manually I would try it at 800 and also give the memory controller some extra voltage.

trents said:

Yes, you will notice a little slow down going from 800 to 666 mhz. But if your bios permits you to set the memory frequency manually I would try it at 800 and also give the memory controller some extra voltage.

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Those babies are capable of 1200 MHz with relaxed CLs (I have fuzzy memories, but I think they were more receptive to bandwidth increases than CL decreases), but my ugly mobo won't keep BIOS settings. It used to be better about it, i.e. it would only lose settings upon power up but keep them after a simple reset, but these days no change ever gets saved except date. I suspect either something fails to boot and the BIOS reverts to default settings or something's seriously wrong with the mobo/BIOS sticks. Or perhaps I messed something up with the CMOS clearing jumper... Dunno what gives really, but it prolly won't let me save bandwidth and voltage.