pc####...?

sorry for being such a noob, but i haven't learned much on different types of RAM. all i basically know is that cosair, kingston, and crucial r the best [crucial = bestest].

pc2100 = ddr, but that and higher i probably has some other features that are important that i should be aware of.

If there are any good links that explain this stuff fully, but not REAL technical, then plz post so i can read that in my spare time.
if an explanation of it takes too long, then to get to the point, what would be the best RAM for a 8k3a+ and utilize an xp1900+ fully [1)good to o/c and 2) stable as is].

i'd rather not bother with pc3000 if that is in my range cuz i believe it's fairly new and may be buggy or sumthing.

THX a lot

PC2100 runs at 266 mhz, PC2700 runs at 333 Mhz I think. I would guess that PC2400 ran at 300 Mhz. When you get faster RAM like that, you won't notice a difference in performance, so save your cash and buy PC2100.

so a stick of 512MB pc2100 by Crucial should do just fine i guess. THX!

PC2100=2.1Gb/sec?
PC2400=2.4Gb/sec?
PC2700=2.7Gb/sec?

The PC???? refers to the rated performance of the memory and in the case of SDRAM generally refers to the MHZ at which the memory can run at such as PC66 runs at 66mhz, PC100 runs at 100 mhz and PC133 runs at 133 mhz.. there is available memory that is rated higher than this such as PC166 however the last 'official' SDRAM standard was PC133.
It may be worth remembering that just because the memory is rated at a specific speed it does not mean that you will be able to achieve that with your system as other devices may hold you back.

DDR memory offers greater bandwidth over traditional SDRAM and does not cost a great deal more. The rating method of DDR features below and works on possible bandwidth

PC1600 = (100 MHz Operating Speed) x (2x Rising & Falling) x (64-bit Bus) / (8 bits per byte) = 1600 MB/s available bandwidth.

PC2100 = (133 MHz Operating Speed) x (2x Rising & Falling) x (64-bit Bus) / (8 bits per byte) = 2128 MB/s available bandwidth.

PC2400 = (150 MHz Operating Speed) x (2x Rising & Falling) x (64-bit Bus) / (8 bits per byte) = 2400 MB/s available bandwidth.

PC2700 = (166 MHz Operating Speed) x (2x Rising & Falling) x (64-bit Bus) / (8 bits per byte) = 2656 MB/s available bandwidth.

so then would pc2700 be the best choice if i wanted a 512MB stick of RAM assuming my system can utilize the power [cosair, kingston, crucial]? relatively how much of a boost would i get compared to a 512mb pc2100?

which manufacturer would be the best choice for pc2700?

If you want to overclock, PC2400 and PC2700 are guarranteed to meet a specific speed, but other devices may hold you back. Good quality PC2100 should overclock well.

You specifically asked about the 8K3A+, so...

The KT-333 chipset used in your MB officially supports DDR333, which is effectively PC2700. It can do this in one of two ways:
- run the CPU bus at 133MHz and memory bus at 166MHz (async)
- run the CPU and memory bus at 166MHz (sync)

In the first case (async) you will not see significant benefit. In the second case, you will see an increase in memory bandwidth, but you will be effectively overclocking your CPU, unless it is unlocked and you can reduce the multiplier.

If you want a no-brainer, go with 'real' PC2700 memory. Everything else is potentially overclocked PC2100 memory.

As far as I know the Samsung pc2700 is real pc2700 and not O/Ced 2100.

If so, i may change to Samsung pc2700 rather than my initial Crucial pc2100...but can anymore confirm this or direct me to a site that does so?

I can confirm it - I have 2 sticks of Samsung PC2700 in an Epox 8K3A+ board. Picked it up at NewEgg.

Crucial will be releasing their true PC2700 shortly.

hhmmm, intro's of new products r usually expensive, i'll most likely decide samsung at the end of the week.

...

but i couldn't find any samsung pc2700 anywhere on newegg.com. other places i saw selling them did not have good ratings on http://www.resellerratings.com but there is this 1 site that doesn't have a rating at all...does anyone recommend a trustworthy site selling *samsung pc2700 512mb ddr* relatively cheap?

Edit: NM about a place to buy, but for anyone else who wants to know where i bought this, go to Ram Warehouse or Azzo Computers . both have high ratings at Resellerratings.com

CSaddict said:

As far as I know the Samsung pc2700 is real pc2700 and not O/Ced 2100.

Click to expand...

So what is the difference ?

So what is the difference ?

Click to expand...

Not much, physically. But the O/C'ed memory is pre-tested to run at the specified speed and settings. So, you are pre-assured that the memory will work at those speeds, but not necessarily beyond.

The non-O/C'ed memory is rated to run at that speed by the manufacturer, who needs to produce at a decent yield. There will likely be a safety margin on performance, making it possibly more likely that the memory will exceed the guaranteed ratings.

The JDEC Memory DDR Specifications state that PC2700 DDR must have a SDRAM Device Cycle Time of 6 nano seconds and PC2100 must have a SDRAM Device Cycle Time of 7.5 nano seconds