Can you combine 2 different speeds of RAM?

Bboy_Jon

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Joined

Dec 2, 2003

• May 17, 2004

• #1

well ya my dad ordered a dell dimension 2400, and it has a stick of 256 DDR (i think sdram) so could i put in a stick of 256 2700 or 3200? or will that just not work

also how do i figure out the speed of my RAM?

 

T

Tatuya

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Joined

Mar 4, 2004

Location

Crunching Einstein@Home

• May 17, 2004

• #2

For the first question, yes you can but it is really a waste of moneyif you buy a stick too fast or slow. The faster stick will default to the same timings and speed of the lower stick, etc.

For the second question, check out your bios OR go here and get cpu-z. It should tell you your FSB and ram speed .

 

Silent Buddha

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Joined

Nov 30, 2003

Location

Bellevue, WA

• May 17, 2004

• #3

If it has SDRAM...then there's no way you can fit 184-pin DDR sticks into ~168 ping SDRAM sockets. But if the Dell has DDR, then you should be able to mix different speeds of DDR. The faster DDR will just clock down to meet the FSB. Should work as long as it isn't in dual-channel.

 

OP

Bboy_Jon

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Joined

Dec 2, 2003

• May 17, 2004

• Thread Starter
• #4

the ram at the site is

256MB Shared DDR SDRAM at 333MHz

 

unreal

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Joined

Jul 18, 2003

Location

miami

• May 17, 2004

• #5

techniquly yes you can, they willrun at the slower speed,

 

OP

Bboy_Jon

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Joined

Dec 2, 2003

• May 17, 2004

• Thread Starter
• #6

i tried that cpu-z thing and it doesnt say anything about the speed of the ram it just says 156mb

does anybody know the mobo that the 2400 has?

 

Reefa_Madness

DRAM Guru Senior

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Joined

Feb 26, 2004

• May 18, 2004

• #7

It seems to me that I remember running across a site that had a file you could download which would identify the motherboard in your dell. I'll set that brain search into action, and if I can remember where I saw it, I'll post it here.

 

Last edited: May 18, 2004

Reefa_Madness

DRAM Guru Senior

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Joined

Feb 26, 2004

• May 18, 2004

• #8

Ok, I found it, but its for Intel, not Dell (they sort of sound the same, don't they?).

I did remember 2 sites that will do diagnostics and one for sure, tells you what kind of mobo you have in your PC. I did it with a friends Compaq and another's HP, so it should work with the Dell.

1st Link - go to Products and select Belarc Advisor:
http://www.belarc.com/

2nd Link:
http://www.pcpitstop.com/