DDR333 + DDR400 runs at DDR333?

Hi everyone, I haven't really had time to follow modern computers, though I have an interest. With my classes out for a while, and a couple computer situations coming up at the same time I've tried to delve back into computers. I am running the old machine in my sig.

I built a computer a few months ago for my roomate, in which we put 2g (2x1g) Corsair XMS3200 DDR400 RAM. He decided to change his RAM, and has an extra stick, which I have ended up with. My question is, if I am currently running 3 512 sticks of DDR333 and I ditch one off of my NF7-S v2 (which supports DDR400) and toss this in, will I effectively be running 2g of DDR333, or will something worse happen? I am very sure that the DDR400 can't run faster than the DDR333.

Anyway, I don't know too much more about the RAM, though I'd love to learn more about all this stuff. None of it has been OCed though.

all your sticks will run at ddr333 because the other sticks aren't rated at ddr400

With miss-matched speed ram, the ram will default to the lowest speed stick

maelstromracing said:

With miss-matched speed ram, the ram will default to the lowest speed stick

Click to expand...

This is what I thought, but it wont hurt the RAM or anything running two different brands, sizes, and speeds?

nope

Thanks for the confirmation.

edit: another question, would running 2g of ram, at ddr266 be better than 1gb at ddr400? Just overall performance. One stick of ddr400 1gb and one of ddr266 1gb. Im having trouble quantifying it in my mind. I seem to think that 1gb of ddr400 would probably be faster than 2gb of ddr266? Or the ddr is just slightly better? Sorry for the newbie questions

It all depends on what software you are running. If your software needs more than 1 Gig in normal operation, then you would be better off with 2 Gigs of ddr266. But, if you normally don't run software that requires more than 1 Gig, then you would be better off running ddr400.

Hmm I suppose that makes sense. Is there anywhere I can read more about the real differences in the various ram types and speeds?

Here is a good description http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_SDRAM