RAM question

[deathbyhokie]

ok, i'm sitting around working on figuring out my new computer. i plan to try to build this one myself, but i have a question about RAM. i'mm looking around on tiger direct's memory page (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_memory.asp), and there's 10 different kinds of RAM. could someone with a little mroe knowledge about this kind of stuff explain to me the difference between them all?

[theplustwo]

It depends on what kind of motherboard you use, which depends on what type of processor you use. Right now I believe AMD processors only support DDR memory, which stands for Double Data Rate (transfers data on both the up and down tick of a clock cycle). The newer, faster type is DDR2, which is supported in most newer Pentium 4 motherboards.

Most motherboards will have a specification listing that looks something like this:

Specifications:
Supported CPU: Socket 478 Intel Celeron/Pentium 4 Processor(Hyper-Threading Technology)
Chipset: Intel 875P + ICH5R
FSB: 400/533/800MHz
RAM: 4x DIMM for Dual Channel DDR 266/333/400(ECC/Non-ECC) Max 4GB
IDE: 2x UltraDMA 100 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 8X, 5x PCI, 1x CMR
Ports: 2xPS2,2xCOM,1xLPT,6xUSB2.0(Rear 4),2xLAN,Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: 7.1 Channel Audio
Onboard LAN: Intel PRO/1000CT GbE + Realtek 8101L 10/100Mbps
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x Serial ATA, RAID 0/1
Onboard 1394: VIA VT6306
Form Factor: ATX

The red part is what you care about here. This motherboard supports DDR memory (as opposed to DDR2) in 266mhz, 333mhz, and 400mhz flavors. Dual channel means that if you use two sticks of memory of the same speed, they can work in tandem for better performance. If you buy memory rated for more mhz than your motherboard supports it should still work as long as it is the correct type (DDR or DDR2) but it will only perform at the highest rated setting for your motherboard. Sometimes a BIOS update will increase the highest mhz of memory your motherboard supports, so you can recieve a sort of "stealth upgrade" later if you buy memory that outperforms your motherboard now.

The different speeds of memory are also labelled PC3200, PC5400, etc. which for the most part you can ignore, it's just marketing labels for the speed of the unit. Also, the motherboard I used supports ECC and non-ECC. Usually you'd go with non-ECC since ECC is more expensive and used mostly for server use.

[gdorf]

When looking at memory there are two major things to take into account: frequency/speed and timings. Speed is measured in mhz, and is given a rating such as pc2100 (2x133mhz), pc3200(2x200mhz) or pc4400(2x275mhz). TImings show how "tight" or optimized your memory will run, the lower the better. For instance, a 2-2-2-5 stick of pc3200 will perform much better than a 3-4-4-8 stick of pc3200, even though they are running at the same speed.

What does this mean for you? Thats where your current hardware comes into play. If you are building a power system to be used for gaming and multimedia, I'd suggest some more expensive ram with tight timings and a good brand such as OCZ or corsair, If you want to save some money, and don't care about cutting-edge performance, generic ram with poor timings might be your best choice.

The number one rule at computer forums is to post your system specs when asking a question. I can't help you much more than that without knowing what your current hardware is. Hope I helped :)

[fatcatfan]

Computer nerd that I am, I didn't even know that about RAM gdorf. Thanks. Not that I've spent a lot of time putting together my own hardware, but even so that's something important I should've known.

[theplustwo]

Computer nerd that I am, I didn't even know that about RAM gdorf. Thanks. Not that I've spent a lot of time putting together my own hardware, but even so that's something important I should've known.There are apparently two main types of computer nerds: hardware and software. One of my teachers is a textbook example. The guy has to know at least 20 programming languages, but he wouldn't know the first thing about building a system. He's not stupid about hardware, just not "nerdy" about it.

[DsS Game]

Certain types of motherboards use certain types of memory chips.

From experience and fustration, I learned that Compaqs use only certain mem chips and compaq mem chips and IBMs use only IBM mem chips.

Daywalker