Memory, etc.?

SurfinShell23

I'm looking into some system upgrades and have some questions about how DDR memory works.

So I'm looking at the AMD Duron 1.8GHz, which has an FSB of 266MHz.

The board I'm looking at... a Soyo... supports PC2100 (266MHz) and PC2700 (300MHz).

My questions include...

1) Is Soyo a good or bad mobo company? (that's unrelated)

2) Can I put PC3200 400MHz DDR memory in this system?

3) Does the memory speed need to match FSB speed?

4) Anyone have experience with CoolMax or Diablo PSU's?

Thanks, guys.

BOD

1. dont know
2. yes but it probably wont work at full speed
3. no
4. no

RN

1 . Soyo is a good mobo company. I've had no problems with them.

2. Probably not.

3. Nope.

4. NOPE!

SurfinShell23

Got mixed messages on number 2... have to see another response at some point.

Know I don't know if this is gonna happen or not. My parents had been complaining that the FamPC ( PIII 550MHz, some amount in the 200MB's of SDRAM) was slow. And I think it is, especially judging by Seti unit output.

So I went on last night and found that I could upgrade it to a Duron 1.8 w/ Soyo board and 512MB DDR for just $160. They then decided that it wasn't slow anymore, just at startup, which they said wasn't an issue since I have it left on all the time now. Oh well.

I may be considering building a FamPC to replace the Cele600 here in the Poconos. I'm not sure if I'd go Duron or lower end A64 on that, I'd have to do another price comparison. We might be getting broadband here in the Poconos soon, and I'd only build something to replace the Cele600 if that happened. I don't see much of a point in me upgrading it if it's still going to be on dialup. That would probably occur sometime from January to June.

Thanks guys.

RN

"Probably not" means the same thing as "Yes but..."

stitch

So building another system eh shell?

Dont you have enough.

wingzeroismine

I don't know about soyo

Some systems allow you to place higher speed ram, but they will run only at the systems speed (why buy higher speed stuff, put what the mobo can handle and save a bit)

For optimum preformance, make them match

I have no experiece with either PSU

SurfinShell23

Tof, you know I standardly say that I'm building something but it never happens anyway.

Even so... my main PC is a P41.7 which is beginning to get just a little lacking in the speed department.... and since my parents did seem to want an upgrade until it costed $160 I wanted to find out more about it.

I've actually never built a system purely from scratch so I thought maybe starting out with something like a Duron might be a good idea. :remembers broken P4 pin incident:

Thanks for the clarification Rog.

The RAM would be the same cost as far as I can tell for each speed. Oddly sometimes the PC3200 is cheaper. I guess it's supply and demand or something.

wingzeroismine

I haven't built a system from scratch either. I want to someday, but it won't be possible till I get off my butt and go find a job.... there's so few options near me, and none of those options relate to computers.

SurfinShell23

Yea.... if it were for my parents, they'd pay for parts (which would be value components) and I'd of course do the labor for free.

As far as if that doesn't happen and I build a system for myself, I'm not quite sure how it would all play out. If it were an upgrade to the FamPC in the Poconos that we all use it could be a 50/50 split or something.

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DevilsJim89

I have a 400mhz FSB and I have one 256MB PC2100(266mhz) stick and a 256MB PC2700(333mhz) stick and both work perfectly.

Shell, it seems like your doing your research before buying which is good. Always check the reviews at Newegg, Tigerdirect,...etc to see what people say about them. Reviews are always important.

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DevilsJim89

whatever works...i dont care. havent had any problems.

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SurfinShell23

DevilsJim89 wrote:

Shell, it seems like your doing your research before buying which is good. Always check the reviews at Newegg, Tigerdirect,...etc to see what people say about them. Reviews are always important.

I tend to value research of what actually is going to work together and what won't more than what people say about the brands... except in stuff that's mostly the same spec wise but values in opinion, like PSU's. But I will check out what others are saying for stuff like the RAM brands... but first I had to find out how the speeds would impact it.

Considering I saw the PC3200 for the same price as the others it would probably be best to get that.

What about SDRAM... like my P41.7 uses SDRAM... I'm not sure what speeds it's running at, maybe that's impacting it's performance.

RN

Its most likely PC133. That's what 'impacting your performance'

SurfinShell23

Or if it's PC100 on one of the 256 sticks, would the other slow down to 100MHz, too?

Slash

SurfinShell23 wrote:

1) Is Soyo a good or bad mobo company? (that's unrelated)

I think it's OK... dunno exactly

2) Can I put PC3200 400MHz DDR memory in this system?

Yea, you can... but it will be slower than you think...

3) Does the memory speed need to match FSB speed?

No it doesn't

4) Anyone have experience with CoolMax or Diablo PSU's?

Yea, they kick ass!

Thanks, guys.

Not at all

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Slash

Tom, you've made me confused too...

wingzeroismine

... what's so confusing, he explained everything quite clearly... even providing real world situations.

Q

Remember, English isn't his native language. What you and I see clear as crystal may hinge on 1 or 2 words which, when missed or interpreted incorrectly, cause the whole sentence or paragraph to lose meaning and sense.

I hate to bring this up, Slash, but I also hate to see you struck down for what isn't your fault.

-Q

PS. That's what I think it is, feel free to correct me.

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wingzeroismine

Q wrote:

Remember, English isn't his native language. What you and I see clear as crystal may hinge on 1 or 2 words which, when missed or interpreted incorrectly, cause the whole sentence or paragraph to lose meaning and sense.

I hate to bring this up, Slash, but I also hate to see you struck down for what isn't your fault.

-Q

PS. That's what I think it is, feel free to correct me.

Yeah, the language barrier is a good point...

SurfinShell23

Thanks, Tom. Remember my P41.7 that was taking 40 hours to do a SETI unit? It's SDRAM. Maybe that's why... though the time is much less now.

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Ka0s

Tomchu wrote:

It's the SD-RAM, and the fact that it's a P4 1.7. A Pentium 4 1.7 GHz is about as fast as a Pentium III 1.2 GHz/Athlon 1.1 GHz.

BTW, I have to clarify one thing with you SETI people ... one SETI unit != another SETI unit. They are *all* different. On a modern system, one unit might take 1.5 hours, while a different unit could take 4 hours. Don't go benchmarking your systems based on how fast you can do a unit. It's radio wave analysis, mmkay, kids?

I have to clarify one thing once again, Tom... We are talking AVERAGE time, its all the times added up then devided by the number, NOT a single unit.


Shell: My 400MHz takes 40 hours / unit... Your P4 sucks.

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Ka0s

Ummm... They record it all on their site...

SurfinShell23

Fish... it's now at approx 7 hours/ unit.