Just a quick computer question

Factual Questions
1

Is it possible to mix memory speeds (e.g. PC2700 & PC2100) on the same motherboard? assuming the board will accept both kinds?

thanks

2

Are you asking, mixing RAM with different ratings?

Not a good idea.

Kinda like driving with one radial tire and one bias ply tire on the front. It might work, but it could really shake up the system.

When it doubt, not worth the risk. Go with RAM with the same ratings. It’s not like RAM is expensive, ya know. :slight_smile:

3

Yes you can, but it’s rather pointless. The system will not be able to run the RAM above 133Mhz (the speed of the PC2100), so the extra potential of the PC2700 will be wasted. I’d also suggest that you want all of your RAM in one stick for optimal performance and stability. One 512MB PC2700 DIMM would be better than two 256MB DIMMs, for example. This also allows you to upgrade to more RAM in the future, should you need to.

4

Pretty much what I expected. Thanks guys!

5

Really?:eek: I was under the impression that a PC 500MHZ and up could only handle 256MB of RAM. I’m running a 700MHZ machine with one 64MB DIMM with a 100BUS and one 256MB DIMM with a 133BUS…I’m running 320MB of RAM with different BUS speeds with seemingly no problems.
So could my PC clock one 512MB with a 133BUS DIMM stick? I thought only MAC’s could do that. :confused:

6

I wonder if I would get better performance out of my graphics card if I yoinked thew 64MB DIMM…
Sorry for the double post I just had to do a double take. That would be great if I could handle 512MB RAM.

7

It is highly not recommended to mix RAM of different speeds. Depending on your chipset and motherboard, you computer may refuse to run.

8
      • I have read that if the board works 100% according to standards, if you mixed different speeds of the same type of memory, that all the memory would run, but at the speed of the slowest module. Many boards fail varous technical standards though that aren’t considered real important to the manufacturers.
  • AFAIK, you can’t mix different memory types either (if your mobo has slots for both, they’re different sizes…) although I admit I haven’t looked lately. Mine has slots for both SDRAM and DDR, but if you insert any SDRAM it completely ignores any DDR inserted.
    [Mine is a Asus A7A266, ~2 yrs old]
    ~
9

I found this link which was very helpful. I guess I’ll just yoink my 64MB of RAM and see if my machine speeds up. Thou I’ve never had any problems since I installed the 256MB of RAM I’m still curiouse.