LastEmperor Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Hello all, this is my first post here.... My friend currently gave me his computer. Its a PC running on a ABIT AA8XE mother board. Currently i only have 1 gig of ram 2 x 512 DDR2-SDRAM PC4300 266mhz my question is this: i want to upgrade my ram to 2 or 3 gigs (as i think 4gigs wont work on a 32bit system) when upgrading i see things like PC2-5300, PC2-8500, and mhz alot higher then my 266mhz so if i upgrade to a 2gig kit that is PC2-8500 and 1066mhz A) will that work? B)will my current memory (pc4300 266mhz) slow down the NEW memory making it run at that speed? i am trying to figure out if i should just add the NEW 2 gigs, along with the old memory OR if i should remove the old, and just have the new 2 gigs in there which would be faster? 2gigs new + 1gig of the old or just 2 of the new? sorry if this question sounds silly to some, but im hoping you can help PS: do i need memory that coes with the heat sink on it, or it really doesnt make a diff? ********************************************************** also, does the type of processor i have matter? like its fsb speed in conjunction with the ram thanks again, i'm waiting on answering these question before i place my order here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastEmperor Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 ok so...i figured out the something like pc6400/800mhz is backward compatible to my pc4200/533mhz BUT.....is it plug and play? OR will i have to adjust settings in BIOS? i've narrowed it down to this: Corsair XMS2 4gb (2x2gb) PC6400 800mhz http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4631346&sku=C13-6084&srkey=c13-6084 will this work in a plug and play fashion, or will i have to tweak it?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted November 23, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted November 23, 2009 I would suggest using VS4GBKIT667D2 if you just want to plug it in and go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastEmperor Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share Posted November 24, 2009 Hey RAM GUY, thank you! BUT isnt "VS4GBKIT667D2" 2gb x 2 i was under the impression that the most my system can run per slot is 1gb...thus i would need 4x1gb is this not the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Yeah, the manual states 1 GB sticks for that motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastEmperor Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share Posted November 24, 2009 hey guys.....thanks alot.....i just pulled the trigger, this is what i bought Corsair XMS2 DHX 2GB 2 GB Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800 here is my final question.....do i just install it and forget about it, or since its PC6400, will i have to mess with anything in the bios thanks alot again!!!! im going to pick up the memory and install now, so im excited! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted November 24, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted November 24, 2009 No make sure that you have the latest BIOS and then load setup defaults and set the memory Voltage to 1.9 Volts and I would set the memory frequency at DDR667 with that MB and CPU, but you are welcome to try over clocking if you wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastEmperor Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share Posted November 24, 2009 ok so i got the ram in hand, and im gonna install it some more newbie questions, so again i appologize and thanks for bearing with me i do not want to overclock or anything like that....the less i can mess with bios and things like that, the more comfortable i will be that being said...do i NEED to update my bios? my comp is working fine as is... is there any risk in performing this update? secondly, do i NEED to raise the voltage to 1.9, and change the memory frequency? all i do is browse the net, and play some games....i dont do any hardcore video editting or proccesing so is doing the above things a MUST, or is it just something you do to tweak out a little bit more performance? also, ive read about changing the CPUs bus speed..... again i rather just plug and play UNLESS there is like a huuuge difference, or if NOT doing any of these things will be negative Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted November 24, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted November 24, 2009 I would suggest just what I said, but you are welcome to try just installing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastEmperor Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share Posted November 24, 2009 hey RAM GUY, so i installed 4 x 1gb Corsair XMS2 DHX Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800 and the computer started up normally. on startup it read 3.4gb, DDR533, host DRAM 200/266mhz i went into BIOS and changed the DDRII SDRAM Voltage to 1.9v like you said. Then i went into CPU Operating Speed --> DRAM FREQ(cpu:dram) i had a few options, auto(default) and DDR400/533/600....no DDR667 like you said so i left that alone and just changed the voltage times were 4-4-4-12 restarted and went to CPU-Z, under memory it says 266.4mhz and FSB:DRAM 3:4 my questions are: is mem freq=dram freq ? if so, do i change it ddr600 or just leave it at auto? on my CPU my rated FSB is 799mhz do i even adjust anything on the CPU in conjunction with this does everything else ive mentioned look fine or should i change anything else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted November 25, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted November 25, 2009 If the system is stable I would just run it like it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastEmperor Posted November 25, 2009 Author Share Posted November 25, 2009 yes the system is stable and running well i thought that maybe something was running running it the way it is if there would be a BIG performance boost, id wanna make adjustments... but if there is a risk of complications or something, then i'll leave it alone as per your advice thanks again RAM GUY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted December 1, 2009 Corsair Employee Share Posted December 1, 2009 CPUZ shows you the actual frequency, so if it lists 266MHz, you are actually running at DDR533. You can try increasing the speed if you have the option, but it looks like it may be pushing it for this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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