Which memory sizes to buy?

TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
edited October 2004 in Hardware
My computer I built is currently running an Abit NF-7 motherboard (not a -S or -2, just a plain NF-7), an unlocked week 31 AMD Barton 2500+ processor at its stock 1.83 Ghz, and 2 256 MB sticks of Samsung PC3200 memory. (512 MB total) The MB is the Version 2.0 .

The system is currently running on the processors' stock 333 Mhz memory bus speed, which I think is = to PC2700.

I want to buy some more memory for it and increase the RAM to over 1 GB.

My 2 sticks of memory are currently in slots 1 & 2. The motherboard manual said it should be in 2 & 3, but the computer wouldn't boot up. So I put the sticks in 1 & 2 and it's been fine all year.

If I buy a 1 GB stick of PC3200, should I put it in slot 3? Or some other slot?

I'm not sure I want to buy 2 512 MB sticks, because what if I want to boost the memory again in the future for this system or build an even more advanced computer in 2-3 years?

With the amount of memory in each slot being so different (2 slots at 256 MB each and 1 slot with 1 GB), would that screw up the memory bus / memory system and actually slow things down?

I'm planning to buy a good brand, like Crucial, Kingston, or Samsung. Is Samsung a good brand?

Comments

  • Access_DeniedAccess_Denied tennessee
    edited October 2004
    i dont know much about the rest of your question but samsung is awsome :thumbsup:
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    Just remember that mixing brands and speeds of memory (ESPECIALLY generic + namebrand) can lead to a computer that won't, and will never boot unless you get matched RAM sticks.

    This problem is almost virtually eliminated when all the populated memory banks are name brand.
  • mondimondi Icrontian
    edited October 2004
    IIRC - in order to run Dual Channel, you need to either use matched sticks in slot 1/3 or slot 2/3 ... some report that you can get away with matching 1/2 with slot 3 ie: 2*256 in 1/2 and 512 in 3 - dont quote me on that, its just something ive read a couple of times and could be blatantly false ...

    strictly speaking, if you want to build a new system in 2-3 years then it really doesnt matter what you buy now, as it probably wont be up to par in that time

    I know you do a lot of video encoding etc, I do alot of the same, plus more, and with 2 * 512 sticks im perfectly happy with my computer, even encoding HD resolution video ... 1 GB is a good number..

    as far as brands go - Corsair has always made me happy :)

    m
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited October 2004
    On brands:
    Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin, Transcend, SimpleTech and Samsung are excellent. OCZ is supposed to be very very good (although I think some people will dispute that), and I've never had a problem with Dane-Elec memory, either (which uses Samsung chips; at least every stick I've ever used has).
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