RAM.. PC2100 vs PC3200

MaceMace Columbus, Ohio
edited December 2003 in Hardware
I have a silly question about RAM types that I was wondering..

First, I work retail sales for a major computer company part time, and Intel had a deal for $200 for a 3GHZ HT P4, 865 chipset mobo, and XP Pro for people in retail sales. I jumped at it since my PC is almost 3 years old, and I made a list of all the upgrades that I was going to do and PC3200 RAM was one of them..

I've since ordered a laptop and my wife says if I spend anymore money she'll have my cajones removed. So, my question...

When I built my old PC I put two sticks of PC2100 in, I basically want to know how crappy it's going to be using that RAM on a new mobo and cpu. I've checked the Intel specs on the mobo and it does support my current RAM. I've looked everywhere I can think of to get comparisons as far as benchmarks, but I've never seen anyone use PC2100 on a HyperThreaded processor and 865/875 chipset. All I want to do is use all my old parts and swap the Processor and mobo.

I know it has to better than my old Athlon 1.2, I am just trying to save money for the time being. Looks like I can talk her into letting me buy a few things at a time.

Any comments?


Specs on old system
Athlon 1.2 @ 1.5 - Will be 3GHZ P4 HT
Asus A7M266 - Will be Intel 865
512MB Crucial PC2100 (2x256)
40GB IBM 7200
GF2 Ultra
SB Live X-Gamer
Enermax 451 PS

Comments

  • NYCDrewNYCDrew NYC(duh)
    edited October 2003
    First off, welcome to Icrontic. :) About your RAM question, you will be able to use the PC2100 in your system, but it will be a bottleneck.

    If you can't get your wife to ok the new RAM now, I'd say throw in the old RAM with an eye on upgrading it as soon as the funds are available. I know how it is to have the wife questioning upgrade costs, especially when they don't have a clue as to how truly important having the fastest stuff is. ;)

    When you do upgrade, don't try to keep the old RAM as the new RAM will only run as fast as the slowest stick.
  • MaceMace Columbus, Ohio
    edited October 2003
    Thanks for the welcome, it's been ages since I have visited.

    I have told her that will be my first upgrade and I overestimated the price so I can tell her what a deal i got ;) although I think she's on to me though, the laptop was supposedly going to be $1200 and I ended up at $1700.

    I kinda expected people to hollar and scream about how crappy the old RAM will be. I do know that, but atleast I get to take advantage of the processor.

    Next question. I'm going to have to reformat when I change aren't I? I thought I read somewhere that I may not have to. I expect to reformat, but if I don't have to, I wont.
  • kanezfankanezfan sunny south florida Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    you can doa repair install, of XP, ost people will tell you you're better oof with a clean install, eh i dont' know, but to answer you, you DO NOT have to format.
  • NYCDrewNYCDrew NYC(duh)
    edited October 2003
    I've stuck and old hard drive into a new system and was able to, after a little work, get windows to recognize all the new stuff and stop looking for the old stuff, but I wouldn't reccomend it. I ended up re-formatting later on and was happy I did. It made my system more responsive. It also ended my hesitation to re-format in the future.

    I had stuff on my hard drive that I didn't know if I could replace, stuff I wasn't sure I'd remember to back up, settings I didn't want to have to tweak again, etc...

    But when I reformatted, I did everything I should have done in the first place. I partitioned my drives so that I had separate drives for data, that would never again be phased by re-formatting.

    I installed Windows, updated it, updated all my drivers, and then made a back up of it, so that if I ever want to re-format again, I just re-image the partition and now I have a new install already updated.

    You'll be happier if you re-format it's not as horrible as it seems, and everything will load faster, work better and you'll have more room than you do now. It's really surprising how much stuff stays on your hard drive after installing stuff and deleting stuff.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Tell her you are getting some PC3200 or she looses the ne lappy. Then do a fresh install of XP.
  • MaceMace Columbus, Ohio
    edited October 2003
    I think what I am going to do is backup all the folders on my laptop and then reformat. Easiest way to do it I think :)
  • Major-HeadacheMajor-Headache Central Fla
    edited November 2003
    Mace - I just reloaded my other half's old Gateway in the same fashion. Just setup your network and move all the pertinent data to the shared folder of the laptop. Verify that you copied any favorites you may need (dont lose your Icrontic url :D ) , My Documents, Address Books, etc. You may want to go ahead and copy the current drivers to the laptop as well to save you some time in the end. The most important is the NIC driver, I made that mistake for the last time.... took about 30mins to identify and download the right one and copy to a floppy from my other PC. :(

    Take my advise on fresh installs, you do NOT want to repair or re-install over top of the existing just to save 15-20mins today. Believe me, it will come back to haunt you at the most inopertune time.
  • MaceMace Columbus, Ohio
    edited November 2003
    Thats what I ended up doing basically. Saved all my info onto my laptop, and did a fresh install. Stupid thing is, I think I am going to order a serial HDD, so I will have to start fresh again anyhow.
  • antthisantthis Bowling Green ky
    edited December 2003
    I did a repair install one day it load my friend backup setting and application that i had save on the hd. It was messed up i think im being a post whore but o well
Sign In or Register to comment.