PC2700 vs PC3200 memory - advice needed on which to buy...

[Cobra]

Hi,

I will be putting together a PC with an Athlon 2500 Barton and an Asus A7V8X-X motherboard (which definitely supports DDR400 RAM).

My question is: if my CPU FSB is only 333MHz, is it a waste to buy PC3200 RAM?

Thanks,

CobraDMX

[redwudz]

I would get the 3200. I use a Barton 2500+ with DDR3200 and the FSB is 400. Also if you can use dual channel you can increase the bandwidth, but you need matched memory modules.
Edit: Just checked prices. Apacer 512M DDR2700=$80US, Same in DDR3200=$84US. Not much difference.

[mujahid7ia]

if u ever want to overclock that 2500, it will be nice to have FSB headroom!!!

[808smokey]

Since the price isn't really a concern $4-10.

DDR400 (PC3200) Support
DDR400 (PC3200), the latest and fastest DDR memory standard, supports bandwidth up to 3.2GB/s to provide enhanced system performance. (Note: PC3200 Max. to 2 banks only; PC2700 Max. to 4 banks only)

that's straight from the ASUS site. I would get it, you can never be too fast

[Cobra]

Thanks - I've just ordered the 512MB of PC3200. I might add another 512MB module sometime later, to take advantage of dual-channel memory. By the way, I paid £63 for a 512MB Crucial module. That's a little more than $84US!

Thanks again,

CobraDMX

[freestyler]

Sounds like a good deal

[redwudz]

The $84US was for Apacer memory, not a top brand, just the first one I saw. One problem I ran into with dual channel memory; I bought my second stick from the same dealer a week later and guess what, different serial number and it won't operate in dual channel mode. Apparently they have to be exactly matched. But from what I can gather, there is only a few percent gain in speed, so not really a problem.