DDR Question

On Jun 24, 11:40 am, Pen <nos....DeleteThis@nospam.com> wrote:
> Bassman wrote:
> > Hello everyone,
> > I have a MSI km4m-v AMD board that I wanted to upgrade the memory. I
> > found a deal at Fry's for 2gb of PC3200. I thought I had 400fsb but
> > turns out the MB supports up to 333fsb. I was reading that my MB
> > supports memory at 2.5v. I was wondering if PC3200 w/400fsb will run
> > at this voltage or higher? Does it really matter since my system runs
> > max at 333fsb?
>
> > Thanks is advance for your assistance
>
> Sure, no problem. Crucial specs PC4000 as working in your board.

Thank you so much.. I never thought to check other vendors site. I
searched MSI and Corsair. Thanks again!
 >> Stay informed about: DDR Question 

On Jun 24, 11:55 pm, "jameshanle...@yahoo.co.uk"
<jameshanle....TakeThisOut@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:<snip>

I mentioned something about 2.6v RAM being unique and for extra
powerful RAM.
Correction.
That doesn't seem to be the case. I just found some Kingston DDR
333, (that's PC2700) with a label on it that says 2.6v

I guess, check before buying the RAM. But RAM that is more than 2.5v
should be labelled.

I'd be a little more suspicious that kingston RAM may be 2.6v . Since
yours is, and mine is.

Your MBRD&BIOS supports it.
I don't know if all do. ?

anyhow, you're ok,
 >> Stay informed about: DDR Question 

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:15:35 -0700,
"jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk" <jameshanley39.TakeThisOut@yahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

>On Jun 24, 11:55 pm, "jameshanle...@yahoo.co.uk"
><jameshanle....TakeThisOut@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:<snip>
>
>I mentioned something about 2.6v RAM being unique and for extra
>powerful RAM.
>Correction.
>That doesn't seem to be the case. I just found some Kingston DDR
>333, (that's PC2700) with a label on it that says 2.6v

A mere 0.1V is not much of a difference, overclocking memory
may spec or require 2.7 or higher voltage. Often with
Kingston they just used low quality chips that need the
higher voltage to meet their spec. Frankly I can't
understand why Kingston Valueram sells at all these days
unless it's nearly free after rebate, because for the $ it
has a higher cost for low-end memory.



>
>I guess, check before buying the RAM. But RAM that is more than 2.5v
>should be labelled.
>
>I'd be a little more suspicious that kingston RAM may be 2.6v . Since
>yours is, and mine is.
>
>Your MBRD&BIOS supports it.
>I don't know if all do. ?
>
>anyhow, you're ok,
>

Mainly it's important to check the system bios to confirm
that the board supports memory voltage changes. Often a
2.6V module will be stable at 2.5V, but of course best is
not to be in that situation by buying a 2.5V rated part or
being able to change the voltage.
 >> Stay informed about: DDR Question 

On Jun 25, 5:15 am, "jameshanle...@yahoo.co.uk"
<jameshanle... DeleteThis @yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On Jun 24, 11:55 pm, "jameshanle...@yahoo.co.uk"
>
> <jameshanle... DeleteThis @yahoo.co.uk> wrote:<snip>
>
> I mentioned something about 2.6v RAM being unique and for extra
> powerful RAM.
> Correction.
> That doesn't seem to be the case. I just found some Kingston DDR
> 333, (that's PC2700) with a label on it that says 2.6v
>
> I guess, check before buying the RAM. But RAM that is more than 2.5v
> should be labelled.
>
> I'd be a little more suspicious that kingston RAM may be 2.6v . Since
> yours is, and mine is.
>
> Your MBRD&BIOS supports it.
> I don't know if all do. ?
>
> anyhow, you're ok,

Thank you for the reply. I was really not worried about the voltage
issue UNLESS pc3200 ran on a lower voltage. I know CPU chips get $$
because they are smaller and run on less voltage. I did not want to
push the RAM voltage wise. I know that I am not using the sticks to
thier peak since I have max 333 and these are 400. I am not
overclocking any thing and do not plan on. I was hoping to speed up
my system with a bit more RAM, I had 512 now I have 2gb. These sticks
were sold as a kit of two 1gb sticks. I believe they are made for
dual channel MBs. Does it matter that my MB does not support dual
channel? I am guessing they work independently as a gig each. Does
this make sense? I have been out of the PC building mode for a few
years now ( lost too much sleep and too much hair) LOL

Thanks again
 >> Stay informed about: DDR Question 

On Jul 5, 2:30 am, Bassman <Bassman1... DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jun 25, 5:15 am, "jameshanle...@yahoo.co.uk"
>
>
>
>
>
> <jameshanle... DeleteThis @yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> > On Jun 24, 11:55 pm, "jameshanle...@yahoo.co.uk"
>
> > <jameshanle... DeleteThis @yahoo.co.uk> wrote:<snip>
>
> > I mentioned something about 2.6v RAM being unique and for extra
> > powerful RAM.
> > Correction.
> > That doesn't seem to be the case. I just found some Kingston DDR
> > 333, (that's PC2700) with a label on it that says 2.6v
>
> > I guess, check before buying the RAM. But RAM that is more than 2.5v
> > should be labelled.
>
> > I'd be a little more suspicious that kingston RAM may be 2.6v . Since
> > yours is, and mine is.
>
> > Your MBRD&BIOS supports it.
> > I don't know if all do. ?
>
> > anyhow, you're ok,
>
> Thank you for the reply. I was really not worried about the voltage
> issue UNLESS pc3200 ran on a lower voltage.

DDR RAM running at like 2.6v is an anolamy of the make/model (e.g.
perhaps, Kingston Hyperx or something). So most PC3200 RAM would be
the normal voltage - 2.5v

I haven't looked much, but I don't see RAM running at less than 2.5v.
>From what I gather from Kony, the RAM that runs at more than 2.5v, is
badly designed RAM. I guess there's no technical reason to get DDR
RAM that runs on anything other than 2.5v

>I know CPU chips get $$
> because they are smaller and run on less voltage.

Lower voltage CPUs aren't necessarily smaller. The green circuit
board is still the same size, same number of pins. Perhaps the die
or core is smaller. But the advantage isn't that it can be smaller.
The advantage of lower voltage CPUs is that they consume less watts /
less power.
Power measured in watts, = current * voltage. P=IV. Less watts
serves 2 reasonable communities.

- Less watts /power. serves the laptop world who rather their battery
lasts like 6 hours instead of 3.
- Less watts/power means less HEAT. This serves the silent computer
crowd, who don't want fans wizzing fast making a load of noise.


There may also be some fashionable people that want a small computer.
They want a small case, so they want a power supply(you've seen the
size of ATX power supplies!). So a low power CPU helps their whole
machine consume less watts.

Nobody is demanding a small CPU. If they are smaller, they're not much
smaller . And they're small enough.

So, those are good reasons for lower voltage CPUs.

The fact that some RAM is higher voltage is another issue altogether.
>From what I gather/remember from Kony, it's to do with bad design. No
advantage. I don't think lower voltage RAM exists, and there's no
need for to.



> I did not want to
> push the RAM voltage wise. <snip>

I know. I was just attempting to be more complete in the information I
provided. Whether it was relevant to your problem or not. It's
relevant to techies. You are to an extent, as are others reading.

> Does it matter that my MB does not support dual
> channel? I am guessing they work independently as a gig each. Does
> this make sense? I have been out of the PC building mode for a few
> years now ( lost too much sleep and too much hair) LOL
>

It's all compatible.

Dual channel is purely a feature of the motherboard (or chipset
perhaps, which is built into the motherboard).
If your MBRD doesn't support it you won't get the benefits. If it does
support it, then you should install 2 sticks of RAM instead of one, if
you care for the benefits. How big the benefits are, seems to depend,
I don't know what it depends on. So if the MBRD did support it, i'd
prob put in 2 instead of 1. I don't know if this extends to 4 being
better than 3. i.e. installing ram in pairs generally.

DDR RAM can be double sided or single sided(chips on one side of the
PCB but not the other). But I don't think that has anything to do with
how it jives with a dual channel MBRD.
AFAIK, the only issue with buying RAM and considering whether a MBRD
is dual channel or not. Is that if you want the benefits, the RAM
should be identical. (make,model,timings. just buy 2 (or pairs of?)
chips and make sure the guy sends identical ones!)

But I think you said that your MBRD doesn't support dual channel
anyway.
 >> Stay informed about: DDR Question 

On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:30:32 -0700, Bassman
<Bassman1020.DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:


>Thank you for the reply. I was really not worried about the voltage
>issue UNLESS pc3200 ran on a lower voltage.

No, PC2700 and/or PC3200 modules could be spec'd for
anywhere from 2.5 to 2.7V, typically, it's usually 2.5 or
2.6. The concern is that they are then spec'd to "need" at
least that much voltage to run at their rated speed. They
might not actually be instable running at lower than their
rating. For example of you bought 2.6V spec'd memory and
your board ran it at 2.5V, it may be stable, but ideally you
would either buy memory spec'd for at least as low as your
board uses, or having a board where you can manually adjust
the voltage (typically in the bios), you would increase the
voltage setting to match the rating of the modules (or
sometimes even a bit higher if required to attain
stability). Overvolting the memory by a minor amount
(suppose your board ran at 2.63V default through an actual
measurement by a multimeter) when spec'd for less like 2.5V,
is a minor enough difference it would not be a problem.




>I know CPU chips get $$
>because they are smaller and run on less voltage.

At this point it is not generally the case with memory,
"normal" quality DDR(1) memory in that speed would run at
2.5-2.6V in most cases, it doesn't cost more to get this
memory today. Instead you would find the cost higher to go
with memory rated faster than PC3200 or small timings such
as 2,2,2,5 but even these timings are not so hard for
manufacturers to meet and don't carry the price premium they
once did.


> I did not want to
>push the RAM voltage wise. I know that I am not using the sticks to
>thier peak since I have max 333 and these are 400.
>
>I am not
>overclocking any thing and do not plan on. I was hoping to speed up
>my system with a bit more RAM, I had 512 now I have 2gb. These sticks
>were sold as a kit of two 1gb sticks. I believe they are made for
>dual channel MBs. Does it matter that my MB does not support dual
>channel?

No, dual channel merely means the two modules are supposed
to be identical to each other, and ideally, spec'd to
timings per chips and tested to run on the popular dual
channel motherboard chipset but this is not necessarily true
it is more a matter of wishful thinking on the manufacturers
part to reduce RMAs.


> I am guessing they work independently as a gig each. Does
>this make sense? I have been out of the PC building mode for a few
>years now ( lost too much sleep and too much hair) LOL

It merely means you have one channel for accessing 2GB
instead of 2 channels so there is less memory bandwidth but
on your board the processor FSB limits the usable bandwidth
such that dual channel would not have but a tiny benefit (if
it were capable of it), except that since your board has
integrated video it might have allowed up to 30% higher
performance at some demanding 3D (gaming) scenarios if it
had been able to (designed to) use dual channel mode. Since
it's integrated S3 video isn't particularly powerful for
gaming anyway it is not much of a loss in that respect
either.
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