I have 2 sticks of PC2700 256MB DDR (I think 333 Mhz) in my computer.ÂÂ! I have 2 empty slots for RAM in my computer.ÂÂ! I was looking to upgrade my RAM and was wondering if it would be better to get 2 more sticks at the same speed, or just replace the two sticks I have with something faster.ÂÂ! I think I want at least a Gig of RAM, and I'm only looking to spend about $200 at the most. I mostly use my computer for gaming.ÂÂ! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You would not see a particularly notable performance increase switching from DDR 333/PC2700 to DDR 400/PC3200 unless you’re talking about dual channel, which you’re most likely not.

The question of whether or not you can upgrade should also e raised. In order to support DDR400, your chipset needs to be able to run at 200 MHz DRAM. If you don’t know, you can find out by downloading CPU-Z.



Either way, I believe you would still be best off buying DDR400 modules. Although you wont be able to get any additional performance out of them when they’re running with DDR333 (frequency and latencies drop to match the weakest module), you will be able to re-use the modules later, if you upgrade.

Post back with your chipset details, and we’ll tell you of your best options.

In chipset it says Intel i865P/PE/G/i848P. In Southbridge it says Intel 82801EB(ICH5).

And as I'm looking at CPU-Z I'm starting to think that I was mistaken. It's telling me that the max bandwidth is 166 MHz on each, and that the frequency is 159.6 MHz.

CPU-Z is a more technically advanced tool, so please (and this goes to anyone reading this thread) if you read something you don’t understand, do not jump to conclusions.

CPU-Z is reporting the real information, that your DRAM clock is 166 MHz. DDR is a double-pumped bus, which enables it to transfer data twice per clock, essentially doubling the frequency and arriving at 333 MHz, which although true in the sense of data speed, and definitely great for marketing, is not technically accurate. DDR2 is a quad pumped architecure, which widens the gap between real frequency and data frequency even more. This same mathematics applies to Pentium 4 processors, with their quad pumped FSB putting the PSB (Processor Side Bus) at 4 times it's real speed.

Back to the question. Your chipset fully supports DDR400, however, it CPU-Z has not been able to distinguish whether you have an i865 or i848 chipset; the difference between them being that the latter supports dual channel. We’ll need to check the actual motherboard manufacturer and model for confirmation; what does it report?

CPU-Z lists manufacturer as ASUSTek Computer Inc. and model number as P4SD-VL.ÂÂ! I found the manufacturer's website (www.asus.com), but cannot find that model number anywhere.ÂÂ! I also tried using the chipset identifier utility Intel has, but it fails to identify my chipset.

I just tried a program called PC Wizard and it identified my chipset as i865PE

Ah, you have a rare motherboard there; an OEM only part that can be found in Sony VAIO PCV-series desktop systems. This is a strange animal I have seen but once briefly, very similar to a P4P800-SE. I’m almost certain it uses the 865 chipset but Unfortunately, it does use a proprietary BIOS. Sony is one of those companies that are prepared to do pretty despicable things in the name of marketing and product positioning. I would not be at all surprised to learn that the BIOS didn’t support particular features that would be financially inconvenient.

In theory however, the motherboard should support dual channel DDR400

In this case, your best choice would be to replace the two existing DDR333 modules with two matching DDR400 modules. This would represent an aggregate memory bandwidth increase of approximately 1GB/s.

Thank you very much for your help.

I'm pretty amazed at the swiftness of your replies, too. I really wasn't expecting a response until sometime tomorrow.

My pleasure.

Just good timing I suppose :P

If you have any other questions or problems, you know where we are.