Ram upgrade on Asus P5WD2 Premium

I hav e the following system setup:

P5WD2 Premium
Pentium D830-Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler
Powercolor Radeon X800GT
Corsair DDR2-667 2X512
Maxtor DiamondMax 250GB SerialATA 7200rpm w/16m Buffer
BenQ DVD+RW
Asus CDRW-DVD
Lian-Li PC6070 Plus Case-Stock fans
Antec NeoPower 480
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6V300F0 300GB Serial ATA (3.0Gb/s) 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer(Media storage), Samsung 215tw 21" widescreen monitor, Win-TV PVR500

I would like to upgrade my Ram but I am not sure what to use. I have 1 gig now and want to go up to 2 gigs. Any suggestions?

 

I know what kind of ram I have in my system.(it is listed above). My question is should I add another gig of what I have or should I buy 2 gigs of another type. If another type then which one?

 

Well this depends on whether you want to outlay for more RAM. Ideally you have 4 Dimm slots and thus could readily get another 2 RAM modules (2*512Mb). But importantly they should be the same make, model and REVISION. This will ensure they have the same timings and will work togther well. Often you can buy RAM of the same make and model but a different Revision with different timings and this can cause problems when under serious loads (gaming). Use EVEREST Home or CPU-z to get the serial numbers of your RAM modules to try and much them up.

The alternative is to buy 2*1Gb of say DDR2 800, aka PC2-6400 (your mobo supports) and sell the other RAM. Better brands are Crucial Balistix, Super Talent, TeamXtreme they all have "Micron" chips and are some of the best for OC and stability under full load.

Here's one of the better articles on RAM:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24719

 

I am leaning towards buyuing 2 mor gigs of Ram. I have been looking at Corsair because they have a good price and I have never heard of the ones you mention. I thinking about Corsair TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB DDR2-675 XMS2-5400 Xtreme Performance Memory w/Black Heat Spreader for $150 afte4r rebate or Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance Memory for $253. I don't have a lot of money to spend. Is one manufacturer better than another. I have not overclocked my machine yet since I am also having some heat issues. (Systme temps 40c-45c) I just want a fast reliable machine and I don't wnat to spen over $200 if I don't have to. To many choices. Nedd more suggestions.

Also may be having video card problems. Ran 3Dmark 05:
3DMark Score 4049 3DMarks

CPU Score 5300 CPUMarks


Game Tests
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 18.1 fps

GT2 - Firefly Forest 12.4 fps

GT3 - Canyon Flight 19.0 fps



CPU Tests
CPU Test 1 2.9 fps

CPU Test 2 4.3 fps

I would think that I should have better frame rates with the video card I have. I really don't know enough about the scores to know if they are good.

Here is more info on my system:
General Information
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP

DirectX Version 9.0c

Mobo Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.

Mobo Model P5WD2-Premium

AGP Rates (Current/Available) N/A / N/A

CPU Intel Pentium D 3013 MHz

FSB 200 MHz

Memory 1024 MB



Display Information
Graphics Chipset ATI RADEON X800 GT

Driver Name RADEON X800GT

Driver Version 6.14.10.6618

Driver Status WHQL - FM Approved

Video Memory 256 MB

Core Clock 472 MHz

Memory Clock 492 MHz

 

I prefer stable rather than faster system.

 

I want stability with affordability. I don't use many high end apps that require speed. I mostly record media and stream to a media extender. SOme people recommend 5400 other 6400. What to do?

 

What about OCZ OCZ2G8002GK 2GB Kit DDR2-800 PC2-6400 Gold Gamer eXtreme XTC Edition Dual Channel Memory Retail ?

 

What is the difference between these two?

Corsair TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB DDR2-675 XMS2-5400 Xtreme Performance Memory w/Black Heat Spreader Retail
or
Corsair VS2GBKIT667D2 2GB Kit DDR2-667 PC2-5300 Value Select Memory Retail

Only a $20 difference in price.

 

If I were you, I'd just add another 2x512Mb sticks. By the time you need to upgrade to 4Gb of RAM, you're motherboard, CPU and video card will be outdated anyway.

 

I have read that I may have compatability problems if I add 2 more that are not the same revisions.

I want to add 2x1 gigs of ram so I will have a total of 2gigs. I am just trying to figure outr which 2 to get?

TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB DDR2-675 XMS2-5400 Xtreme Performance Memory w/Black Heat Spreader $150
or
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance Memory $253
or
Corsair VS2GBKIT667D2 2GB Kit DDR2-667 PC2-5300 Value Select Memory $172
possibly
OCZ OCZ2G8002GK 2GB Kit DDR2-800 PC2-6400 Gold Gamer eXtreme XTC Edition Dual Channel Memory (I read that some people had problems with this ram)


Thanks for your help.

 

ANy suggestions?

Twin2x2048-5400C4.

or

Twin2x2048-6400C4.

or anything else you may want to suggest for my system.

Anyone know why ram prices are going up?

 

Well it depends on your budget and what you want to do with your system, OC to a serious degree or just get enough mem to play games and speed up your system a bit.

If you want Corsair these are some of the best within this brand:

http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/pr/PR_TWIN2X2048-6400C3_World_Records.pdf

The guy "KingPin" is creating records on many different benchmarks and is one of the most extreme OC's you'll be likely to see. You should notice hte specific RAM has C3!

Here's one on a 7 way shoot-out:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=258

Now if you aren't planning to OC then Wyatt Earp's comments are very valid but either way out of the 2 you posted I would get the PC2-6400(C4) as it will give your system room if you do decide to OC in the future.

 

Thanks for the response. Wyatt Earp said to just add another 2x512 of what I already have. If I just buy more of the value select, how do I know if they are the same revision or does that even matter. Will there be a compatability issue? Since I already have a gig of the Corsair DDR2-667 2X512 Value Select, does it make sense to just add to that. I rarely play games but it would be nice to be able to play any games I want. I am starting to learn about overclocking. I know my system is high end and probably more than I will ever use but why not take advantage of what I have? If I were to buy to gigs of the Corsair Twin2x2048-6400C4 can I use the Value select with it to get 3 gigs of Ram? Do I really need 2 gigs of ram or should I jsut keep what I have?

 

Okay let's start with your last ques firstly, here is an excellent article on how much RAM is enough:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/13/how_much_ram_do_you_really_need/

Basically modern software, gaming, Vista can all put demands on system performance so 2Gb is quite reasonable.

The most important paramters when buying new RAM are speed and timings. All onboard RAM will only run as fast as your "slowest" RAM module so match the speed. Timings can be important to ensure several RAM modules play together nicely. One of the best apps for finding info on your RAM is CPU-z:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1340

From here you should be able to get the "part number" or at least timings so you can match these up with any new module. Now I think it is unlikely that you will be able to match the timings of 1Gb sticks with 512Mb as the 1Gb normally have a lot looser timings and I doubt you will be able to match them.

Don't know If I showed this excellent RAM article yet but have a look:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24719

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the information. That helped me decide that I need to have two gigs of ram in my machine. Now all I have to do is figure out which to get? I just want 2 gigs of a good ram that won't cost me an arm and a leg and I can overclock a little. After readin all the articles I guess it would be nice to be able to overclock.

 

OK, I bit the bullet and bought 2 gigs of Corsair XMS5400C4 ram. I will be installing them tonight. What are the proper settings for this ram on a P5WD2 Premium with the Pentium D830? Do I just put the ram in and boot? I may overclock a little.

 

If you have a copy of your motherboard manual then have a look at the BIOS section and especially where it relates "Chipset" for your RAM and or CPU "FSB Speed" you can either leave the RAM SPD at auto or manually ensure that your RAM frequncy matches that of your FSB at a 1:1 ratio.

 

I kind of figured it out. I was able to overclock my Pentium D830 to 3.75 and had the ram running at the proper speed. DDR2- 667 FSB 1000 for 2 gigs of Corsair XMS5400C4. Now I need better cooling to run at that speed.

 

Here is a link to 3DMark results.
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2185189
It also show my video card to have 512mb of ram and it is only a 256mb card???

 

I have recently bought the Zalman CNPS9500 it gets many good reviews but I am yet to test it as awaiting RAM from the US and PSU to come in stock.

Nice OC there what are your temps/voltages like?

 

I am not sure of the temps yet. I will try running Prime95 next time I overclock and get some temps. I only ran 3DMark05. I think temps were close to 70c though. I am runng stock settings for now until I figure out cooling for overclocking that high. Maybe watercooling?? Prime 95 on both cores at 100% cpu stayed at 61c and system temp at 39 for two hours at stock settings.


On the overclock, here are the voltages I usesd: Vcore 1.3 / Mem Volts 2.1 / Timings 4-4-4-12 PCI Clock 33.3MHz

Overclocking was done in the bios.

This is the first time I have ever overclocked. Just learning!

 

Use EVEREST Home for OS temp monitoring or better still SiSoftware Sandra ("incremental" env. monitor). You should run memtest86 first for 4-5 passes and then Prime95 for ~12-24 hours then you know you hav a goood OC with a background temp monitor.

 

Since I live in Texas I have to deal with the heat. If it was not 100F during the day it may not be so hard to keep system cool. The Zalmon is a good fan, I just have high room temps during the day. 78-80F

Either I have to get a new case, figure out how to get more air flow, or go to water cooling. I have a great case but The sound deadening materials cause it to run warmer than other cases.

 

Bold Eagle, you may want to ry to plug your Zalman directly into the mobo without the supplied fan controller. I switched mine over and I get another 200rpms out of the fan at full speed. I went into the bios and set the fan to performance mode. Cooling is about 2-3 degrees better.

 

Cheers will give that a try using the control and direct to mobo.