Memory & Motherboard Compatibility

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SAS_Glock
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Memory & Motherboard Compatibility

I currently have an ABIT AS8 motherboard with KHX2700K2/1G Kingston Memory.

I want to upgrade to an SLI motherboard with another GB of RAM.

The board i have in mind (because its the only one with enough PCI-E slots after the second Gcard has covered up one) is the Asus P5ND2 SLi nForce4 SLi. (Intel)

I want to know if my current memory will be compatible with that motherboard until i buy different/faster RAM.

Thanks for any advice Smile

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SAS_Leon
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Yes. Asus P5ND2 SLi nForce4 SLi supports memory speeds from PC-2100 to PC-5300. Your current memory is PC-2700.

PC-3200: DDR 400 Mhz
PC-2700: DDR 333 Mhz
PC-2100: DDR 266 Mhz

SAS_WIZ
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Or you could just drive over to Stoke; Glock to Overclockers (which im sure u will) and ask them as you buy. Smile

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Glock to Overclockers

I challenge you to say that outloud ten times as quickly as you can, and not sound like a chicken.

Good to see you in here Glock.

About the memory, I'm afraid Leon is wrong.

The memory you have, is the DDR type, which comes in 184-pin sticks.

The new motherboard you want, takes only the DDR2 type, which comes in 240-pin sticks. Basically, the memory you have will not fit the new board and there is no way around this.

The memory you have is THIS ONE CLICK HERE, clearly DDR and 184 pin.

The new motherboard is THIS ONE CLICK HERE which clearly states that it takes 240-pin memory only, which is DDR2.

I can recommend that a good place to buy computer parts (in the UK) is www.scan.co.uk. You can also phone them and speak to a real person who can answer all your questions both before and after you buy (that is quite unusual these days). There are some dual SLI boards that take DDR, so if you want it to work with your current memory get one of these. I'm pretty sure there are none which support both.

Note also that if you want to run two PCI-E graphics cards together (that is, in SLI mode) they need to be exactly the same make/model, and they need to actually support SLI (not all PCI-E graphics cards do).

Personally, my strategy would be to get the DDR2 memory, and for now, only have one graphics card (make sure it is one that supports SLI) but have a board with two slots. A year or so down the line, buy a second graphics card as an upgrade, when it is cheaper, then run the pair of them together (in SLI mode). That way you will be future-proof and get the best value out of your new machine.

Glossary
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DDR - Double Data Rate - just a fast kind of memory, the connector is 184 pins. This has been around about 3 years.

DDR2 - a faster kind of DDR, the connector is 240 pins. Available only on new boards.

PCI-E - the slot on your motherboard that you plug the graphics card into. Note there is also a small version of PCI-E intented for other cards (the connector is much smaller). This has been around for about a year.

SLI - a special mode where if your motherboard has two full-size PCI-E slots, you can use both cards together to drive just one monitor. That means, twice the performance.

Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Glock to Overclockers Lol

SAS_Glock
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Thanks for taking the time to do that James. its cleared a lot up.

These are the parts im buying soon:

Asus P5ND2 SLi nForce4 SLi (LGA775) motherboard

XFX GeForce 6800 GS Extreme XXX Edition 256MB GDDR3

Can someone recommend me some decent memory? its the only computer part that is too complicated for me. with all the CAS latecy (ive tried to look it up but didnt get very far) i have 1GB atm so i wanna go for 2GB.

If i brought dual channel 2GB memory now, and wanted to buy the same memory again later on, would the 2 sets work alright together?

Also i read somewhere that dual monitors is tricky with SLI. i have dual monitors so i need to know for sure that i can run them both.
someone sugested that i should run a normal PCI card to run the slave monitor. is that right?

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SAS_Webmaster
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2 monitors in SLI. SLI is specifically designed for driving one monitor off two graphics cards. You cannot use 2 monitors with it. It is perfectly normal to use PCI-E without SLI, for example if you have just one card. So logically, I expect you can probably use two cards and just not put it in SLI mode. That would give you two, or probably upto four monitors. Having said that I don't know for sure as I haven't tried it.

Memory. You need DDR2 memory. At the moment, 1GB is way more than enough. You could get the 1GB then add more in a year or two when it's cheaper. Running the memory in dual channel (also known as TwinX) mode enables the computer to basically read both at the same time. That makes it a lot faster. In order to do this, you need two identical memory sticks - most manufacturers sell them specially in pairs. Then, you have to put them into the right socket. Usually out of the four sockets on your board, two are one colour and the other two a different colour. For dual channel, you put the two memory sticks in the same colour slots, which usually are not next to each other. The motherboard manual should tell you the same.

Basically, get the fastest memory you feel like paying for.

Don't worry too much about CAS latency, it is less important than raw speed, but the lower the CAS latency the better. 2 is the lowest I think.

For upgrading later, you will have to run all your memory at the same settings. That means, if the stuff you buy now is 400MHz and the stuff you buy later is 600MHz, you will have to run it all at 400 anyway.

One important thing is to buy all your stuff from a company you know you can call when you have problems. Building your own PC, there are always problems. There's always something that doesn't go the way it should.

SAS_Glock
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i think im gonna buy a single PCI-E card. it'll be good enough for me.

im goin for 2Gb because im gettin back into video editing soon so i think ill need it.

thanks for the info everyone.

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SAS_Glock
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ive changed my mind again Blum 3

ive decided not to get a new motherboard and just get a new AGP Gcard.

ill also buy another GB of RAM that will work with my current memory.

ive looked for the same memory but cant find it. can anyone help me out with that?

so if i buy exacly the same memory again, it will be able to work with the other set?

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Rand
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Yes, it will work.

Google, lots of places to buy it

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=KHX2700K2/1G%20Kingston%20Memory&ei=utf-8&fr=cb-max

http://www.buyersedge.com/Product/prodDesc.asp?XOS=3027346&pageView=1&iDZ=0

Has a CAS Latency 2 rating

only those who will IMAGE(http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/co/type/2/sasrand.png)

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You just need some DDR (not DDR2), which is PC2700 or better, and CAS Latency 2. (higher CAS Latency isn't a big problem, but you will have to run ALL your memory at the same setting, which must be the larger of the two, otherwise you will start getting memory errors causing random restarts and stuff like that).

Then you can run it on the same settings as the stuff you already have so that would be fine.

However I warn you that you won't really see any performance increase with 2GB ahead of just having 1GB. So it's almost a waste of money. At present, 1GB is more than enough.

SAS_Leon
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Sorry Glock, I didn't realize it was DDR2. :oops: :). And thanks James for the correction.

SAS_Glock
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ok thanks again for the info. ill take your advice james and not bother with the 2nd GB.

but now i cant find any decent non-SLI PCI-E boards. im gonna either buy a non-SLI PCI-E motherboard with a new Gcard. or just buy a decent AGP card.

will i see much more performance by havin PCI-E instead of AGP?

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SAS_Webmaster
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PCI-E is very much better than AGP. I don't know the exact speed difference but it is a lot. Worth having.

Don't worry about SLI, if you dont want to use it, having the capability isn't a problem. You can still just use one card on a board that can do SLI. But, for future-proof ness, when new games come out after two-three years from now, they might require more graphics performance. If your motherboard has two PCI-E slots and supports SLI, you will have an easy way to upgrade your graphics capability if you want to. If it were me, I would get a PCI-E board that supports SLI, and one gfx card. Costs almost the same and gives you that future-proof-ness.

SAS_WIZ
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how James has just described it is exactly the train of thought i was following, while thinking about building my new beauty.

Lt_Col WIZ,  VC, MiD (Ret)

SAS_Glock
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that is definatly a plan james. thats what ill do. but im gonna have to wait till next pay day for that Blum 3

on my to buy list is:

19" Monitor to have as master and have my current 17" master as slave. (the old 14" tft will be handed down to my sister Dirol )

Motherboard & Gcard

MiniDV Camcorder (£228 Amazon)

Adobe Premiere Elements. (the premiere pro that i downloaded is really buggy, annoyin and way too involved for what i want to do)

I have £200 in my bank at the moment. its pay day tomorrow and i done a shit load of hours at work so i should get about another £200.

im gonna buy the camera and buy the PC bits nxt pay day in two weeks.

sorry im going on a bit now haha

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Spidey01
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wth is wrong with having 1 14'inch monitor??

Now I reckon the 15 inch (800x600x32) is not as good as the handmedown 19 inch (1600x1200x24) when it comes to high resulotions and running 4-6 programs activly all the time but so is the OLD handmedown running FreeBSD compaired to this one running Windows XP Dirol

SAS_Adze
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I hate how just after I made my computer all this PCI-E stuff comes out and I instantly become dated.

I have no intentions of upgrading just yet though, it runs brilliantly I think. There's also the slight issue of money...

The only thing I want is a new 17" TFT monitor. That's only cos my CRT is starting to go crazy and wobble for no reason.

SAS_Glock
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That's only cos my CRT is starting to go crazy and wobble for no reason.

The same thing happens to my sisters CRT. it looks like its vibratin. it normally happens to the CRT's that have speakers attached to the side. its because of the magnets in them (how stupid can manufacturers be!?!?!) but hers has no speakers....weird

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SAS_Adze
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Mine did do, but I don't use them any more. I have a loudspeaker attached to my hi-fi about 2-3ft away. It goes super crazy if I move it any closer. I'm sure it's not that though, cos it happens even when I'm not using my speaker.

It's looks just like after you've degaussed a monitor when it wobbles, except it just doesn't stop. It goes on for however long it wants.

SAS_Webmaster
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Mobile phones can distort a CRT if they are close enough. But that would be only when it is transmitting. So, whenever you make a call or send/rcv a text.

SAS_WIZ
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its all elctro-magnetics to me

Lt_Col WIZ,  VC, MiD (Ret)

SAS_Adze
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Only thing I can think of is that it's right next to the wall socket, which I presume will have some sort of EM field round it. That doesn't explain why it's just some of the time though. Either way it's something I can put up with fairly easily.

SAS_Shield
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If you want to sli which is an nvidia thing I would get an nvidia board and save your second computer for a sever for us Wink

"Game over man." Pvt. Hudson. SAS 22nd E.V.R.