Brickwizard
Well-Known Member
If you are thinking of upgrading your RAM there are several points to take into consideration
Check your motherboard specification, it will tell you what the maximum amount of RAM per slot is supported, there is no point in trying to exceed this,
Ram comes in 2 basic types, EEC and Non EEC, check which your motherboard supports as it is unlikely to work if you mix the two. [take out your existing RAM and read the label carefully]
Thankfully, most machines use the Non-EEC ram, Now some people will tell you to only use matched pairs [same make, same speed, same chip layout] this is something I have never had problems with over the last 30+ years
Do not think by putting a higher speed RAM in your machine will make it work faster, In most cases it won't, the fastest speed a ram can operate at, is that of the motherboard
So due to supply can I mix the speed of RAM I use, And in the majority of cases the answer is yes, but the total RAM in your machine will still only run at the maximum motherboard supported speed OR the speed of the lowest bar of RAM, for example your machine has one bar of PC2-4200 in the additional slots you could add PC2-3200 or PC2-6400, if you add the 3200 it will slow the total ram speed to that of the 3200 bar, If you add a PC2-6400 it will only operate at the speed of the PC2-4200
So there you have it, the thoughts from a miserable old sod, who has been pulling computers to bits for over 40 years
Check your motherboard specification, it will tell you what the maximum amount of RAM per slot is supported, there is no point in trying to exceed this,
Ram comes in 2 basic types, EEC and Non EEC, check which your motherboard supports as it is unlikely to work if you mix the two. [take out your existing RAM and read the label carefully]
Thankfully, most machines use the Non-EEC ram, Now some people will tell you to only use matched pairs [same make, same speed, same chip layout] this is something I have never had problems with over the last 30+ years
Do not think by putting a higher speed RAM in your machine will make it work faster, In most cases it won't, the fastest speed a ram can operate at, is that of the motherboard
So due to supply can I mix the speed of RAM I use, And in the majority of cases the answer is yes, but the total RAM in your machine will still only run at the maximum motherboard supported speed OR the speed of the lowest bar of RAM, for example your machine has one bar of PC2-4200 in the additional slots you could add PC2-3200 or PC2-6400, if you add the 3200 it will slow the total ram speed to that of the 3200 bar, If you add a PC2-6400 it will only operate at the speed of the PC2-4200
So there you have it, the thoughts from a miserable old sod, who has been pulling computers to bits for over 40 years
