Calling all RAM experts......DDR333/400 Q.......

[Dooin' it]

Okee dokee........I don't know why I'm doing this 'cuz I told myself that I wouldn't contribute to Dell's wellbeing anymore BUT...........

I've got a Dell 4600c running a P4 2.4/533 cpu w/ 256mb DDR333 ram. Kingston's got that Dell memory deal running & I can't decide whether/if it would be good/bad/indifferent to get DDR400 memory or if I shoul just stick with DDR333?????????

(Dell's setup/BIOS screens are waaaaaaay limited....all auto) TIA

[HeadBand]

if you plan on leaving the 256 thats in there for a while stick with 333

[Dooin' it]

Actually there are only 2 slots so if I can't really add any unless I "change" out completely. It's currently 2 sticks of 128 & what I'm considering is 2 sticks of 256. Thus my dilema!

(I'm only assuming things would be/get better with 512. MS *says* that 512 is better so, certainly it MUST be so!!!)

[HeadBand]

Yeah thats dell they always want you to upgrade before you buy and thats how they rip you off

i say if the small cost price isn't a problem AND YOUR MOBO CAN SUPPORT IT go with the 400 then

but you should concider a single stick of 512 its not like old simms any more with required pairs or anything so it would be no problem to bump up to 768 or a gig later

[Dooin' it]

Ya, I'm still tossing it around. Actually, it's running ok with the 256mb but I can't stop that itch!!

As for the 1 stick, that's usually how I build for other folks & keep RAM on-hand in case they want to go TRUE "DDR" and have slots 1 & 2 running together. Otherwise, the DDR part is lost on just one stick.

That said, I haven't seen much speed decrease (if any) over the builds I do for other people even running 1 stick of 256mb PC2100 vs. my 2 sticks of PC3200 on this Dell. Dells just run a bit sluggish overall. If I were smart, I'd use one of my regular builds as my "main" system, but this 4600c is just too dang convenient. Grrrrrrrrrr!

[stroyal]

I thought it was dual channel that you need two sticks for and ddr would run double data even with one stick

[Dooin' it]

stroyal,

You're right, I'm sorry. I got DDR & Dual channel stuck in my thoughts together. My intent is to say that there is "something" lost in only using one stick................(or perhaps better said this way)............there is "something" to be gained by using the 2 sticks in dual channel.