[Kaistar]

unsure of anywhere else, but it seems that in Malaysia, DDR1 ram prices have risen significantly. from RM 300-350 it is now RM 390-420. is this happening everywhere or just here?

and any idea why? i thought usually newer products are expensive. instead, DDR2 is as cheap if not cheaper than DDR1 ram now.

unfortunately my Intel board doesnt support it as i got it for free during an Intel competition.

OH YEAH!! 1 more question! can the Intel D101GGC board run DDR2 rams? as i've heard from a friend of mine that DDR1 boards CAN support DDR2 ram, but might not be able to fully utilise it's power. i'm not talking about factory specs as i know it's stated it cant support DDR2, but like i said, my friend says that certain boards that's supposedly unable to run DDR2 rams CAN use them. though it's... frequency or something won't be as good. not really sure.

[Kazna3]

DDR is better than DDR2 as long as its below DDR2667. Stick with DDR RAM.

DDR400 is much quicker than DDR2400 and even quicker than DDR2667 and that is why AMD didnt make its boards supportable back in early 2005 while they could have. They tested them and found out the memory timings in DDR2 are so bad that they make it slower than this DDR. Obviously with higher speeds its different.

Well we have to be specific, as to which form of memory we talk about - they differ in every aspect, manufacturer, design, size, bandwidth, chips, density etc and also in different places. The prices of DDR RAM on average are falling here and the prices of DDR2 are the ones that are high now. Only DDR low density RAM is quite high in price while DDR RAM High density is very cheap.

I think 350 RM is £50 here which is cheap for 512 MB RAM here, but its quite high for 184 pin 256MB PC2700 and below. We pay about 420-580 MYR for 512MB RAM here in the UK. US prices are similar.

Again it depends on many factors making it quite hard to predict the price. maybe its just a local price rise your experiencing?

[Kazna3]

Just to add, DDR2 is 240 pin memory chips whereas DDR is 184 pin and very different in terms of notches. They are not compatible with one another at all. To do this you would have to add pins and change your motherboard, physically.

[Kaistar]

woa... okayy. anyways, in malaysia DDR400 and DDR333 1GB ram is priced at about RM400. plus or minus 30 i guess. it's seriously high to me cause before that it costs only about... 290-350. really big difference as i'm just a student.

of course in malaysia there are RAMs that are alot higher in price, i believe that may be what you're referring as High/Low Density RAMs?

and how do you differentiate High or Low Density RAMs? on the performance level, which is better?

so technically, any DDR2 RAM that is on a frequency lower than 667 doesnt live up to it's name then?

and one last thing, last time i've tried running a DDR266 256mb ram and a DDR333 256mb ram together, and i heard that's not recommendable? would it be a good idea to run a 1GB DDR400 ram with a DDR333 256mb ram?

what if i tried running a 1GB DDR333 ram and a DDR333 256 ram? would it be alright? and in terms of performance, would a 1GB + 256MB DDR333 ram perform better than a single piece of 1GB DDR400 ram?

that's a huge amount of questions but as i'm planning to buy one in the upcoming pc fair this friday, it's pretty important to me.

thanks in advance.

[Kazna3]

I typed a reply and then hit some nifty keys, unexpectdly opening up 18 tabs replacing all of the tabs I had open in Fx.
So I lost it all. Here's for another try.

woa... okayy. anyways, in malaysia DDR400 and DDR333 1GB ram is priced at about RM400. plus or minus 30 i guess. it's seriously high to me cause before that it costs only about... 290-350. really big difference as i'm just a student.

It would still differ, as for the manufacturer, density, whether single/dual channel and retailer as to what the cost is.
Dual channel is always better i.e buying two of the exact same and running them.

of course in malaysia there are RAMs that are alot higher in price, i believe that may be what you're referring as High/Low Density RAMs?

I've just come from Malaysia about 3 weeks ago Although I didn't check the RAM prices at all

High Density RAM is usually generic i.e. brandless and not made my good performing and reliable brands, cheap, skanky, unworthy and prone to corruption. It doesn't perform the same as Low Density RAM aswell.

and how do you differentiate High or Low Density RAMs? on the performance level, which is better?

Now this has been a problem that has been affecting me recently and its basically confused me until today. Different pro techs were using different termnology so they confused me.

Basically, all standard RAM is Low density. Now to get the total memory bus (64 bits wide), chips are added onto the circuit board of a RAM module. So for instance, you'll see 64x8. This means that a 64-bit wide memory bus is made up by 8 chips in total (each chip being 8 bit, low) on the RAM stick, low density and only single rank i.e. single sided.

For a better and much through explanation, see here: http://tinyurl.com/yk5mow

Also look at this and it'll give you more sites for info: http://tinyurl.com/yehmd5

so technically, any DDR2 RAM that is on a frequency lower than 667 doesnt live up to it's name then?

Well anything below DDR2533 doesn't live upto its expectations yet. Read this for the analysis: http://tomshardware.co.uk/2005/01/24...aff/index.html

Here's 2 good sites for you for RAM info:
http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/RAM.htm
http://www.myshopping.com.au/BG--66_...ess_Memory_RAM

Much reading for ya, but it'll teach you all there is to it

and one last thing, last time i've tried running a DDR266 256mb ram and a DDR333 256mb ram together, and i heard that's not recommendable? would it be a good idea to run a 1GB DDR400 ram with a DDR333 256mb ram?

Best not to. The system always takes by default the slowest memory speed installed and runs at that. So if you have DDR400 and DDR333 installed, your system will only transfer at a maximum of DDR333 PC2700, and not utilize the extra allowed by the DDR400 module. This is the same on all PC's I'm afraid. For this reason, its best to get the same speed RAM sticks. Even better is to have the same size and same manufacturer aswell. Some RAM manufacturer sticks are not compatible with other manufacturers.

what if i tried running a 1GB DDR333 ram and a DDR333 256 ram? would it be alright? and in terms of performance, would a 1GB + 256MB DDR333 ram perform better than a single piece of 1GB DDR400 ram?

Well if you needed more memory then 1.256Gb total is better and the match in DDR speed is perfect. On the other hand, if you don't need that much memory and never really use that much then DDR400 1GB will be better and quicker for you.

This all relies on your system - if it allows DDR400 that is.

that's a huge amount of questions but as i'm planning to buy one in the upcoming pc fair this friday, it's pretty important to me.

thanks in advance.

Nay its ok. You have to know or you just wouldn't know what to do if anything happens and just end up being duped and scammed every year!

Here's a place where everyone will recommend you buy from after doing their online scan. It will show you your PC and whats compatible with it:
http://www.crucial.com/

There are terms such as "Regsitered, ECC, Parity, Buffered, CL, Voltage" also involved here when buying RAM which one needs to be careful about.

[Kazna3]

Here's another very good and simple guide fro Low vs High density: http://reviews.ebay.com/Myth-Low-Den...00000001236178

[Kaistar]

okay i'm a little confused here, as i've done the scan i see it says that i can run up to 2GB memory which i already know and all those info.

what's confusing is, it says my computer does not support dual channel memory, however when i open my Task Manager, under the performance tab, i see 2 boxes under CPU Usage History. before i changed into this new motherboard and Processor, i was also running on this same 2 piece of ram but there was only 1 box under the CPU Usage History.

i assumed that having 2 boxes under CPU Usage History means it's running dual Channel or something similar?

also the scan said my computer does not support ECC. mind if i ask what is that?

and on a totally unrelated note, how'd u find malaysia? lol. hope you enjoyed ur visit.

[Kaistar]

okay, another update question, low density rams means it probably won't perform as well as high density rams correct?

i have 2 256mb rams, both of it single sided... so is that high or low density? the post kinda confused me. so when i buy RAMS, i gotta be careful about high density ram correct? as they might not be compatible?

and erm how do i check if my computer is compatible with high/low density rams?

[Kazna3]

okay, another update question, low density rams means it probably won't perform as well as high density rams correct?

The other way round for certain. High Density will not be no where near the same as a low density RAM module of the same speed.

I've just found a Samsung (one of the best RAM manuf.) 1GB PC2100 DDR266 128M x 4-bit, 16 chips, double sided RAM module. Thats high density and its ONE RANK = 4 bit x 16 = 64-bit (so it needs both sides to make ONE RANK [one complete rank can only be 64-bit])

i have 2 256mb rams, both of it single sided... so is that high or low density? the post kinda confused me. so when i buy RAMS, i gotta be careful about high density ram correct? as they might not be compatible?

No. Single sided 256MB cannot be High Density. Does it have 8 chips on the front side?

If so, that would mean its divided as 32M x 8-bit. So its LOW Density and perfectly works. Low Density work on all mobo's.

and erm how do i check if my computer is compatible with high/low density rams?

Your motherboard manual will say it. What the max MB PER RANK
each memory slot can handle.


Yeah, I loved Malaysia. Hot!

[Kazna3]

what's confusing is, it says my computer does not support dual channel memory, however when i open my Task Manager, under the performance tab, i see 2 boxes under CPU Usage History. before i changed into this new motherboard and Processor, i was also running on this same 2 piece of ram but there was only 1 box under the CPU Usage History.

2 boxes!?!

No matter what setup you have, you should only see one RAM USED/TOTAL RAM reading. Can you provide a screenshot of what this box looks like and where exactly?

also the scan said my computer does not support ECC. mind if i ask what is that?

ECC stands for Error Correction Code. Its used in expensive professional setups usually and is slows the RAM down because of the extra work needed. Its a chip added to your RAM module with a code used to correct data errors and is recorded at the end of each sector.

Read this, it says it all: http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/RAM.htm