DDR2 800 vs. DDR2 667

RandallA

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Dec 13, 2004
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I don't have too much time to research so I'd like to know if I'd see any improvement going from DDR2 667 to DDR2 800. I'm running Windows XP Pro with SP3.

Thanks.
 
That really depends on the CPU in your machine. It will only make a difference if the bus speed of the CPU can be multiplied into the ram speed (so if the FSB was for instance 200Mhz, 800 DDR would be a division of 4, if the buss was 166 then 667 is fine). All assuming your motherboard is setup right to do it. Its a murky puddle of configuration, have seen motherboards that do this right when using 2 sticks and slowing down on 4 sticks etc....

If you are just going to make this change through to gain, you probably wont notice the change over other changes like more memory, zipper video card etc...
 
It is only a few percentage points different, so it depends on your application. 667 memory can be faster than some 800 memory. You have to look at the timings to be sure. If you have no memory and are buying it, probably better to get the 800 since the price should be close. If you already have 667, you will not really notice the upgrade.
 
Take new memory, run RAM tests (SysSandra, etc) and see if 20% increase will be not enough for you. Don't like - return to Fry's, you have 15 days for test it.
 
Thanks for the input. I saw some great deals at Newegg and for $50.00 I could get 2 GB of DDR2 PC800 so I will give it a try. I could use the current memory on another computer so I think I'll just buy it.
 
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