PC Peripherals IS 1600Mhz 8GB DDR3 "MUCH MUCH" better than 400Mhz DDR2 8GB - BUT COST FACTOR HERE

H

Hever

Disciple
IS 1600Mhz 8GB DDR3 ram - much much better than a 400Mhz DDR2 8gb ram ?

I want to get more memory. I have a AMD X4 630 right now with 3GB DDR2 @400MHZ.

I could buy the ddr3 but for that i will have to leave this system at all and just buy a new whole system - around minimum Rs 17,000 for the new rig.


So whats the choice -

a) A complete system - COST - Rs 17,000 +
or

b) Buy 4GB more DDR2 ram running at 400Mhz - (so that total ram becomes 7GB ddr2 @ 400Mhz in my current pc) - COST will come to be - Rs 3000



Right now my current system is -

Cpu - amd x4 630 2.8Ghz ( 4 core )
Mobo - biostar ta785ge 128m
Ram - 3gb ddr2 400mhz
Os - windows 7 home premium 64-bit.


So is 8GB DDR3 @1600Mhz ram much much better than a DDR2 8gb @400Mhz ?
 
If your usage depends only on the amount of RAM and not so much on its speed, then you should be okay. To get good answers to your question, please post your usage. What do you do on this system? Applications, their system requirements etc.
 
It is mainly surfing and general usage - not gaming much. Although have to say - i keep open some like 8-12 softwares open most of the time - like pim software, 2 browser windows with 25+ tabs each, some or more explorer window folders, and likewise.


DO also tell me what will i gain from buying a new pc at 1600MHz DDR3 vs 400Mhz ddr2 right now - keeping this thing in mind -

That also consider the cost - Rs 3000 vs 17000 -

And can u tell me a bit accurately - what difference i will notice in these 2 , stated above ?

for eg. in terms of using a browser like firefox or chrome - for say surfing - some 10 - 20 sites opened ? I know there will be difference - but just tell me what kind of feel really - when doing this particular task ?

Will it be like 1600Mhz DDR3 will make firefox / chrome feel 1 second faster in most aspects, viz, tabs open 'SOME' faster, sites load 'SOME' faster ?

I know that depends on isp speed but what will this DDR3 ram do WHAT EFFECT REALLY in things like browsing multiple tabs / sites ?
 
see, its a very different situation with you. Although, I am leaning towards 8GB of 400 MHz RAM instead of less amount of DDR3 RAM, but you also got to keep in mind that there will come a point in your situation, where the speed will become a bottleneck. I think and its just I THINK, that with your usage you are better of with 8GB of slower RAM.. But I am also thinking, if you open 5-10 more tabs or do a little more multitasking, it MAY become a bottleneck due to its very slow speed. In my opinion, go with the Rs. 3000 option and see how it performs. Just get the slower 8GB of RAM.... You might experience a little bit of hiccup here and there and a little more CPU utilization than normak occasionally, since you have a single core processor, but that should not affectyou much...
 
err... he mentioned he has amd x4 630 2.8Ghz (4 core)
@Hever, why don't you try it step by step and verify the results and then make a decision?
you can borrow ram from your friend for a couple of hrs and see if it makes a difference? try adding 1 or 2GB chip incrementally and figure out the difference?

If you cant arrange similar RAM from friends, then you can scout the market section also to see if you can find a used ram, it will cost you much much less, and if it doesn't work, it wont hurt you/your pocket either.

try the above approach and see if it works for you; instead of guess work.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You can make an educated decision. When you find your system slow, check if RAM is fully utilized. See some simple guides like this to figure out if almost all memory is used at those times. Get more RAM only if most of your slowdowns correspond to full memory utilization at those times. Otherwise it is a waste of Rs. 3000. Prima facie, from your described usage, it seems 3 GB should be enough. Though described usage can be misleading. E.g. you can tell browser tabs are 25, but not that how heavy are the web pages open in them. So don't take my prima facie assessment too seriously.

E.g. take my example (though on linux, but it shouldn't matter too much) : I too have 3 GB RAM. I open firefox with about 50 tabs, open a VM with dedicated 1.2 GB RAM, an image editor managing hundreds of images and a video player simultaneously. No slowdowns due to lack of RAM. But when one more user logs in and opens firefox with more than 5 tabs, I start seeing full memory utilization and corresponding slowdowns when switching between programs.

Thumbrule : Increasing the amount of RAM would never increase the speed of your system, it just postpones slowdowns until you open more/larger concurrent programs.

Alternative suggestion : See if your Windows 7 installation can be fit on 60 GB SSD. This yields universal boot speed increase and almost universal dramatic responsiveness improvement. It would cost around 4,500 rather than 3000. But on the plus side, you can use this SSD on your upgraded system too, whenever you upgrade. For this reason, you might not feel bad spending 8000 for a 120GB SSD too. On the other hand, buying a DDR2 RAM at this stage means it cannot be used in your next rig, so more wastage.

Whatever you do, please make an informed decision. Otherwise your visit to TE will be a waste :)
 
Sorry for the confusion about the processsor.... And, what the other 2 member s have said to you is pretty much what I wanted to explain, but could not find words for it...

BTW, what is the current RAM usage at the peak of work load.. a screenshot of task manager at performance tab would help.
 
The 630 is a Athlon II processor and will accept DDR3 with a AM3 motherboard.

You seem to be overstating the issue. An AM3 motherboard will be around 2.5k for the cheapest one, plus your RAM, minus what you will be able to get off the sale of your current motherboard and RAM.

3GB is more than sufficient for your use. More RAM will not help in your case. Operations that are memory intensive will benefit from increased memory speed. You don't run a single app that really pushes the memory hard. Though more memory does help in multitasking, the speed boosts aren't as much as you think. I'm typing this from a laptop with 8GB memory, and it's dog slow compared to my systems with a quarter of the RAM, but with an SSD with the OS on it. This is with about 6GB of memory free.

If you have 3k to spend get a SSD for an almost instant speed boost. A 40GB SSD will transform your system, and it is enough to store a copy of Win 7 x86 (which is not slower than x64).
 
Whenever my pc starts becoming slow, i close everything and logoff logon (ALTHOUGH NEVER WANT TO logoff from the current state of opened apps, as have to reopen everything. So whenever slowness starts i do that - so didn't post the pic to the system task manager under load.

And buying second hand ram, although seems good, but isnt it a long process ?? will take some days to get it after thorough time spent on searching the forums too. How many days can it be made to fastest ? I am close to delhi.
 
Back
Top