Looking for these exact RAM. need help!

LeakingLava

http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-ddr2-pc2-6400-fatal1ty-edition-dual-channel.html

Hi guys, I'm currently looking for this exact set of RAM at the moment.

I currently have one of these kits and I would like to upgrade to 8Gb and by research, I think that if I get the same RAM, it would sorta get along with my current RAM and work better. Is that even a bit right?

Thanks for all the help!

Monotype

It's not cheap.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-4096MB-2x2048MB-PC2-6400-Fatality/dp/B001BB2Z14/

OCZ don't make RAM anymore, so you'll be pushed to find it at a good price.

Usually you're okay if you buy a different set. The main worry tends to be about mismatching pairs. You should try to match what you have in specifications, if possible.

LeakingLava

Monotype wrote: »

It's not cheap.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-4096MB-2x2048MB-PC2-6400-Fatality/dp/B001BB2Z14/

OCZ don't make RAM anymore, so you'll be pushed to find it at a good price.

Usually you're okay if you buy a different set. The main worry tends to be about mismatching pairs. You should try to match what you have in specifications, if possible.

Oh damn. I got mine for 35 quid second hand about 2-3 weeks ago. Lol. Any recommendations on what I should buy instead of them?

Monotype

http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr2ram.html#Standard=PC2+6400&page=0

The voltage on your RAM is fairly high so you should test your memory to see if it runs at a lower voltage, get RAM to match the voltage that you have or look a reviews of the RAM to see if you can run it at higher voltage.

LeakingLava

Monotype wrote: »

http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr2ram.html#Standard=PC2+6400&page=0

The voltage on your RAM is fairly high so you should test your memory to see if it runs at a lower voltage, get RAM to match the voltage that you have or look a reviews of the RAM to see if you can run it at higher voltage.

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 800MHz Dual Channel (KHX6400D2K2/4G)

If you go could go back one page from this link, it says that this RAM goes from 1.8v to 2.1v. What does that mean? Would it automatically go up to 2.1v if I plug it into my mobo or do I have to change things or does it even do 2.1v (are they lying?)?

LeakingLava

This is what it shows when I open up CPU-z. I see 1.8v and a 2.1v. which of those is the voltage that my RAM is using?

Monotype

That's the speeds the RAM is capable of running at. The actual speed is in the previous tab.

So in the last column, when you have 400MHz and low timings, you need the higher voltage, but at 266MHz, you can run it at 1.8V

LeakingLava

Monotype wrote: »

That's the speeds the RAM is capable of running at. The actual speed is in the previous tab.

So in the last column, when you have 400MHz and low timings, you need the higher voltage, but at 266MHz, you can run it at 1.8V

What if I plug in another set of RAM that just uses 1.8v instead of 2.1v at the same speed? Would it work? Or do I really have to match them up?

LeakingLava

I think mine's only using 1.8v at the moments. (JEDEC #3 in the timings table)

Monotype

Usually you can only control the voltage for all the RAM, so you don't want to run new RAM at too high a voltage or your old RAM to run at too low which could make it unstable.

What's your current RAM at (CPU-Z, memory tab)?

Edit: Actually, CPU-Z doesn't show the voltage, you'll have to check the BIOS, but CPU-Z will tell you the speeds and timings.

LeakingLava

Monotype wrote: »

Usually you can only control the voltage for all the RAM, so you don't want to run new RAM at too high a voltage or your old RAM to run at too low which could make it unstable.

What's your current RAM at (CPU-Z, memory tab)?

Post #9..sorry for the double posting

Monotype

I'd say you'll be fine with most RAM so.

LeakingLava

Monotype wrote: »

I'd say you'll be fine with most RAM so.

Just a follow up question though. Why is my RAM just using 1.8v? I actually never checked this out before because I thought that it would just fire ahead onto the RAM's maximum potential(non-overclocked) which is at 2.1v. Could I set it to do 2.1v and the other set of RAM to do 1.8v or do they have to be identical?

Serephucus

If anything would have to be identical it would be voltage.

Also, the JEDEC voltages listed in CPU-Z aren't necessarily what your RAM is running at, it just lists all the specs it can run at. Boot into your BIOS, and go have a look at your voltage settings. You're looking for DRAM voltage, VDIMM, Memory voltage... could be called a few things.

LeakingLava

Serephucus wrote: »

If anything would have to be identical it would be voltage.

Also, the JEDEC voltages listed in CPU-Z aren't necessarily what your RAM is running at, it just lists all the specs it can run at. Boot into your BIOS, and go have a look at your voltage settings. You're looking for DRAM voltage, VDIMM, Memory voltage... could be called a few things.

well in the memory tab, what it's basically showing me is the 3rd JEDEC so I assumed that that is what it's running at. Am I wrong? I'll go into BIOS now. Thanks for the suggestion.

Serephucus

Hmm... you're probably right, but good to check anyway.

If it is using 1.8V, the reason it's doing that is because your motherboard is stupid and doesn't detect EP Profiles. You can go into your BIOS an manually set the voltage an timings specced in the EPP tab if you like; it'll run fine. (It's actually what your memory should be running at) Newer boards the have XMP support, paired with XMP memory, will do that automatically, hence why no-one uses EPP anymore.

Monotype

If you run it faster (higher frequency and lower timings), it needs more power. It's running at the higher speed but at slower (higher) timings. You don't necessarily need the higher voltages to run at high frequencies, if you're willing to test them out.

You generally have to have the same timings, speed and voltage for all your RAM.

LeakingLava

Serephucus wrote: »

Hmm... you're probably right, but good to check anyway.

If it is using 1.8V, the reason it's doing that is because your motherboard is stupid and doesn't detect EP Profiles. You can go into your BIOS an manually set the voltage an timings specced in the EPP tab if you like; it'll run fine. (It's actually what your memory should be running at) Newer boards the have XMP support, paired with XMP memory, will do that automatically, hence why no-one uses EPP anymore.

To be honest, I don't know what that stuff means. Lol. I just checked and it's currently running at 1.85v.

LeakingLava

Monotype wrote: »

If you run it faster (higher frequency and lower timings), it needs more power. It's running at the higher speed but at slower (higher) timings. You don't necessarily need the higher voltages to run at high frequencies, if you're willing to test them out.

You generally have to have the same timings, speed and voltage for all your RAM.

Darn it. I didn't think it was going to be this hard. So what you're actually saying is that I have to manually adjust all of the timings and the voltage of both RAM kits so that they match? What if one of them is stable and the other isn't?

Serephucus

Sorry, I'll try and be more clear.

The two things I mentioned - EPP and XMP - are basically two different ways of forcing non-standard (JEDEC) memory specs. Your memory for instance was designed to operate with much tighter timings than the JEDEC standard. (4-4-4-12 vs. 6-6-6-18)

That's actually nothing special though; virtually any memory with a heatspreader on it (this vs. this) will be operating above JEDEC specs.

EPP was used on older boards. The newer ones use XMP, which does the same thing, but it actually works, as opposed to your situation where you have to go in and manually set all the stuff.


End-point: You can go and set the timings and speed listed in the EPP column in CPU-Z. Those are the specs you should be looking at when picking RAM.

LeakingLava

Serephucus wrote: »

Sorry, I'll try and be more clear.

The two things I mentioned - EPP and XMP - are basically two different ways of forcing non-standard (JEDEC) memory specs. Your memory for instance was designed to operate with much tighter timings than the JEDEC standard. (4-4-4-12 vs. 6-6-6-18)

That's actually nothing special though; virtually any memory with a heatspreader on it (this vs. this) will be operating above JEDEC specs.

EPP was used on older boards. The newer ones use XMP, which does the same thing, but it actually works, as opposed to your situation where you have to go in and manually set all the stuff.


End-point: You can go and set the timings and speed listed in the EPP column in CPU-Z. Those are the specs you should be looking at when picking RAM.

What if(it's most likely what's goin to happen) I can't find those exact specs?

Monotype

LeakingLava wrote: »

Darn it. I didn't think it was going to be this hard. So what you're actually saying is that I have to manually adjust all of the timings and the voltage of both RAM kits so that they match? What if one of them is stable and the other isn't?

It will be stable if you run all the RAM at the speed of the slower pair.
You'll be buying the same speeds and voltage. With the timings, just look at the recommended for the slower one and go with that.

Serephucus

http://www.dabs.ie/products/kingston-hyperx-4gb--2-x-2gb--ddr2-1066mhz---pc2-8500-cl5-dimm-240-pin-5GZQ.html?refs=42670000-51530000-468490000

Those will work. They're rated for 1066MHz at 5-5-5-15 2.2V, so they should do 800 at 5-4-4-15 2.1 with no problems. Honestly it's not that much to worry about. If it doubt, use 800, 5-5-5-15 2.1 for both; it'll still be faster than what you're running now. :P

LeakingLava

Serephucus wrote: »

http://www.dabs.ie/products/kingston-hyperx-4gb--2-x-2gb--ddr2-1066mhz---pc2-8500-cl5-dimm-240-pin-5GZQ.html?refs=42670000-51530000-468490000

Those will work. They're rated for 1066MHz at 5-5-5-15 2.2V, so they should do 800 at 5-4-4-15 2.1 with no problems. Honestly it's not that much to worry about. If it doubt, use 800, 5-5-5-15 2.1 for both; it'll still be faster than what you're running now. :P

Ah. But isn't that a bit like wasting money? Money is really tight for me and downclocking = money down the drain isn't it? Can't I possible go with this one by any chance?

Dabs Ireland - Kingston ValueRAM HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 240-Pin PC2-6400 800MHz CL5 DIMM (KHX6400D2K2/4G)

Serephucus

Yes, you most-certainly can. There's a slight possibility that your existing set won't pull off 5-5-5-15 @ 1.8 (it should), but if it doesn't, just up the voltage to 1.9. The new set should be fine with that.

LeakingLava

Serephucus wrote: »

Yes, you most-certainly can. There's a slight possibility that your existing set won't pull off 5-5-5-15 @ 1.8 (it should), but if it doesn't, just up the voltage to 1.9. The new set should be fine with that.

What's the percentage of everything going wrong? :P

Serephucus

Absolute worst-case, I'd say about 20% likelihood of something not working. Odds are those everything will work fine. The timings are close enough that it shouldn't matter.

Again, absolute worse-case, you just run both sets at 6-6-6-18 1.8. It's what you're running now anyway. If the new set can't do that, it's faulty. :P

LeakingLava

Serephucus wrote: »

Absolute worst-case, I'd say about 20% likelihood of something not working. Odds are those everything will work fine. The timings are close enough that it shouldn't matter.

Again, absolute worse-case, you just run both sets at 6-6-6-18 1.8. It's what you're running now anyway. If the new set can't do that, it's faulty. :P

Alright. Thanks. Another question (hope I'm not bothering you now with the load of questions lol). When I get the new set and plug it in, do I have to do anything or would the computer find those compatible settings for both?

Serephucus

LeakingLava wrote: »

Alright. Thanks. Another question (hope I'm not bothering you now with the load of questions lol). When I get the new set and plug it in, do I have to do anything or would the computer find those compatible settings for both?

What have I been saying?! :P

If you had XMP, yes. You don't, so no. You'll need to load your BIOS, and enter settings manually.

LeakingLava

Serephucus wrote: »

What have I been saying?! :P

If you had XMP, yes. You don't, so no. You'll need to load your BIOS, and enter settings manually.

Ah that XMP stupid crap. Lol. Sorry, really tired today. What settings should I try first again? And if that doesn't work, what's the rockbottom settings?

Serephucus

Try first:

800MHz, 5-5-5-15-2T, 1.8V

Rock bottom:

800MHz, 6-6-6-18-2T, 1.8V

Important note: Your BIOS might display your RAM as running at 400MHz. If this is the case do not set it to 800! Leave it as is and apply timings and voltages as above.