How important is fast RAM speed?

I have 1 GB of ram on my PC right now clocked at 166 MHz. I want quality over quantity here, but 400 MHz (pc3200) RAM is more expensive. Is it worth it to get the faster one?

Note: I cannot get any faster ram than pc4000 or standard DDR.

Answers:
You will definitely benefit running the fastest ram you can get, IF, it has a low latency. Since you are using DDR, something good to look for would be pc3200 with a (CAS) latency of 2. If the latency is high, like 4, it takes twice as many cycles for the memory to retrieve the data, so the extra frequency speed wouldn't do you much good. Now, as far as size. Most people think they need a ton. An average user won't even utilize over 512KB of memory. Look at your processes list when using your computer and add up the amount of memory used. XP will also alert you if you are out of memory and starting to rely too much on hard disk for memory, also called virtual memory. Make sure your motherboard supports faster memory though.

Another note. Most computers are choked by the speed of the hard drive. CPU's and memory are way faster than a hard drive and have to wait for it to load data into the memory. Fast hard drives will allow your system to boot in seconds and programs to load extremely quick. However, if the program is CPU dependent, such as recoding video, then CPU speed is more important. I know I kind of rambled on, but I hope this helps you.
totally, i get 266mhz a second and im lovin it, but on the other hand the video card was 500 smackeroos on a GREAT deal at a local company.
It's definately worth getting the faster one because it would be able to transfer information between devices storing information in RAM much faster and therefore speed up your games (if that's what your PC is primarily geared towards).

However, it would be far better to save the money and buy more RAM instead so that instead of having to constantly swap information in and out of RAM the system could just store more information thereby reducing the amount of swapping that needs to happen.

Bottom line. It's not worth getting the faster one. It's better getting another 1 Gig of slower RAM (make sure it's the same speed as the other one).
what computer model is it, because of you go to crucial.com you can see your memory when you scan or computer find it, you can see the maxium memory capacity and what it can hold. and one more thing, its not just the faster bus speed, you need to look at the cas lactency, the less lactency the faster it will be, the lactency represents the clock cycles it take to retrieve data.
You want a faster computer? I have 4 options for you :

1. Get a faster processor.
2. Get a faster RAM.
3. Get a faster hard disk. (SATA II, Raptor 10K RPM, etc.)
4. Overclock your computer.

As you can see, getting a faster RAM can speed up your computer. However, if you have bought the fastest RAM out there, you might want to try the DUAL-CHANNEL RAM. These RAM are made specifically in pairs so that they can operate together, giving you higher speeds. Before you install these RAM, check whether your motherboard supports them. Motherboards which support dual channel RAM usually have 4 RAM slots, so if you have less than that, forget it.

You may also try overclocking your computer to acheive higher speeds. However, your computer won't last as long as it would if you overclock it.

Good Luck!

The answers post by the user, for information only, RunQA.com does not guarantee the right.


More Questions and Answers ...
  • I need a larger internal drive. Can I transfer all the data from the original C: drive to the new one.?
  • Need a CPU FOR GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 MOTHERBOARD?
  • Where can I buy a hard drive for 15 or 16 cents per gigabyte?
  • Hi does anyoen have any radeon x800 agp cards spare i need a card but you need to be in london?
  • Does anyone know when I will be able to get the DFI Lan Party P35 Motherboard from an E-tailer?
  • How come my computer isnt reconizing my ram ?
  • Is it ok to mount the motherboard without the cpu, and then take the motherboard out and install the cpu..?
  • Will these components work together?
  • Whats the best microphone?