What's better? 2Gb RAM @ 400Mhz or 4Gb @ 333MHz?

[Pinksteady]

My Asus A8V Deluxe apparantly can take a maximum of 2Gb DDR PC3200 400MHz RAM (This is what I have in at the moment (4x512Mb), or up to 4Gb if using 333Mhz RAM. I got this from the Kingston website - is it true?

So, for example, if I upgrade my ram one day, I could either replace the standard 2Gb and get 2Gb of EEC/Registered Dual channel stuff, or instead get 4Gb of slightly slower ram. I guess the 4Gb option is better, just because there is twice as much ram, its just a bit slower!

I don't really know about EEC/Registered etc, I just have 2Gb bog-standard PC3200 400Mhz in (not dual channel), so if someone could enlighten me that would be great! Too many options for my little brain!

Cheers

[DR.Death]

i dont think that it will work but i am asking a friend so i will wget back to you

[DR.Death]

no i would go with the 2 gig not the 4 gig. for what u do with your computer it won't make a defence

[djbbenn]

4gb's of ram is pointless unless you do some very heavy media work. But for gaming, the 2Gb will be more than enought. Some games are starting to get there, but still don't use the full 2 gig. Plus you will take a bit of a hit running at 333, so you would have to overclock to make up the difference, unless your board has a option for it.

-Dan

[turbopsi]

You don't want ECC ram as it is way slower than unbuffered ram.

I wouldn't even waste money on 4gb of RAM.. unless you are doing some sort of extreme rendering or something...

Get 2gb of some low latency(cas 2) 400mhz ram.. and you will be happy.

EDIT: Djbbenn beat me to it.

[Pinksteady]

cheers guys, I think I'll be sticking with my setup for a while now then, which is 4 sticks of 512Mb CL 2.5 400MHz DDR. The extra gig has really made games waaayyy smoother even at max settings, I just always wondered about registered ram etc.

Thanks again!

[djbbenn]

Originally Posted by turbopsi

EDIT: Djbbenn beat me to it.

, we both posted at like the exact same time.

-Dan

[bim27142]

4GB is overkill for desktop apps... even the most demanding games rarely hit 2GB, what's the use of another 2GB then?

i'd go for memory performance rather than memory size...

[bobyjo]

I agree, actually one gig is enough for any desktop system.
The only program that can use two gig memory is Battlefield 2.
If you don't have this game, there is absolutely NO reason to go over 1 gig of memory.

[djbbenn]

F.E.A.R is suppose to use up to 2gigs...all the new games that will come out now will probably over or pushing the 1gig of ram standard. But for most other things, 1gig of ram is plenty...

-Dan