Can I put DDR 400 RAM on my A7V333 Mobo?

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

See, a fellow geek eventually convince me to replace my VisiPro RAM with Corsair, but when I went to the sole distributor, they said they don't have DDR 333 RAM anymore. They only have DDR 400 CL 2.5 and DDR 400 CL 2.

Since my Mobo is ASUS A7V333 (hey, it's a Voodoo5 5500 legacy system! ), can I put the DDR 400 RAM into my Mobo?

My friend said the DDR 400 CL 2.5 would probably be safe to be put on my Mobo, because the Mobo would see it as DDR 333 CL 2 RAM. Is that true?

How about putting a DDR 400 CL 2 on Mobo?

Thanks.

[phongn]

You can get DDR400 if you want but your processor normally will have it operate at DDR333 speeds unless you overclock. Why are you replacing your RAM, anyways?

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

You can get DDR400 if you want but your processor normally will have it operate at DDR333 speeds unless you overclock.

So it's always be safe even when I'm using DDR400 CL2?

Why are you replacing your RAM, anyways?

Frankly, all these times I've been seeing RAM as nothing more than commodity (unlike joysticks or video cards), but a friend (who's a RAM geek) kept telling me that there's actually performance difference between different brands of RAM, and he said Corsair is the best.

Is that true? Or the performance difference is actually negligible (and nothing more than placebo stuff) between different brands?


PS: my performance goal is about games, and almost nothing to do with multitasking stuff like making Powerpoint presentation while encoding MP3s on the same time. Is RAM performance more crucial for the former, or the latter?

[Ace Pace]

Why are you replacing your RAM, anyways?

Frankly, all these times I've been seeing RAM as nothing more than commodity (unlike joysticks or video cards), but a friend (who's a RAM geek) kept telling me that there's actually performance difference between different brands of RAM, and he said Corsair is the best.

Is that true? Or the performance difference is actually negligible (and nothing more than placebo stuff) between different brands?


PS: my performance goal is about games, and almost nothing to do with multitasking stuff like making Powerpoint presentation while encoding MP3s on the same time. Is RAM performance more crucial for the former, or the latter?

Yes, there is a differance, not a large one, but Corsair is generally the best, esspecially if you intend to OC.

Games will benefit from higher speeds and latencies only if your CPU can handle the added speed.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Yes, there is a differance, not a large one, but Corsair is generally the best, esspecially if you intend to OC.

I see. So they are more stable and less prone to crashing the system during OC?

By the way, what is the meaning of CL 2, CL 2.5 and such? Is it more "compatibility sensitive" than DDR values, or actually less? (for example, as long as I can put DDR 400 on my 333 Mobo, then I should have no worry whether it's CL 2.5 or CL 2)

Also, isn't that true that the limit of DDR value we can put in the Mobo is limited by the BIOS multiplier? Or the multiplier merely limits the effective performance?

[Executor32]

It stands for CAS (Column Address Strobe) Latency. Basically, a lower CAS latency will result in slightly better performance. It has no effect on compatibility. If you're still curious, here's a nice (but rather old) article about it.

And yes, the BIOS multiplier only limits the effective performance. In your case, the 400Mhz RAM will simply be automagically underclocked to run at your bus speed of 333MHz.

[White Haven]

So in other words, you'd be buying more expensive RAM for a system without a prayer of taking advantage of it. Save your money.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Yes, there is a differance, not a large one, but Corsair is generally the best, esspecially if you intend to OC.

Games will benefit from higher speeds and latencies only if your CPU can handle the added speed.

How about Barton 2800+? Can it handle the added speed from a DDR 400 RAM? (be it CAS 2 or CAS 2.5) Or I may need to upgrade to Barton 3000+?


EDIT:
Actually my goal is to see how much I can boast the performance of my old Voodoo5 5500 by maxing out RAM and CPU, right to the point until the Voodoo5 fill rate becomes the bottle neck.

The latest Mobos support AGP 2x are A7V333 (AMD) and P4S533 (Pentium). Fellow Voodoo freaks at 3dfxzone.It tends to use AMD, though. But what do you think?

[phongn]

Your motherboard is designed only to handle speeds up to DDR333.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Your motherboard is designed only to handle speeds up to DDR333.

I see. Thanks. Probably I have to buy Voodoo5 5500 PCI so I can use newer mobo.