OT: Hardware question: Asus P5K with 2x 2Gb Ram ?

[Wels 2]

Hello,

i am currently running OFF on a E8400 dual core proc. (2x3 GHz), with 2x 1Gb Ram (DDR2) on those two banks providing dual channel, thus running at appx. 1333 MHz FSB. Rest is a Zotac 9800 GT (Nvidia chipset) and Win XP, 32 bit.

 

So i wonder if i could exchange the 2x 1 Gb Kingston HyperX Ram, with 2x 2 Gb Kingston or Corsair (CORSAIR 4GB DDR2 CL4) Ram, and still have an FSB of 1333 - or would the FSB then be slower ? And if it would be less, how much, and would it still be better to play OFF with more Ram ?

Will Dual channel also work with 2x 2Gb Ram, like it did with 2x1 ? I have browsed the Internet, but did not find exact info on that.

 

I would then also switch to Windows 7, to use the then available full 4Gb of Ram (guess XP uses 3. something ?)

 

Thanks and greetings,

Catfish

[Typhoon 5]

Catfish:

Make sure you get Windows 7 64 bit to access all your ram.

 

Tony

[Wels 2]

Hello Tony,

thanks, b.t.w. will older applications be able to run on Win 7 without problems, and then 64 bit ? Not a list, just generally "yes" or "no"

 

Greetings,

Catfish

[FastCargo 412]

Generally, the answer is yes. I have a tri boot install with Win 7 64 and Win XP 32 bit. The number of applications I can't get to run in Win 7 64 I can count on one hand...and the majority of those were games that were designed for Win95/98.

 

FC

[Dutch_P47M 9]

Wels I know you are running RoF, so do a search on Simhq and Riseofflight forum before changing to Win7-64.

Also track me on these forums because I had more a less the same 64bit question. So I did some research and I did find out that a 64bit OS will bring you no more performance if your games and applications are still 32bit and 99% of the consumer software is only 32bit, remark: some sites even notice a slow down in performance.

Read this 64bit Keep in your mind only a 64bit OS can take the full advance of the more then 3Gb RAM, but OFF3 and RoF does not need more.

 

I am not an Intel guy but I think that you should read your mobo manual and check what is the max Gb RAM your mobo can handle (total and max in one row) then take a look in the max RAM mhz that can be handled with your CPU, if it is 1333 then take a 1333Mhz and not a 800mhz. Go for a low RAM timing like CL4 .

I had a Intel P4 that had 3rows but could only handle a total of 2Gb, max 1Gb/row and max ???mhz (do not know the figures). I exchanged the RAM by something that was more then ???mhz and my system stopped at the start-up. I know in AMD systems, PC is faster using 2x2Gb then 4x1Gb RAM this can also counting be for an Intel.

 

I know that older 32bit application can be run on Win7-32 if you are running in administrator mode, then these software can be run in XP or Vista compability mode, I do not know for win7-64/32-software.

 

 

[Von Paulus 8]

Download from Asus site the memory QVL (Qualified Vendor List) of your motherboard. If you've to buy memory always use qualified memory. You'll find QVL list at the support part of the site in the drivers section.

Corsair are quicker than Kingston, but IMO Kingston are more reliable. Quantity is more important than speed. So as long you're using PC6400 no problem if you have a CL5 instead of CL4. If you decide to go for 2x2GB it still operates in dual channel. It's better to go for 2x2GB then 4x1GB.

32 bits systems don't address memory above 3GB, so you won't use all your GB.

Will you notice a lot of difference in performance terms? Probably not, but it depends how much memory is your system consuming. 32bits applications AFAIK don't use more than 2GB; but your system uses some at startup, so you might have a marginal gain if you upgrade the memory.

[Wels 2]

Hello,

thanks a lot !

The P5K board supports up to 8 b Ram, but then with a slower FSB - and there is no application or OS that would be able to use this lol.

Will look for 2x 2 Gb Kingston Ram, should then be able to run with 1333 MHz also.

 

And for now stay with XP for the time being. Maybe buy a soundcard to take some more load from memory, and maybe also a faster/bigger graphic card.

 

Thanks and greetings,

Catfish

[ConradB 0]

Catfish,

 

With the ram you're putting in, your onboard sound should be minimal in what it uses as far as power. It's definitely not like the old days of onboard sound and compatability issues. Also I was reading somewhere recently that people are staying away from add-on soundcards due to software issues that cause problems with games. So it has in a sense gone full corcle now.

 

But you could istead pump up the video with the extra cash, or maybe the ram power if you want.

 

Just a couple ideas is all.

[Dutch_P47M 9]

Catfish,

 

With the ram you're putting in, your onboard sound should be minimal in what it uses as far as power. It's definitely not like the old days of onboard sound and compatability issues. Also I was reading somewhere recently that people are staying away from add-on soundcards due to software issues that cause problems with games. So it has in a sense gone full corcle now.

 

But you could istead pump up the video with the extra cash, or maybe the ram power if you want.

 

Just a couple ideas is all.

 

The creative soundcard drivers are causing a lot of problems, that why in RoF many player disable the soundblaster and use the onboard audiocard back again. You could use alternatives drivers like KX or something like that.