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Memory upgrade?
What would work better for my Dimension 8400 3.0 ghz that has 1gb of 400 MHz ( PC2-3200 ) ram now? I will buy either 2gb of 533 MHz ( PC2-4200 ) or add 2gb of 400 MHz ( PC2-3200 ) for a total of 3gb. So the choices;
3gb at 400
2gb at 533
Which is better and would going from 400 to 533 make a diff. anyway?
And yes I know its antique...its what I got.....
Davet50
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February 22nd, 2009 18:00
there is not that much performance differnce between the 400/533 ram. So your better off going with the 3 gigs. More ram is alway better.
larryis
28 Posts
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February 22nd, 2009 20:00
Thats what I figured.
Thanks for the input Davet50.
Davet50
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February 23rd, 2009 06:00
You are welcome
mte1955
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September 18th, 2009 05:00
Sorry if this is a "dumb" question but the issue of memory upgrade is confusing to me. Several types can apparently be used to upgrade the memory in an 8400 (ie: 5300 - 667mHz or 3200 - 400mHz). Does one need to match all the memory sticks on an upgrade or can different ones be put in the same computer?
Davet50
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September 18th, 2009 10:00
No dont worry about it being a Dumb question.. that is the only way to learn and we have all been there at some point.
To answer your question to get best performance out of a system one would want to go with the fastest ram speed allowed by the system. One does not necessarily need to match the all the memory sticks but here again your performance will suffer. What will happen with mixed memory is the system will throttle back to the memory speed of the slowest ram stick. So if you mixed 667 and 400 mhz ram all the ram would run at 400. Which kinda makes adding in the 667 not a good bang for the buck so to say. The system will run with mixed memory just not a top speed. That is why it is always best to add or replace memory all at the same time.