Ram

[bullsfan80586]

I am going to add RAM to my machine so I can do a little video production. My program reccomends 1 GB RAM. I currently am running 512 MB of PC2100 @266MHz. I am considering adding ValueRAM made by Kingston. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between ValueRAM and their standard RAM? I'm not exactly a novice, but I still don't know about RAM.

[CanaBalistic]

There isnt much diffrence at all. It is best for dual channel memory configurations to use the same type and size of memory modules. The value ram might run a Mhz or 2 under what its rated at and it could cause problems when mixing with standard or "advanced" ram (OCZ, ect.).

If you dont have a dual channel configuration, feel free to drop in any kind of 2100 ram you can get.

[bullsfan80586]

How do I know if mine is dual channel?

[CanaBalistic]

Your motherboard manual will tell you.

Another thing that will let you know is looking at the memory slots. Dual channel allways has 4 slots. For the most part 2 will be a diffrent color. Mine are blue and black. On some high end mobo's the slots might be the same color. If you have 2 or 3 slots then you can be sure you dont have dual channel memory.

You must have an old computer (socket 478?), pc2100 isnt popular anymore and should be fairly cheap to pruchase

[AKA_RA]

dual channel is not always 4 slots, i have dual channel and only 3 slots, yes 4 is more common and yes 3 is a rather stupid idea IMO, because now i cant add another set of sticks, i have to replace what i have. but anyways, what i suggest is getting 2 sticks of ram that come packaged together and are labeld as dual channel ready, or whatever the packing says. that way youre sure to have compatable sticks. the big differance between things like value ram and more costly ram is the latency times. lower is always better. mine are currently running at cas 2, most value ram runs at cas 3, and believe me, theres a noticable differance if you ahve a high demand program running. but are 4 key timings whern it comes to ram, and honest i dont know what they all mean, or what their functions are, all i know is that lower is better when it comes to latency times.

[bullsfan80586]

Well, I know that I only have 2 slots, so that about rules out dual channel.

[monoflap]

Well, before you rule anything out consult the manual. On the whole value ram thing, value ram isn't always of the greatest quality. Infact, sometimes it can cause wierd skipping and stuff. On your video editing, I also do a bit of that and I would recommend stuffing as much RAM in your computer as it will hold. It looks like you have older ram so if you mosey on down to a computer show you should be able to get it real cheap. Then again, it might be safer to buy it at the store, it's up to you. You can never have too much RAM for video editing (I run 2 gigs and even that made a big difference when I upgraded from 1). Even if you don't max out your system, you will still notice a big difference in the reliablility and response of your editing program. (Lol I sound like a commercial don't I )

[d_stilgar]

There are mobos with dual channel in only two slots.

[CanaBalistic]

Wow, my information must be completely wrong. As far as i knew, dual channel only came in 4 socket.

Monoflap:
Now i cant remember where on TBCS i seen it but somone stated that windows can only allocate 1Gb max to any given program at any given time. If this is true, you wouldnt see any performance gains on any one program from 1536mb to mobo max. (windows uses 512 for itself).

I would think video editing software writers would try and overcome this as editing a full lenght movies could take tera bytes of memory?

[monoflap]

Well, I never heard of a limit on how much windows can use (never thought of that, thanks for pointing that out Cana-Balistic) but I have heard it has problems finding more than 2 gigs in the home edition. What I meant by a "difference" is that first of all the program I was using stopped booting me out (piece o' crap). Also, it sped (can't spell lol) up moving through clips and such. This could very well be because it could dedicate more memory to what I was actually doing than my background apps. Bottom line bullsfan, I would get at least a gig, its common ground nowadays.