help with ram

[m-kong]

This is a really stupid question, wasn't sure where to post this thread..
Anyways, how do i find/determine my DDR ram speed ie 2100, 2700.

I bought it a while ago, now im not sure whether it is 2700 or 2100.

Also is it possible to use one stick of 2100 speed with another stick of 2700 ram ?

[Gilad]

Determining the rams speed is a little tricky and depends on the manufacturers markings. However you should stick to the major manufacturers as you can be more certain that the markings are correct.
Usually the type of memory should be stated on a sticker that is attached to the memory stick.
But do not count on that for there are manufacturers that over clock 2100 sticks and mark them as 2700 sticks.
In order to find the correct marking look at one of the memory ICs on the stick. You should find on the IC a single number that may prefixed or post fixed by a letter, that number states the memory speed in nanoseconds i.e. 10^-9.
This is the key for calculating the proper speed of the memory. If for instance 6 is printed on the IC it means that it's speed is 6 nanoseconds therefore its frequency is 1/(6X10^-9)*2 = 333.333 MHz.
We multiply the speed by two for it is double data rated.
Now you have 8 ICs so we are talking of 8 bytes 8 * 333.333x10^6 = 2666.666 MB/sec and that is the origin of the name pc2700.
If you are lucky and you find 5 printed on your memory then you will find that you have DDR400 or pc3200.

As to your second question. No it is not possible to mix two types of rams for if you do so the computer will automatically reduce the speed to 266MHz and you will lose the advantage of the pc2700 module that is noticeable.

BTW it is not a stupid question and it is in place.

[bigjackusa]

Since your motherboard only supports 266 FSB (pc2100), that's the fastest any ram will run in it anyway. So, mixing pc2100 and pc2700 will have no detrimental effect on performance, as you can't jack up the FSB to use the potential of pc2700 anyway.

[Gilad]

It's true, I did not notice your configuration. DDR 333 will not improve your system performance, so mixing ram modules will be fine (though ddr 333 memory bandwidth is wasted on your system).