RAM Speed Question

win7clutz said:

Mhz versus Latency is almost irrelevant if you're not overclocking or trying you're luck as a bandwidth junkie...

Since your Dell bios doesn't provide tools to OC, as well as the MB was designed to run PC2-5300 not the 6400, there will be NO notable performance gain...

I'd suggest following the manufacturer specs with your upgrade to 4MB.

I agree. Unless you're overclocking it's not really a huge deal.

However, there will absolutely be a noticeable difference going from the 5300 to the 6400. Will it be epic? Most likely not but there will be a slight difference.

Right now though, don't mix and match the RAM. That generally causes way more issues than the gain. Stick to the 4GB's till you get the rest of the 6400's. When you've got those, throw them all in at once. Dropping down to 2GB of RAM regardless of speed is going to take away from your current performance.

So...with the latency of my new RAM modules being 1 more than my current RAM, will i get any noticable change?

I guess the concenus says that i should go with the 4GB at 667mhz.

I will still order the other two PC2-6400 probably in a few months.

Motherboard itself plays a large role.

Some OEM boards will only run at a certain speed, and are locked to that speed.

Meaning it will only run at 667Mhz regardless if you put in 800/ 1066 or whatever.

But even if does, CL6 800 will not be much different from CL5 667. About the same.

In your case, quantity over speed will yield the best results overall IMHO

dbtmellis said:

I guess the concenus says that i should go with the 4GB at 667mhz.

I will still order the other two PC2-6400 probably in a few months.

That would be my vote.