computer help?

[gbodyman]

i used to think that i knew a lot about computers, how ever lately im am not so sure. My question is with all the new p4 and athlon xp and 64, and mainly the kinda older stuff... athlon xp 2600+ etc... any ways the memory is what i don't get. They have ddr ddr sdram pc2100 pc2700 ddr200 ddr266 ddr333? what are all of those and is it motherboard specific, or cpu specific??? I got a mb and cpu of the athlon 2600+ can i use my older pc2100 memory with that? this whole memory and frequency things got me confused what goes with what.... can one thing work with everything? thanks for reading. Ian

 

[Demon]

The best way to figure out which kind of memory to use is to go to the motherboard manufacturer's website. Another option is to go to any of the major memory manufacturer's websites - they usually have a memory tool that tells you what memory to buy. Personally, I like www.crucial.com - it give you the type of memory (SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, or, if you're cursed, RDRAM) as well as the speed rating (PC3200, PC2700, PC2100, etc.)

In a nutshell, there are a few basic characteristics to worry about:

TYPE - SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, RDRAM

Frequency - usually seen as DDR333, DDR400 (this represents the frequency of the memory in MHz)>

Throughput - seen as PC2100, PC2700, etc. (this represents how much data can flow through the memory. PC2100 can flow 2.1GB/s, PC2700 - 2.7GB/s, etc.)

Go to www.crucial.com and go through the steps - it'll make things real easy.

Last resort - crack open the case and take the RAM out and look at it. Be careful no to fry anything (ground yourself by touching a metal part of the chassis BEFORE touching any electrical components).

HTH
Matt