DDR2 Desktop RAM: difference between 800 MHZ 1 GB RAM and 800MHZ PC6400 1GB RAM

[JaideepC99]

I had ordered "1GB DDR2 TRANSCEND DESKTOP RAM 800 MHZ PC6400 1 GB RAM" online, and I received the following product: "Transcend 800 DIMM JM800QLJ-1GB" ram. As you can see the "PC6400" is missing from the product name. So I am guessing that I have not received the exact product that was displayed. If that is true, what is the difference between the 2 products?

My desktop machine is Intel Core-2-duo w/2GB RAM, WinXP (SP3), so I am adding extra 1GB RAM.
Thanks,

 

[geofelt]

I think they are the same.

 

[IInuyasha74]

They are the same, no differences. The PC6400 is just another rating.

Be warned though, mixing RAM can cause your PC to crash hard.

 

[JaideepC99]

I think they are the same.

Thanks @geofelt.
But surely "PC6400" should have a meaning regarding speed or something else. Because I have also seen DDR2 RAM cards with "PC5300" in the description. My earlier 1 GB RAM card which I am replacing, has "800MHZ PC6400 1GB RAM" label on the card itself.

 

[IInuyasha74]

The PC6400 is a speed rating. It is determined by doing a calculation of the speed in Mhz and the CAS timing. Typically 800Mhz RAM is rated for PC6400.

 

[JaideepC99]

The PC6400 is a speed rating. It is determined by doing a calculation of the speed in Mhz and the CAS timing. Typically 800Mhz RAM is rated for PC6400.

Thanks @IInuyasha74
The existing memory card in my M/c is: Transcend 2GB DDR2 RAM (JM667QLU-2G), PC2-5300 (333 MHz)
(As seen from the hardware detecting software: CPU-Z)

Now the memory card which I have bought online ("Transcend DDR2 800 DIMM JM800QLJ-1GB"), will it be conflicting with my existing RAM? Also since this new card does not seems to have a speed rating, and my existing one is: "PC2-5300 (333 MHz)", will there be any issues? Thanks.

 

[IInuyasha74]

Alright your computer will possibly be fine, and possibly have numerous issues.

Fist, your systems FSB has to match the correct setting, on the CPU and on the motherboard and the RAM. Some RAM will auto adjust down, literally slow itself down, to match the speed of the system. If it can't do that then the whole system won't work with this RAM inside.

If you remove the other two RAM sticks and use just this one, its possible the motherboard and CPU will adjust up to meet the speed of the RAM, but if not then again the whole system will not function.

Even if the RAM does adjust down to 533Mhz to match the other RAM, even RAM from the same maker can be different and using it with the others could result in your system freezing and crashing at random points if it successfully boots at all.

It could work fine, but the odds of it not working are much higher.

 

[JaideepC99]

Alright your computer will possibly be fine, and possibly have numerous issues.

Fist, your systems FSB has to match the correct setting, on the CPU and on the motherboard and the RAM. Some RAM will auto adjust down, literally slow itself down, to match the speed of the system. If it can't do that then the whole system won't work with this RAM inside.

If you remove the other two RAM sticks and use just this one, its possible the motherboard and CPU will adjust up to meet the speed of the RAM, but if not then again the whole system will not function.

Even if the RAM does adjust down to 533Mhz to match the other RAM, even RAM from the same maker can be different and using it with the others could result in your system freezing and crashing at random points if it successfully boots at all.

It could work fine, but the odds of it not working are much higher.

Thanks again.
My desktop m/c is:

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 4300 @ 1.80GHz
FSB speed: 200.0 MHz
Motherboard: FOXCONN (Model: NAPA)
Chipset: NVIDIA, GeForce 7100
BIOS: PhoenX Technologies
Has 2 RAM Slots (with 2gb capacity each), and with Transcend 2GB DDR2 RAM (JM667QLU-2G), PC2-5300 (333 MHz) in one of the slots, and the other one is empty.

As per my limited knowledge, Win XP (SP3) does not support more than 3gb RAM.
So would you like to advise me as to what would be the best possible RAM configuration, for optimum performance of my machine? Since I am seeing now that my FSB Speed is just 200 only. So I might discard the existing RAM, and go for newer ones?? Also any other possible tweaks for my system?
Thanks,

 

[IInuyasha74]

Alright, well I would say what most needs done for you to have the best performance is to locat the model number on the motherboard, try the best you can. CPU upgrades for you are pretty cheap and will give a bigger increase in performance.

For windows XP, its a limitation of 32-bit OS. Windows XP 64 can see something like 2TB of RAM. 32-bit is limited to something like 3.46GB. From what I have heard this is total RAM for everything, and divided among the RAM in the hard drives, graphics cards, sound cards, and other devices. Though these other sources don't add up to much.

I would try the RAM stick and see if it works, unless its new, in which case return it. 2GB is plenty for Windows XP, I keep a retro gaming system with Windows XP and it has 2GB of RAM, runs like a charm.For best performance you need to know the motherboard model number, so we can find out more info about it. Then we can see a list of compatible CPUs and upgrade that, which could possibly double your performance or more. RAM increase will be very small in comparison.

 

[IInuyasha74]

Also is this for gaming? Do you do that any? There are a number of cheap GPUs, mostly old used ones people have long since upgraded from, that you could buy and use to give a seemingly giant increase in performance.

 

[JaideepC99]

Alright, well I would say what most needs done for you to have the best performance is to locat the model number on the motherboard, try the best you can. CPU upgrades for you are pretty cheap and will give a bigger increase in performance.

For windows XP, its a limitation of 32-bit OS. Windows XP 64 can see something like 2TB of RAM. 32-bit is limited to something like 3.46GB. From what I have heard this is total RAM for everything, and divided among the RAM in the hard drives, graphics cards, sound cards, and other devices. Though these other sources don't add up to much.

I would try the RAM stick and see if it works, unless its new, in which case return it. 2GB is plenty for Windows XP, I keep a retro gaming system with Windows XP and it has 2GB of RAM, runs like a charm.For best performance you need to know the motherboard model number, so we can find out more info about it. Then we can see a list of compatible CPUs and upgrade that, which could possibly double your performance or more. RAM increase will be very small in comparison.

Thanks,
Do I need to physically open up the CPU to locate the Model number. If so, where should I look? or any software that can do it?

No, I am not into gaming. But the apps are very heavy which run in my m/c and require a lot of CPU and memory.
For example when more than 2 apps or more are running simultaneously, I can see my current CPU usage climb upto 80% or more (as seen from Task Manager), and there is a constant whinning and groaning sound coming from my processor/CPU. Now I am now beginning to think that this might be due to the mismatched memory cards )-:

 

[IInuyasha74]

No no we don't need the CPU model number, its the motherboard model number. Sorry might of miss said that.

The motherboard has a list of CPUs it is compatible with, while we don't know which exact model is yours, we could find out with CPU-Z, but we don't need to. Once we know the model number of the motherboard though, we can just find the fastest CPU it supports, which will likely be a $15 CPU or so, and then switch them out.

As for that whinning sound, that is actually likely the CPU fan. This system probably has at least 5 years on it and so the fan is probably wearing out. A cheap replacement will only be $5, or a little better one no could be had for no more than $10 and keep the CPU cooler, and quieter. Mismatched RAM would show up as the system crashing usually. I think your current RAM is functioning pretty fine, just the CPU needs the boost.

 

[JaideepC99]

No no we don't need the CPU model number, its the motherboard model number. Sorry might of miss said that.

The motherboard has a list of CPUs it is compatible with, while we don't know which exact model is yours, we could find out with CPU-Z, but we don't need to. Once we know the model number of the motherboard though, we can just find the fastest CPU it supports, which will likely be a $15 CPU or so, and then switch them out.

As for that whinning sound, that is actually likely the CPU fan. This system probably has at least 5 years on it and so the fan is probably wearing out. A cheap replacement will only be $5, or a little better one no could be had for no more than $10 and keep the CPU cooler, and quieter. Mismatched RAM would show up as the system crashing usually. I think your current RAM is functioning pretty fine, just the CPU needs the boost.

My Mother board details (as seen from Windows System Information utility):

System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: NC876AA-ACJ P60401N

As per the information on the web, since mine is an HP OEM computer, the model number might probably be the model of the Computer, and not the mother board. Anyways, will be checking on the HP docs and get back to you.
I was thinking of uploading the CPU-Z report file to you, but here in this forum, there seems to be no way for file upload.
Thanks,

 

[JaideepC99]

No no we don't need the CPU model number, its the motherboard model number. Sorry might of miss said that.

The motherboard has a list of CPUs it is compatible with, while we don't know which exact model is yours, we could find out with CPU-Z, but we don't need to. Once we know the model number of the motherboard though, we can just find the fastest CPU it supports, which will likely be a $15 CPU or so, and then switch them out.

As for that whinning sound, that is actually likely the CPU fan. This system probably has at least 5 years on it and so the fan is probably wearing out. A cheap replacement will only be $5, or a little better one no could be had for no more than $10 and keep the CPU cooler, and quieter. Mismatched RAM would show up as the system crashing usually. I think your current RAM is functioning pretty fine, just the CPU needs the boost.

Here is a section of the CPU-Z Report file from my m/c. I think it has some information about the motherboard model no:

DMI System Information
manufacturer HP-Pavilion
product NC876AA-ACJ P6040IN
version unknown
serial INA91706WZ
UUID {F2658580-4568-1017-B5AB-DA06C5010CAE}
SKU NC876AA#ACJ
family 103C_53316J

DMI Baseboard
vendor FOXCONN
model Napa
revision HP P/N
serial ULSL11200234

Thanks,

 

[IInuyasha74]

Information on this system is hard to find, I did find this though:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357119&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en#N116

Which indicates it is compatible with Intel's Wolfdale CPUs. The motherboard gave less information than I would of hoped for, so upgrading to a new CPU becomes a little more gues work. It should support this processor though:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=E8600&_sop=15

This one is $35 it looks at cheapest unless you catch a lower priced auction. However, it is the fastest ever produced for your motherboard I believe, and offers nearly doubled the clock speed and other advantages.

 

[IInuyasha74]

There is also the one just below that:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40%7CR40&_sacat=0&_nkw=E8500&_sop=15

Which is at most $20 instead of $35. Lower if you win an auction.

 

[JaideepC99]

Information on this system is hard to find, I did find this though:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357119&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en#N116

Which indicates it is compatible with Intel's Wolfdale CPUs. The motherboard gave less information than I would of hoped for, so upgrading to a new CPU becomes a little more gues work. It should support this processor though:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=E8600&_sop=15

This one is $35 it looks at cheapest unless you catch a lower priced auction. However, it is the fastest ever produced for your motherboard I believe, and offers nearly doubled the clock speed and other advantages.

Hello @IInuyasha74:

Sorry for the late reply, as I was caught up in something else.

Finally, did manage to open up my CPU, and identify my motherboard serial no. My serial no. is almost same as your link: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357119&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en#N116, difference being in only 1 digit. My serial no. is - MCP73M02H1
Guess they are the same anyway. I have now decided to continue with my existing system for some more time. I have also installed the newly acquired 1GB DDR2 RAM, and it seems to be working fine.

Thanks to you, I seem to now have much better knowledge about my system.

One last thing, about the whinning/groaning sounds coming form my the processor fan, that you had identified earlier.I am planning to replace the processor fan. In this regard, I was searching the net, and I came up with this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-E33681-001-2F908219L1-F09A-12B9S2-12VDC-CPU-Fan-Socket-775-Heatsink-/171275527021


Looks more like the existing fan on my system. Now if my current knowledge is correct, this fan seems to be compatible with Socket 775, which is also my motherboard socket type. So should I go ahead and buy it, Intel F09a-12b9s2 Cooler ?

Thanks,