What does "Memory Standard" mean?

[guitarxe]

I've got a P5N-D mobo, and looking at specifications it says "Memory Standard DDR2 800". Does that mean that it can only fit DDR2 800 memory sticks?

 

[treefrog07]

It means the DIMMs will only accept DDR2 RAM (physically), and that the board supports DDR2 RAM at speeds up to 800MHz. The RAM QVL shows you can also use 533MHz and 667MHz modules.

 

[guitarxe]

Is DDR2 800 slow these days? I see new RAM now that is DDR3 1600. I'm going to dual-boot win7 for games that require DX10+, and would like to keep my existing hardware if I can.

 

[ahthurungnone]

DDR2 at 800Mhz is sufficient for the next couple years. It is cheaper to merely add more RAM than worry about have DDR3. If you choose to upgrade later, start with a mobo that has potential for an even larger processor and buy the cheapest one that will run with it. Then, upgrade the RAM and much later upgrade the processor.

 

[guitarxe]

Hm, that makes sense.
But can I mix my 1-gig sticks with 2-gig sticks? Like I have 2gigs of ram right now, and they are split between two sticks. And if I buy another 4 gigs of ram, which are also split between two sticks, can I use them together? They are both same speed, of course (DDR2 800).