Just wondering what my best/most cost effective option is here.. I have an unlocked Barton 2500+ (333MHz FSB) on a Gigabyte Ga-7N400 Pro. I do multitrack audio recording and video editing on this system. Everything runs great but I just purchased Drumkit from Hell Superior, which is a 35 gig drum sound library. It requires 512 Megs of ram and recommends 1.5 gigs.. It's insane how much memory it uses, but it sounds awesome! My cpu load is only around 15% in Cubase SX with it, but the lack of memory is a problem. Here's my question: Would it be better to pull out the Kingston ValueRAM (PC2700/333MHz, 512 meg) and replace it with 3 PC3200's at 400MHz, to raise my FSB (my board supports up to 400 and the cpu's unlocked).. OR would it be better to just buy 2 PC2700's at keep things at 333MHz? I have a Zalman all copper $40 heatsink and temps aren't really a problem.. Is the performance I'd get from running at 3200+ speed worth the extra expense of a replacement 512meg DDR (to replace the 2700 I have installed now). Doing audio and video work, I need number crunching speed, but I also don't have much money.. :) Thanks in advance! -Eric

What are you waiting for ?... get the three PC3200 chips and overclock that puppy. If you are on a budget then get just two PC3200 chips instead of PC2700, since you will end up paying the same eitherway. Whom are you on computing.net?

Well the problem is, I could use 1.5 gigs of ram.. just wondering how much performance I'd get by going to 400Mhz. I think the 2500 unlocked is the same as a 3200 at stock speed? Where is the cheapest place to find PC3200? And will dual channel DDR (when I add more chips, the board becomes dual channel) increase speeds at all? This board has 4 slots and can run up to 3 gigs of ram. The manual says I can run 1,2,3 or 4 512 meg sticks and 2,3 and 4 sticks will make it dual channel. Outpost.com has PC3200 for $80 right now, is there a better deal elsewhere? Thanks! -Eric

Yes heres a better deal. Samsung 512MB PC-3200 DDR400 RAM Dual Channel SPD Enhanced PC3200 DDR Samsung Dual Channel PC3200 DDR 512MB 6.4GB per second. 74$ shipped www.pcontime.net huh?

Cool, thanks. :) So will this be 'that much faster' that it's worth pulling my pc2700 and overclocking to 400 btw? (I guess the issue is, is a 3200+ a lot better than a 2500+?) Were you referring to this page? http://www.pcontime.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PCONTIME&Product_Code=MEMDDR32000512 Because that's $85. The 20 day warranty scares me a little too. My Kingston valueram went bad somehow transporting it in a roadtrip in the tower's cardboard box, seatbelted in, all highway driving. Kingston's lifetime warranty saved me $80 or so this past winter, after owning the ram about 2 months. Sorry for all the questions, I just wanna make sure my purchases are worthwhile and I get the most bang for the buck, etc.. Thanks :) -Eric

try this http://www.starmicroinc.net/detail.aspx?ID=396 it will be faster indeed but i wouldnt say alot faster (for both mem and cpu) If your doing video editing you should buy a pentium cpu, they tend to be better a that and amd's are the better cpu for gaming. huh?

dont bother with dual channel, the processor cant handle the additional bandwidth