Is it worth while to combine memory of different speeds?

[whatsinaname]

I currently have 1gig of DDR400 PC3200 memory running at dual channel in my system

P4 3.4 Prescott
x800xt
2 512mb

I have the opportunity to pick up an additional 2 512mb memory sticks for a song but they are PC2100...

My question is will the decrease in memory speed offset the advantages of the extra gig of ram?

Please bare in mind I'm primarily concerned only with gaming on this machine.

Thanks in advance for any help and or suggestions

 

[Killer-Kris]

For the time being it probably wouldn't be worth it to reduce your memory speed. At least I'm not aware of any games that would actually make use of more than 1GB of memory.

Though, in a several more years I think my answer would be quite different, as memory needs grow.

 

[_xxx_]

That's exactly what I did in my machine. You _do_ lose quite some speed, though.

 

[Quitch]

I currently have 1gig of DDR400 PC3200 memory running at dual channel in my system

P4 3.4 Prescott
x800xt
2 512mb

I have the opportunity to pick up an additional 2 512mb memory sticks for a song but they are PC2100...

My question is will the decrease in memory speed offset the advantages of the extra gig of ram?

Please bare in mind I'm primarily concerned only with gaming on this machine.

Thanks in advance for any help and or suggestions

Almost certainly not... but finding out shouldn't be hard. You can use Performance Monitor to keep track of your peak memory usage. If it never goes over 1GB, then not only would that extra RAM be a waste, but it will slow down your existing RAM too.

 

[whatsinaname]

Well how crappy is that?

I had a gut feeling it wasn't a good idea but I was hoping that extra memory might help out some how... and it was so cheap too...

Oh well thanks for the advice just the same guys

 

[digitalwanderer]

I've always had rotten luck mixing any type of memory; I only do matched memory types anymore and my life has been much, MUCH less aggravating.

 

[trinibwoy]

Going from 1GB PC3200 to 2GB PC2100 would simply kill your system's performance. Bandwidth has a far greater impact than capacity (as long as you're at 512MB+).

 

[Fox5]

I don't think a ~40% decrease in performance would be worth having an extra gig of ram. You could buy another 512MB pc3200 stick now, and then pick up yet another later, but I doubt it would help your performance.