Question about DDR Memory

[Kionysus]

Is the new DDR memory like the old PC133 Ram where it can run slower like the SDRAM ran at 100MHz? OR do you only run at 333 MHz or whatever you bought. I'm waiting to rebuild my system when The new Pentium processors come out with the 800 MHz front side bus but I'm not sure what to do on ram since no specs have been released. I wanted the AMD Athlon 64 processor but they pushed that back till September so that isn't going to happen immediately. I just need something faster than my P4 1.7 Ghz running the 400 mhz FSB with 512 MB/PC133 SDRAM. It's the RAM that's slowing me down. But do I buy the fastest I can or what? They say that the 533 FSB runs on PC2700 DDR, but If I stick with the 400 MHz FSB, can I still run PC2700 DDR Ram? I guess that last question or two is what I was getting at.

[Suicide]

Is the new DDR memory like the old PC133 Ram where it can run slower like the SDRAM ran at 100MHz? OR do you only run at 333 MHz or whatever you bought. I'm waiting to rebuild my system when The new Pentium processors come out with the 800 MHz front side bus but I'm not sure what to do on ram since no specs have been released. I wanted the AMD Athlon 64 processor but they pushed that back till September so that isn't going to happen immediately. I just need something faster than my P4 1.7 Ghz running the 400 mhz FSB with 512 MB/PC133 SDRAM. It's the RAM that's slowing me down. But do I buy the fastest I can or what? They say that the 533 FSB runs on PC2700 DDR, but If I stick with the 400 MHz FSB, can I still run PC2700 DDR Ram? I guess that last question or two is what I was getting at.

With the advent of the 845 chipsets DDR333 is offically supported (PC2700) however, on many boards, DDR400 can be used (but can only acheive 400mhz by overclocking) ... Some mainboards however, you can get 400mhz w/o overclocking (again intel 845 chipsets) And yes, if your running pc133 ram, it is slowing you down.

[Kionysus]

but my question is can I put the DDR 400 ram on the board even if I am only going to run a 400 MHz FSB?

[Suicide]

You could put 400mhz ram on a board irregardless of your FSB :) You just may not get it to run at 400mhz :)

Edit: That is, without overclocking :D

[RDR]

One thing about DDR400 is that it isn't an official JEDEC standard - so RAM producers can still sell pretty much whatever they want as DDR400 (cough:OCZ:cough) - you can run into compatibility problems

As long as you stick with a reputable MFG'r you shouldn't have any problems

[Suicide]

I could've swore DDR400 was an offical JEDEC standard (remember reading something about that 'bout 2 1/2 weeks (maybe 3 weeks ago) on the inquirer) Could be mistaken tho :)

[RDR]

I could've swore DDR400 was an offical JEDEC standard (remember reading something about that 'bout 2 1/2 weeks (maybe 3 weeks ago) on the inquirer) Could be mistaken tho :)

I haven't seen anything on DDR400 specs yet - but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened - I could be mistaken

you have to take most reports from the inquirer with a few grains of salt though - they're usually only 50-75% correct.

[Suicide]

Yes I realize that :) But I did some more looking into it, and I couldn't verify ... I am mistaken it seems.

[VinnieVen]

I had read that the ddr400 is being dropped since it is relatively useless compared do pc2700, can anyone verify, I don't recall the source at the moment.

[Wiggo]

PC2700 is the last official JEDEC standard and they won't be passin' higher speed standards for DDR as they're onto DDRII now but companies such as Corsair provide a quality parts that are up to the task where as a company like *cough* OCZ *cough* is likely to supply a below spec parts which often ain't. : peace2:
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