Ram upgrade

[strikeking17]

I have a ECS 755-A2 MB running a AMD Athlon 64 3000 with a measly 256 mb of pc2100 ram.

I want to upgrade to faster and larger ram. I like to rip and burn a lot of dvds and play games as long as edit videos. I have a few options im considering but im not sure which is best

1st = 1 Gb stick DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR400 • 2.6V • 128Meg x 64

2nd = 1 Gb DDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR333 • 2.5V • 128Meg x 64

I believe that the lower the CL the better than a higher Cl so Im not sure in a situation like this which would be more effective. I also would like some guidance on how much ram I should have and at what CL or frequency

 

[parsons]

i would go with the Pc3200 cuz it runs at 400MHz where the pc2700 runs at 333MHz

 

[strikeking17]

What does a higher CL or lower Cl mean? Can I still overclock either one if I wanted to and does it make much of a difference. I have heard that a 3.0 CL is a low end module

 

[Ð88]

When choosing memory, a lower CL (or CAS Latency) is preferable. It has to do with the time it takes the memory module to respond in its own processes. It obviously gets more complicated than that but there's really no need to go into details, just remember, lower numbers are better. A good number for CL is 2 or 3. You can overclock RAM but overclockability can depend on a number of factors (voltages, cooling, etc). There are RAM modules that are designed for overclocking but of course you pay more for them.
Also because you are using an AMD based processor, the best memory it supports is DDR RAM. The PC3200 will be a better choice over the PC2700.

 

[CrucialTech]

Most PC3200 DDR400 Modules when run at 200MHz have a CL of 3. However if the PC3200 module is run at PC2700 speed 166MHz, the CL can be set to 2.5.. most of the time automatically. If the PC3200 is run at PC2100 speed 133MHz, the CL can be set to 2.

Hope this helps