BIOSTAR NF4ST-A9 & DDR RAM?

[Spicerman]

Does anyone know if the Biostar NF4ST-A9 handle DDR333 PC2100 RAM? Site says is cane handle PC2700 DDR 333 RAM, but I don't want to assume it can support PC2100.  OR is it the standard that once it can support higher RAM is can support lower same of same type?

Spicerman

[TriniXaeno]

I won't run a 939 processor with anything short of DDR 400.

Else you will be running in asymetrical mode which hurts performance and stability.

[Czar]

Agreed...unless you already have the PC2700/2100 and on a REAL tight budget and can't afford to get some PC3200...but RAM so cheap now...

Oh and btw, PC2100 = DDR266...

Generally speaking, the 2100 should work even if it only states support for 2700...it's a luck and chance thing tho...cos like I said...it should work...but doesn't always...especially on lower quality boards.

[W1nTry]

Thats not completely true, running PC2700 with an 939 doesn't give a large performance hit. I ran my 3500+ on Hyper X PC2700 up til recently and thru all benchmarks i've run thus, its at MOST a 15% increase. Also, with larger modules 1GB and + some mobos have issues running memory at 400MHz. Eg. my Epox nforce 3 Ultra mobo would ONLY run @ 333 MHz if using 1GB modules I believe. There's prolly a bios fix since, but I am just siting some possibilities.

[TriniXaeno]

exactly @ issues.

you can run into all sorts of problems.

And 15% is a lot! That's the difference between a US$150.00 processor and a US$200.00 processor.

Would be a real shame to buy a 939 processor and run it sub par thanks to low speed ram.

Getting quality RAM is another sensible thing to do. Generic stuff may or may not work well. Depends on how fickle the motherboard is.

We have had  horror stories with Asus boards and low quality ram. Just goes to show.

[W1nTry]

Fair enough Baego but what I saying is Low Latency High performance memory EVEN at a lower clock is just as good as higher latency generic EVEN brand memory. My Hyper X PC2700 performed as good as if not better than Corsair Valueram PC3200. Cause remember the ondie controller is extremely low latency so lower latency made up for the diff in frequecy. Also that 15% I was comparing Kingston HyperX PC2700 (2-2-2-5-1T) to Corsair XMS PC3200 (2-2-2-5-1T)... so I would HOPE i'd get at least 10% or more increase in performance... however from say cas2.5 or higher PC3200 the HyperX was just as good and better.