More RAM or fast RAM?

[deimos256]

I upgraded my RAM a while back to 4 gig and it runs at about 800Mhz, if I put my original 2 gigs in with it the speed drops to somewhere around 600 Mhz. So my question is does the amount of ram outweigh the 200Mhz hit, or is 2 gigs less at +/- 800Mhz better? Any input is appreciated!

[Cazzie]

I upgraded my RAM a while back to 4 gig and it runs at about 800Mhz, if I put my original 2 gigs in with it the speed drops to somewhere around 600 Mhz. So my question is does the amount of ram outweigh the 200Mhz hit, or is 2 gigs less at +/- 800Mhz better? Any input is appreciated!

That's because the older RAM sticks are 600 MHz (more than likely 633 MHZ) while the new RAM sticks are 800 MHz. Your system will only read the lower speed. In order to add two more Gigs of RAM and maintain 800 MHz, you will have to purchase two more sticks rated at that speed.

Caz

[deimos256]

Well I'm just curious if there's more benefits to having 6 gig at 633 or 4 at 800.

[pilotwing]

You also need to consider the brand, even when the two sticks were of the same size, one can be fastest than the other because of the clock cycles it takes to read data

[stansdds]

4 GB is probably sufficient and I don't think you will see any benefit from 6 GB of slower RAM. You might actually get decreased performance with the slower RAM. You also have to consider your operating system. 32 bit operating systems address about 3.5 GB of RAM. You can put in 4 GB and it's there, but there is definitely no point in exceeding 4 GB with a 32 bit OS. If you are using a 64 bit OS, then the OS can and will recognize more than 4 GB of RAM and will use it if necessary. I don't think FSX needs a system with more than 4 GB, but maybe I'm wrong.

[deimos256]

Granted I really didn't do any extensive testing, I really didn't notice any changes in fsx. I think I'll just leave the extra 2 gig out and run the 4 at 800. And yes I'm on win7 64