Advice: PC2100 or PC2700?

[TheSlammer]

Hi, everyone. I need a little advice.

I have a AMD Tbird 1.4 ghz - based system, which has never worked up to its full potential. This is partially due to my slow Abit KT-7a motherboard based off of the KT-133a chipset, and my paltry 256 megs of pc-133 ram, so I am upgrading these two components.

I've decided to purchase an MSI KT3 Ultra KT-333 board, in part due to the good review it got on anandtech, and in part due to its low price. Now, I want to get 512 megs of ddr ram, but I'm having trouble deciding between pc-2100 and pc-2700. Is the increase in performance I would see really worth the extra $40-50 for the higher speed ram?

My important specs:
1.4 ghz AMD Tbird, 266mhz fsb
Geforce4 Ti 4400 (reference design)
Windows XP Pro

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[HelzBelz]

Basically, you won't be able to tell the difference in daily use. The Athlon FSB doesn't use more bandwidth than PC2100 provides.

The only advantage to go PC2700 now is if you want to plan for the future and/or overclocking...

Is 3-5% better performance worth the 50$ to you ? Or a few more "Frames per second" ?

I would get an extra stick of PC2100 memory with the money saved.

 

[pitupepito2000]

Hi,

What do you use your computer for? If it's gaming I would say go for the PC2700 or if you are an overclocker go for the 2700. You won't notice the difference in performance in daily use, but if you are thinking about something that will last you for a while go with the 2700.

When you go for the motherboard choose the MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU. This is basically the same motherboard as the MSI KT3 Ultra it just provides support for the USB port 2.0, which is nice to have. The MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU also provides support for RAID and that will let you connect up to 4 IDE drives to your motherboard. Here is the webpage so you can look over the specs of the two motherboards.

msi webpage

Hope this helps

 

[TheSlammer]

Thanks guys. I use the computer mainly for gaming, although I'm not hugely interested in overclocking -- actually, I've had to spend the past year with my processor running at 10.5 x 100 because of problems with my current motherboard. So, before I think about overclocking, I'd like to first get my chip running well at its posted speed...

I know it's not the cpu, since I've tried this config with two identical thunderbirds and have had the same problem...lousy cheap KT7-a