More RAM vs. Faster RAM

When I bought my laptop late last year, came with only a 256 MB DDR1 memory runing at 333 MHz (PC2700). It was a low-end laptop, so I wouldn’t expect anything bigger or faster. But of course, upgrades were essential, so the day after I bought it, I immediately bought bigger RAM modules. This time, the upgrade was for an additional 512 MB, but running at 400 MHz (PC3200).

I was actually looking for something to match the 333, but since the price difference wasn’t much (and the shop actually ran out of PC2700 SODIMM chips), I went for the PC3200 one. Now one dilemma I had was whether to remove the existing PC2700 chip so I can enjoy the 512MB stick running at full speed on 400MHz.

Sure, putting in both RAM modules together will give me 768MB of RAM, but they would both run at 333MHz. I’m sure my laptop’s Itel 915GM based motherboard can run at 400MHz, so I was thinking of ditching the additional 256MB.

It’s a question of more slower RAM versus faster but less RAM.

But then most other laptop enthusiasts I asked told me I should stick to more RAM in this case. If you’re considering something below 1 GB, which for my purposes is already sufficient (I mostly do writing work and rarely any gaming nor video editing), you would be better off with more RAM rather than faster but less (i.e., 512MB running at 400 MHz). That’s because with less RAM, your system would most likely have to access the swap file more often. That means hard drive access, which is definitely slower than the slowest of RAM speeds.

If you’re considering something bigger than 1 GB of RAM, then you’re most likely doing some intensive gaming or video editing. For those applications faster RAM and more RAM are definitely a must. In that case, then you should probably spend the additional dough and get yourself more, faster RAM.