DDR PC2700 vs DDR PC3200

lotharsnl

I'm about to purchase some 512mb DIMMs for a dual 1GHz DDR Power Mac G4. My options, according to Crucial, are the DDR PC2700, and the DDR PC3200. I assume the 3200 would be the better choice, but the "CL" for the 2700 is faster.



Could someone explain to me the difference between the two types of DIMMs, and the significance of the .5 difference in the "CL" rating?

lundy

Quote:

Originally posted by LotharSNL

I'm about to purchase some 512mb DIMMs for a dual 1GHz DDR Power Mac G4. My options, according to Crucial, are the DDR PC2700, and the DDR PC3200. I assume the 3200 would be the better choice, but the "CL" for the 2700 is faster.



Could someone explain to me the difference between the two types of DIMMs, and the significance of the .5 difference in the "CL" rating?

Macs take CL3, so you gain nothing by putting in CL2.



The 3200 would be useful if you get a machine in the future that could take advantage of it.

imergingenious

i think CL stands for cache latency which basically means the delay between the request for info from the chip and the info being sent out.



Its Important if you're a PC user who cares about wagging your tail and having the best numbers, but otherwise you wont notice the difference between a CL of 3 or 2.5 or 2



Faster ram (as in transfer) does make a difference, however. The biggest difference will be seen from having MORE ram, especially if you're doing any type of heavy lifting. Get 2GB if you can, 4 is even better

imergingenious

I stand corrected, the C stands for CAS, or Column Address Strobe. Toms hardware has the read.

imergingenious

And as you can see from that article, the difference between the "fastest" and "slowest" RAM yielded around 1% or less difference in real world speed. More Ram is the way to go.

lotharsnl

Thank you all. 2gb on the way.