Does computer memory speed have big effect on computer's performance?

Question

Does computer memory speed have big effect on computer's performance?It's just that I have already 512mb ddr266mhz and I want to add another stick of same memory.My mobo supports ddr400 too.I dont want to spend more money and get 1gb of ddr400,but instead just get 512mb more of ddr266.I wanted to know does memory speed has a big effect on performance or not,what about games?

Answer 1

If I remember correctly the speed of the memory is how quick the processor can access the info stored in the memory. The speed at which the processes can access the info is very important to the performance of the PC.

Answer 2

Increasing the RAM will improve your PC's performance, it will start up and shut down faster and programs will be more responsive. Unless you have Windows Vista, adding an extra 512MB of the ddr 266 to make the total 1.0GB should do fine. You will notice a difference.

Answer 3

the faster the stuff youre doing can be accessed (code to make something happen) the faster your computer is running.

the speed of ram is one thing. if there are 50 characters that your game is keeping track of, you need room to keep all 50 characters, and you need details about them. the faster that your ram moves (mhz frequncy), the better you can keep track of them. this can result in less lag because you are able to keep track of this stuff faster.

however, if your graphics card cant handle the information (your ram may be moving fast, but your card cant keep up), then you wont notice the performance gain.

its all a matter of numbers as you seem to already know. faster MHZ is always good. period. but your system has to be able to keep up with that (your video card, your processor, etc)

Answer 4

no much.... they do not have that much of an affect on your speed
your processor is da main key
back then before ddr types
sdram was consider the bottle neck of the system meaning the all hardware waits on the sdram
now with ddr it's just as fast as the others
if you like to game
do not buy cheap ram
my two 512 was 98 bucks consair

Answer 5

you dont have much difference in your speeds cause it sounds like you have a older mobo where as mine has 533 ddr2and my computer was configured for 266 it raN SLOW AS HELL SO I BOUGHT ANOTHER STICK OF THE SAME MEM NOW HAVE A GIG IN IT STILL RAN SUPER SLOW CHECKED MY BIOS AND FOUND OUT I HAD TO SET IT FOR 533 RUNS LIKE A CHEETAH NOW MY MOBO IS CAPABLE FOR 1066 BUT DONT MAKE IT
YET YOUR MEMORY SPEED IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS PROCESSOR SPEED GAMES RUN OFF THE GPU IN YOUR VIDEO CARD WHICH BREAKS DOWN TO THE MORE U SPEND ON YOUR VIDEO CARD THE BETTER YOUR GAME PLAY

Answer 6

Yes!