[gunny75]

Hi all,

I want to buy a MB asrock A330ION and I need to add memory.
It support DDR3 800/1066.

Xbmc Live need 2gb of memory (512 for video) to works properly as I read.

- It's better to install 2x1gb to take advantage of dual channel or it's not important?

- There are many type of ddr3 (800/1066/1300/1600....) (cl7/9), what kind of memory I need?
Someone that own this MB could help me?

Many, many thanks.

[Geeba]

modern multi core CPU's always run better with dual channel memory...

Personally I always buy the fastest memory the board will support - so in your case 1066, I've had bad experiences with cheap value RAM and always spend the extra few pounds on it these days.

[gunny75]

Thanks for the reply.

I'll buy 2x1gb ddr3.
I consider corsair or kingston.

You can confirm that getting 1066-1333-1600 it's not important because the mb downgrade the speed to 1066?

Last question , what's the difference between ddr3 cl7 and cl9?

Thanks.

[kxy1983]

higher mhtz ram will not make your system run faster, your motherboard pegs your ram to cpu speed based on a multiplier.

the reason for owning higher mhz ram, is if you are overclocking your cpu and it needs higher clocked ram to match its speed, you can overclock your ram to match, but it can be easier to have higher rated ram that doesnt require extra voltage.

So in your case, just buy the best value ram. Speed isnt an issue.

[compcentral]

Thanks for the reply.

I'll buy 2x1gb ddr3.
I consider corsair or kingston.

You can confirm that getting 1066-1333-1600 it's not important because the mb downgrade the speed to 1066?

Last question , what's the difference between ddr3 cl7 and cl9?

Thanks.

Get 1066 and you'll be fine, but if the cost for a higher speed is similar, it won't hurt to use it... your motherboard will just run it at 1066 anyway.

CL = CAS Latency and is measured in clock cycles. This is basically the amount of time it takes to refresh the information in RAM (RAM needs to constantly be rewritten to retain its data). So this is a delay between the time you want data in RAM and it actually getting there.

The lower the number, the better the performance if the clock speed (MHz) remains the same... If the MHz rating is higher, more cycles occur per second though so the actual delay is effected accordingly. So with DDR3 memory, the difference between CL7 @ 1066MHZ and CL9 @ 1333MHz is only a fraction of a nanosecond and is basically meaningless.