Is my memory outdated

[Dark Lotus]

PC6400 850 mhz

[Sinful Malice]

PC6400? That's the transfer speed of DDR2, but the notation of DDR. I would assume that it's actually PC2-6400? In any case, it's not outdated at all, just not the newest stuff you can get. The 850MHz speed looks like it's been overclocked slightly, since usual PC2-6400 is 800MHz (400MHz actual). Looks perfectly in order, not outdated at all.

[Dark Lotus]

PC6400? That's the transfer speed of DDR2, but the notation of DDR. I would assume that it's actually PC2-6400? In any case, it's not outdated at all, just not the newest stuff you can get. The 850MHz speed looks like it's been overclocked slightly, since usual PC2-6400 is 800MHz (400MHz actual). Looks perfectly in order, not outdated at all.

Yes I overclocked it a little

If I want to upgrade to new AM3 CPU/Mobo , would I have to buy new memory or can I still use what I have now ?

[Sinful Malice]

You'll have to use DDR3, since that's all that AM3 supports.

[monkeysauce]

...but you could use an am3 processor with many am2+ motherboards and keep your memory

[Sinful Malice]

But he wants an AM3 motherboard too :P Though what Monkey says is certainly true, you could use an AM2+ socket board and still use your current ram. If you want a proper, or as a better word, full system upgrade however, you'll want to consider an AM3 board and CPU rather than an AM2+ one. Be aware that if you do get an AM2+ board, you'll need to upgrade the board "more" to stay up-to-date.

In short, AM2/AM2+ supports only (correct me if I'm wrong) DDR2, and AM3 supports only DDR3.

If money is an issue, then an AM2+ board and AM2+/AM3 CPU is the way to go, keeping your current ram. Though I have to admit, even in a country like mine, DDR3 is becoming fairly cheap.

[monkeysauce]

lotus, how much ram do you have now?

[Bearded Frog]

I see many articles saying how DDR3 isnt much faster than DDR2. Usually theyre comparing 1066 though not 800.

[Dark Lotus]

lotus, how much ram do you have now?

I have 4Gigs (4 x 1G)

But the price on new DDR3 memory isnt as bad as I thought, for about $160 can get triple-channel set of 6G (2G x 3 )

I thinking it would be twice that much

[monkeysauce]

I believe triple channel ram (2gb x 3) is only for Intel chipsets. AFAIK, AMD platforms still use dual channel (2gb x 2 or 2gb x 4)

[Grizzly24]

I believe triple channel ram (2gb x 3) is only for Intel chipsets. AFAIK, AMD platforms still use dual channel (2gb x 2 or 2gb x 4)

Yes, I do believe you are correct. Only Intel i7 uses triple channel memory.

I use an AM3 processor with DDR2 memory on a AM2+ board and it runs great. I doubt you'd notice any significant differences between DDR2 and DDR3 in real world applications although benchmarks would probably show noticeable bandwidth gains.

I upgraded before there were a lot of AM3 boards available so that's the only reason I stayed DDR2. But if cost is a factor and you want to keep your 4GB of DDR2, go for an AM3 processor and a AM2+ motherboard. Otherwise, I would recommend going AM3 all the way.