I just upgraded my pc to a P4 2.8 g(800fsb) and wanted an opinion on reusing my old ram (pc2100), which my new motherboard also support. Will I see a noticeable difference if I also upgrade the ram to pc 3200? Cut my loss now? TIA MSI Motherboard for Intel Process model 865PE Neo2-LS Retail Specifications: Supported CPUentium 4 Socket 478 Up to 3.6GHz or higher speed Intel Hyper-Threading Technology Chipset: Intel 865PE + ICH5 FSB: 800/533 RAM:4x Dual DDR 400/333/266 Max 4GB (800Fsb CPU Required or DDR400 Opperation) IDEual Channel Ultra DMA 100/66 up to 4 Devices SATA: Dual Serial ATA ports 150 MBS Max Slots:1x AGP 8X and 5x PCI 32-bit Ports:2xPS2, 1xCOM,1xLPT,6xUSB,1xLAN and Audio Ports Onboard Audio: AC97 v2.2 Spec 6 Channel Onboard LAN:Integrated Fast Ethernet 10/100Mbs my total cost for upgrade before ram from newegg.com: $380
Check if your motherboard supports dual channel ddr. If so use Corsair or Patriot memory, recomended by gamers.
Don't even bother using your old memory. Besides in order to take advantage of the 800 FSB, which is basically a 200 FSB that is QUAD PUMPED, you need to install equal sized memory modules as well as equal speed, otherwise you are not going to perform up to the capability of your FSB. ie.) Install 4 x 256mb DDR memory modules ( 256, 256, 256, 256 ) to get one full gig. You cannot run a configuration like 256, 256, 512. I like Crucial Memory. It's reliable, fast, and cheap. Go for the PC3200. And one more thing, make sure that your Power Supply Unit is up to the task. Don't just look at total wattage, Make sure your PSU has strong +12V and +3.3V rails. http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/processors/intel_800mhz_fsb/index_2.shtml
As stated in the following article from Anandtech.com, mixing different pairs of memory ( even with two pairs of matched dual-channel ) can result in a 22% to 25% drop in memory performance. http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=1839&p=6