Added 1GB and RAM switced to 333 instead of 400

Discussion in 'CPU, Motherboards and Memory' started by Meddi, Apr 27, 2007.

  1. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    Hello,
    Maybe this has been explained many times but sadly I couldn't find anything on the subject.

    I just added 1GB of RAM to my already existing 1GB, and I noticed that they started running at 333 instead of 400 as they used to.

    All 4 of them are the same (PC3200, DDR400) and it's Kingston Value RAM.
    Shouldn't they run at 400 or am I missing something? And won't it affect the overall performance of my already rather slow system?

    Thanks for your time.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  2. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    PCWizard is better at providing memory info, presumably 1 of the 4 stick is probably 333Mhz (as all RAM in a system will only run at the speed of the slowest RAM installed)[ot]unless you specified you wanted all DDR400 there's nothing you can do, as DDR333 (PC2700) will work with DDR400 (PC3200) because you have 2048Mb of RAM[/ot]
     
  3. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    Here's what PC Wizard shows.
     
  4. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    weird, they all show up as PC3200 (DDR400), i was expecting 1 slot containing PC2700 (DDR333)[ot]now i'm confused[/ot]BTW: let me think about it for a while

    Edit: as all 4 sticks are PC3200 (DDR400) have you tried changing it from 333 to 400 in the BIOS[ot]although i don't know why it dropped to 333 from 400, maybe your mobo automatically defaults to 333 after upgrading[/ot]

    BTW: i think it's it's in "Voltages & Frequencies" in the BIOS
     
  5. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    Yep I tried changing it to 400 but then it started beeping and didn't boot up in Windows - It also reverted back automatically to default settings in the bios, and changed back to 333..

    Maybe it's my mobo there's something wrong with, I'm not really sure.
    It's an Asus A8N-SLi - If I could just find the manual, I knows it's around somewhere :)

    Hmm .. There's nothing in the manual that says the mobo will only use 333 if all 4 slots are used.
     
  6. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    A8N-SLI Deluxe, A8N-SLI premium, choose the correct mobo for the manual download location

    BTW: which is it Deluxe or Premium, so i know which one to download, so we can both check ?
     
  7. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    It's the regular one (A8N-SLi), though I changed the awful chip cooler long ago.
     
  8. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    can't find it
    which is it
    [​IMG]
     
  9. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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  10. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    I just found this under the FAQ section at asus.com
    Well that stinks.. Guess I'll have to live with 333 then until I figure out how to tweak the memory settings in Bios.

    Many thanks for your help though :)
     
  11. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    well it's not a big deal, i had a PC2100 (266) 256Mb & a PC2100 (333) 512Mb being used together before i upgraded my mobo

    i wasn't very helpful[ot]you found out why, not me[/ot]
     
  12. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    There's a known issue with the Athlon64 design where you can have some trouble running 4 sticks at 400MHz. You may be able to go into BIOS and set it up at DDR400 speeds manually. Just keep that in mind as you might have trouble booting or with stability, which can happen when forcing the option.
     
  13. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    Yes it totally flipped when I manually set it to 400.
    I have to say that transfering a massive load of files has decreased in speed by almost 150%, it's painfully slow.

    Games run extremely well, there's hardly any harddisk activity on the harddrive while playing games, which is good.

    I just wish they told me in the manual or something that my CPU couldn't handle 4 slots of RAM at full speed. But that's what you get when you don't research enough, but I really didn't think that 4 slots would be an issue to tell you the truth.

    I also need to upgrade my CPU, so you'll probably see me around some more :) Sadly I can't help people with their hardware stuff because I', simply not up-to-date anymore. It was so easy in the old days (3Dfx).
     
  14. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    well that's true, but i prefer (back in the days of) DOS[ot]it's taken me over a year to get accustomed to modern systems, but in the meantime i've switch to linux[/ot]
     
  15. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    Yeah I feel so sad these days. I could have bought an XBOX 360 + 3 games by the amount I've spent on this upgrade, and yet my CPU is holding me back.

    I've also just learned that my RAM is making my system extremely slow overall, so that's another grand juat to get a new mobo + cpu + ram ...

    I really can't afford all that. I've got a job, but I also got a wife and a kid that I need to take care of. Ahhhh ... No stopping the evolution that is PC Gaming.. :)
     
  16. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    well yeah, but if you stick with the PC you can use emulators to fool the games to think you're running them on a games console but you're actually running them on a PC[ot]just do a google search on your fav console and emulator (e.g. [google]playstation emulator[/google])[/ot]
     
  17. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    You could get 2 x 1GB sticks and sell your current RAM.

    I used to do a major system upgrade once a year, but then I had life hit to where that was a luxury. I've had the same motherboard in my main box for 2 years, and it'll probably be there until at least next, if not longer.
     
  18. rimmer

    rimmer Geek

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    i can remember something about the Athlon 64 Venice chips fixing a memory speed problem, downstairs I have an Athlon 64 3000+ which is socket 754, not sure what chip, but its not a venice, and PC3200 / DDR 400 runs at 333
     
  19. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    Mine is a venice, but it's also on an nforce4 board.. Not sure if that has something to do with it.
     
  20. Meddi

    Meddi Geek Trainee

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    Someone told me to change CAS or whatever he said to 2.5 3,3,6
    Can anyone point out where I should change that? There are so many 3's ..

    Phone shot:
    [​IMG]

    Thanks!
     

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