BigB told me a while ago to change my CAS latency to 2.0 from 2.5 .. problem is every time i try this and leave bios a little voice comes through my speakers saying system failed due to cpu overclocking .. i restart a couple of times and it resets itself .. my ram is set up as this (according to CPU-Z) size = 512mb performance mode = off channels = single Frequency = 210.0Mhz FSB : DRAM = 1:1 CAS latency = 2.5 clocks RAS to CAS delay = 4 clocks RAS precharge = 4 clocks cycle time (tras) = 8 clocks should i even bother tweaking my ram, and if i should how do i go about doing it properly?
The RAM probably isn't made for tweaks like that at that speed, which doesn't surprise me. Corsair's Low Latency XMS DDR is some stuff you might wanna check out, as is Kingston's Hyper-X line. Tweaking your RAM is a great way to get the most out of the system, but the stuff you have now isn't made for tweaking at the speeds it's running. If you're CPU had a 533MHz FSB, you'd probably have some headroom to toy with.
ohww .. ive already got no money left .. is it cool if i mix and match my ram a bit just say i get a corsair stick and chuck it in the next slot would there be any conflictions if one stick is running faster than the other?
You *can* do that, but you're better off if you'd buy a match pair of memory. The reason is that you run the risk of not having dual-channel memory enabling itself (the motherboard will do it if certain conditions are met---nothing you do). 2nd, you'll still be limited in your memory tweaks by the Kingmax stuff. It may very well work fine, but for best results you're better off waiting until you can get two matched sticks.