ram settings can anyone help with?

[eyefinity6]

Hi folks, I'm new to the area of bios's, but it looks like I will have to access this to change settings for my ram.

mobo - Aw9d-max ABIT.

I currently have 2 x 1GB, Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 tracers working fine, but wish to add another Crucial Ballistix Tracer (LED) 2x1GB DDR2 / 800MHz .

This is what was provided to me by the seller :


Memory Module Properties
Module Name Crucial
Serial Number 7D13C65Ah (1522930557)
Module Size 1 GB (2 ranks, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered DIMM
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Speed DDR2-800 (400 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 1.8
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings
@ 400 MHz 5-5-5-18 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 23-42-3-6-3-3 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP)
@ 333 MHz 4-5-5-15 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 20-35-3-5-3-3 (RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP)

Enhanced Performance Profile
Profile Name High Performance
Optimal Performance Profile Yes
Memory Speed DDR2-800 (400 MHz)
Voltage 2.2 V
Memory Timings 4-4-4-12 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
Row Cycle Time (tRC) 24T
Command Rate (CR) 2T
Write Recovery Time (tWR) 6T

Enhanced Performance Profile
Profile Name High Frequency
Optimal Performance Profile No
Memory Speed DDR2-1000 (500 MHz)
Voltage 2.2 V
Memory Timings 5-5-5-15 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
Row Cycle Time (tRC) 30T
Command Rate (CR) 2T
Write Recovery Time (tWR) 8T.

What I would like to know is how to set any settings in the bios for this Ram to work alongside the current 2 x 1gb sticks.
The current ram has timings of : 5-5-5-15, now looking at the above specs for the new ram these settings are in the "High Frequency" band, but I have already tried adding the new sticks and get "C1" on the boards diagnostic display, pointing in the direction that maybe some adjustments need to be made in the bios for this ram to work?

Anyway, this is all new to me, so any advice would be much appreciated.
To start this thread, I have had to remove the new ram, as I pc wasnt going to boot otherwise..

thanks folks .

[scaryjim]

Hmmmmm.

I note that your existing RAM is PC2-8500, which means 1066MHz - so if your current BIOS settings are for 1066MHz RAM that's too fast for the new RAM, which is designed for 800MHz standard or 1000MHz at high speed settings (with extra voltage!).

To get the two working together you'll need to run at the lowest speed they'll both manage. But your RAM will also have to run at the same voltage and the new sticks require quite a lot of extra voltage to do better than 800MHz 5-5-5-18. So you need to check what the maximum voltage on your existing RAM is, then stick to the lower maximum voltage between that and the new stuff. The new stuff requires 2.2v to run at optimal settings, according to the info you've provided.

So, you'll need to go into the BIOS, manually set the RAM speed to as close to 1000MHz as possible without going over, set the voltage to 2.2v if your existing Ballistix can cope with that much voltage, and manually set the RAM timings to 5-5-5-15.

If your existing RAM can't cope with 2.2v, then I'd suggest you stick in 1.8v, 800MHz and 5-5-5-18 to start with, which both sets of memory should be able to cope with, then start tweaking the speed once you've made sure the board will boot with all four sticks in. But remember that you'll always be running both sets of RAM with the same settings, so you have to pick the lower maximum value for any particular setting.