Just bought a Second GB of RAM...

[alexander]

Hello, due to Battlefield 2 I bought a second gigabyte of PC3200 RAM.

I have installed it fine but in the BIOS as pictured it only shows that it is running at 166mhz .




I know that it is meant to be running in either 200mhz or is it 400mhz?

The RAM Modules were 2 x 512mb PC3200 Twinmoss and I have upgraded to another 2 x 512mb Sticks of RAM (Hynix).

All 4 slots in the motherboard are full, I was under the impression that the new cores could run 4 sticks of RAM at the same time?

I tried to set the stuff to 200mhz (I didn't know what I was doing) and it changed nothing as in the screenshot, I don't know what it means, is it important:




This is probably the important part, my system is:

3800+ Venice Cored 2.4ghz (E3 memory controller or something?)
MSI Neo2 Platinum 1.8 BIOS
2 x 512mb PC3200 Twinmoss (Originally in Dual Channel but can't tell now)
2 x 512mb PC3200 Hynix
Audigy 2
Samsung Spinpoint Drives
6800GT 256mb


I don't think anything is overheating and underclocking or anything.


So does anyone have any ideas to make it run at 400mhz on all 4 sticks?


Any advice would be appreciated.

[Smokey21]

You need to change the timing to 2T i think. Then you can use 200.

[Kezzer]

You should be able to set it by SPD in there somewhere, i haven't touched a BIOS in a long time though so i can't remember exactly. But the SPD value is the one you want as that will allow the bus to run the default speed of the RAM

[alexander]

You need to change the timing to 2T i think. Then you can use 200.

Hello, thanks for the reply.

It looks from the second screenshot that it is already 2T, please correct me if I'm wrong as it maybe a different 2T that you are referring to.

You should be able to set it by SPD in there somewhere, i haven't touched a BIOS in a long time though so i can't remember exactly. But the SPD value is the one you want as that will allow the bus to run the default speed of the RAM

Hello, where would I find the SPD and what setting would I change it to?





Thanks for the replies and by the way I have no idea what any of these SPDs and T1+T2s etc. Mean so if I need to change something could you please explain what setting I change it to?

[Firelord]

Think its a CPU or board limitation due to all 4 slots filled.

[alexander]

So you are saying that I will not ever be able to run them at full speed?

[sawyen]

Umm.. My Abit AV8 also has these annoying limitations.. I can only run 4 sticks on DDR333, even on 2T command.. My fate is at same breath with u m8...

[SilentDeath]

Yes but thats a via

AMD64 cpus cant run 4 sticks at 1T, its not going to happen. At 2T they are fine. Chipset doesnt matter atall, so even via's can run ram quite fast..

On my dfi nf4 Im running at this:

2x 512mb BH-5 + 2x 512mb TCCD @ 225mhz ram, 2-3-3-7 2T
275FSB, 5:6 divider
9*multi = 2.5ghz.

I think with yours the bios is just not set up properly.. can you get it to 200mhz but it jut fails memtest, or does it just not let you set it to 200?

Is there no option in the bios to change the memory:fsb ratio? - It looks like its currently set at 5:6.

You can get round this by changing the FSB upto 240, and cpu multiplyer back to 10x (otherwise your cpu will be at 2.9ghz!)

You hould put HT frequency down to 2x as you wont notice any difference and it should make the board a bit more stable.

[alexander]

Hmmm, in that bottom picture, Max Memory clock, isn't that the changing he Memory speed? I see something for FSB but that is currently at 200 which is the right setting, won't I be overclocking and maybe break something If I play around with this sort of thing?

Isn't there a simple option I can change to make it run at full speed.

I think i did change it, nothing fails but nothing changes either, I don't know whats up....

[sawyen]

the bios just wont allow 400Mhz operation.. 1T or 2T... I'm using the latest of the LATEST bios.. rev 21... cant get anymore newer.. just wont do 200MHz.. but it does 333MHz on 1T fine on tight enuf timings 2-3-2-6

[alexander]

May I ask what 1T and 2T actually means?

You are using an Abit AV8 3rd Eye, does it mean that I won't be able to reach 400mhz either?

Could you tell me where it is in the BIOS to try and change it to 400mhz?


Thanks for all your help so far :-)

[SilentDeath]

May I ask what 1T and 2T actually means?

You are using an Abit AV8 3rd Eye, does it mean that I won't be able to reach 400mhz either?

Could you tell me where it is in the BIOS to try and change it to 400mhz?


Thanks for all your help so far :-)

The problem is the bios on your board. Its not letting you set speeds that your ram and memory controler (on the cpu) is capable of.

1T, 2T is called command rate. Its how much delay there is between commands, where T is a measurement of clockcycles.


sawyen - I think the only reson you can run at 1T is because your ram is running at 166. If it were at 200 then 1T would not be stable unless you changed it to 2T or very loose timings.


This should work, but cant break anything. Worst case you would have to reset cmos.

CPU multiplyer down to 10x
FSB upto 240mhz
HT frequency to 2x.

HT is a multiple of FSB. AMD spec'd it to go upto 1ghz (5x200) but the NF4 chipset is not usually able to do more than 3x200 and remain stable at stock settings.
At 2x240, you would get HT speed of 480mhz, which is plenty.

With fsb at 240mhz, and the ram at 5:6, the ram will be running at 200mhz.

The cpu speed is cpu multiplyer (was 12x, but change to 10x) * FSB.
So before cpu speed = 12* 200 = 2412
And after cpu speed = 10*240 = 2400.


Run memtest before booting windows to check that it is stable.

[sawyen]

thanks silent death.. will try that on my 3500+ tonite as well... cheers m8

[alexander]

Hello, thank you very much for the reply.

I was under the impression that I won't be able to run Cool N Quiet if I change the HT settings?

Here are my CPU-Z Results, they maybe of some use to someone, but not me:





Thanks SilentDeath, I'm kinda understanding somethings now...


PS: In Slots 1 + 2 is the new Hynix CL3 Memory and in Slots 3 + 4 are the Twinmoss CL2.5 memory.

I tested them taking them out and in their pairs they work fine at 200mhz.