Memory wont go high that 233MHz - A7N8X-X

[Party.Ryan]

I've got some pc3200
baton 2500 and normal speed atm

but when i change spd so it = anything more than 233MHz the machine wont start (beeps fast about 5 times) ... sounds like faulty ram, can any1 confirm?

austin?

[amoeba]

Are you setting it to 233 in bios?

If so - DOH!

The 400mhz speed is 'DDR', which means 'Double Data Rate' and is memory BS to confuse you. It really runs at 200mhz, so no wonder your ram cant cope above 233!!

[SilentDeath]

pc3200 is acctually 200mhz fsb, 400ddr...

that said, with more voltage on ur ram you should manage 233fsb/466ddr.. my pc2700 (stock of 166/333ddr @ 2.57v) will manage pc3200 speeds at 2.67v

check ur cpu clock isnt too high, have u lowered the multi at least to test?

i wouldnt be suprised either if it was ur mobo (A7N8X-X ), ive heard a lot of ppl are strugling to get past 200fsb with theres.. try increaseing chipset voltage by 0.1...

ull need to test with memtest86 for mobo and ram, and also lower multi when u do it so u know its not cpu....

[Party.Ryan]

thank you very much for your help guys
so ddr 400 unclocked actually runs at 200MHz (or well it's normal to see this at start up??)

if so, i have no problem

[Mallus]

Yes it's normal and consider yourself lucky, I cant get passed 200fsb at all on my nf7 at the moment

[Party.Ryan]

agghh sorry to hear that... tried higher/lower fps (x) spd settings??

[Mallus]

Yep everything. I think it's the adata pc3200 tbh. Works well over 200fsb in my p4 rig but doesn't like being in either of my nforce2 systems. Oh well, back to my corsair

[Party.Ryan]

mine says its running in single channel mode? is that normal

I only have one stick....

[Austin]

Yup you need 2 sticks (in the right slots) to enable DUal Channel which will give you a 5%ish boost. The sticks should ideally be the same brand, size and rating. As already said many things use DDR now-a-days and are often quoted either the normal actual speed (ie PC3200 = 200mhz, XP3200+ @ 200FSB) or with DDR factored in (ie PC3200 = 400mhz, XP3200+ @ 400FSB). Since DDR really does deliver twice the effective perf (it sends twice the data per cycle) it isn't a marketing trick, just confusing sometimes. Same thing goes in gfx cards which use DDR, nVidia (GF) always quote inc DDR while ATI (Radeon) cards always state the 'pure' clock speeds without DDR factored in.

400FSB is already more than SktA needs so IMHO there's little point straining things to get higher than this unless your mobo lacks multiplier adjustment or something. I'd set the voltages to stock (but 1.65v for TbredA & Barton) along with the FSB etc. Then set RAM to run synced with FSB (ie 1:1, 3:3 not AUTO/SPD) with slow (high) RAM timings and then use a lower multiplier to keep CPU speed stock while rasing the FSB to 400mhz (rem 2x200mhz). Then try upping the multiplier gradually testing at each setting. When you reach the limit, check it's not due to inadequate cooling and then try upping the voltage (+0.05v at a time) or else step back for the long term.

[Party.Ryan]

I dont think my board supports dual... i've just had 2 in and it says the same, single..

and on the box it dont say nothing about dual, but no worries

austin: are you offline MSN? or have i lost yo contact.. pm it?

[Mallus]

The A7N8X-X is the single channel version of the board so it's rightly showing up as single channel. Nothing to worry about

[SilentDeath]

i thought the x ment it was the duluxe version.. with all the extras?

[Austin]

Confusing isn't it? Asus have brought out a '-X' version of many mobos, it is a budget version designed to do battle with the likes of ECS, Jetway and AsRock, ie perf but with budget the over-riding factor.