Memory not clocking in right?

[Weasel]

Hello everyone,
I recently built a second computer (system specs of both in signiture if they are needed)and put my old memeory in that and new memory in mine. This is the memory i bought but when i opened up CPU-Z it showed these specs for the memory...

I'm not sure if this is correct because it says single channel even though it is DDR and it says 200mhz even though it is DDR400. Am I just misunderstanding this?

Also, a follow-up question... my motherboard (DFI Lanparty UT nF3 250Gb) is supposed to be VERY good when it comes to overclocking, how long am I able to overclock(tweak) my memory? Am I able to do it indefinitly?

Thank you for any help you can provide me.
-Weasel

 

[Nubius]

Single channel is correct because you aren't running it in Dual Channel which requires two sticks of equal size, density, manufacturer, they have to match EXACTLY is what I'm saying. Even then you have to put them in the specified slots that your mobo's manual says will allow the RAM to run in dual channel. So if you have 2x512 then you need to find out which two slots give you dual channel.


The frequency of your RAM is also correct....200MHz is where it should be.

DDR stands for DUAL data rate, so when you see that 200 you gotta multiply it by 2

200x2 = DDR400

Everythings in order so you're good to go.

how long am I able to overclock

doesn't really make sense, if you're asking how long will the RAM last then that's anyones guess. Every system and RAM chip differs from the next so there is no simple guideline to follow like that.

Same applies to your second question....there is no timer for when you have to stop OC'ing...

Whenever your computer crashed =D

EDIT: BTW OC'ing the RAM is a lot different from OC'ing the CPU so I hope you have a decent knowledge in both.

Unless you have really good high performance RAM chips I wouldn't expect a huge increase in RAM performance.

Also remember it's pointless to have your RAM running at 210MHz or DDR420 if you have your CPU FSB at 200....you'd just be creating a bottleneck and if they can't communicate at the same speed then it's worthless.

As it is, your CPU and RAM aren't on a 1:1 ratio which is what it should say in CPU-Z but yours says CPU/11

 

[Weasel]

Couldnt find anything in my manual about it (seems kinda lacking, even when i was using it to put everything together). I will look around on the internet to see if i can find the slots to make it dual channel, thanks a lot for the help Nubius.

-Weasel

 

[neosteve]

Ok everything seems to be perfect there Weasel 200mhz is DDR400. The way you calculate it is you take 200mhz and you X it by 2 so that ends up in 400 you see.
As for overclocking your ram, your mobo is one of the best and one of my favorite overclocking boards out there. You can overclock your memory as long as you want to but only if itÂ’s stable and inst overheating. You can tell if its not stable by if windows doesnÂ’t load up or your PC freezes and many other ways.

I suggest you leave you memory alone until you learn more about it because it doesnÂ’t seem you know enough yet or else you could blow up your system or damege it.

Steve

Edit: seems Nubius got to you before me.

 

[lokivn]

As it is, your CPU and RAM aren't on a 1:1 ratio which is what it should say in CPU-Z but yours says CPU/11

my fsb:dram is listed as 4:5, how would I go about changing it?

I have an athlon xp 2200+ running on fsb 133, mobo is gigabyte 7nf-rz

or is it not that big of a deal? I think in BIOS I have the RAM running under 'by spd' rather than auto or forced to a %.

 

[Nubius]

By SPD means Seriel Presence Detect...

Basically it's a little chip on the RAM that tells it what to run at including the timings...because obviously if it's underclocked it can run at tighter timings.

That's why when you click the SPD tab in CPU-Z it shows you a table with different timings on your RAM...this is the SPD chip showing what it'll run at under different circumstances.

with a 4:5 ratio I'm going to guess you have PC2700 RAM?

Your CPU is running at an FSB of 266 (133x2) and if your RAM is PC2700 it's running at 333FSB

You should check out the SPD tab and see how tight of timings that RAM will run underclocked..

In your case it'd be best to underclock the RAM with tighter timings to match the CPU FSB so you can have a total system FSB of 266 and a nice 1:1 ratio

Right now the RAM communicates faster than the CPU can keep it so it's pointless having PC2700 RAM because it's potential is going to waste.

Underclock it with tighter timings and you should be more optimized Lok.

 

[Yon]

Does the ram have to be exactly the same to run in dual channel? Because I just ordered some different ram same make and size...

 

[lokivn]

So I need to change the CAS# from 2.5 to 2.0 it appears so that it'll run at 133mhz (so says cpu-z i believe). time for some BIOS fiddling, eh?

and only one stick (the 512, i also have a 256) says it will run at 133, the other says 166 for both CAS# settings if I read this correctly. would that throw my system off if one stick kept running at 166??

thank you as always nubius. i understand what you're saying, just need to do some BIOS changing once I know that I won't cause my system to self-destruct.

 

[lokivn]

oh i'd have to turn the TRAS# from 7 to 6 as well, missed that. i wish i knew what those acroynms meant, heh. i have never paid any attention to my ram besides the fact that it's pushed in tightly.

 

[Nubius]

Does the ram have to be exactly the same to run in dual channel? Because I just ordered some different ram same make and size...

Yeah and even sometimes lets say you ordered a 512mb stick of kingston now, and ordered another exact stick 2 months later...even then sometimes it won't work together.

The reason you see high performance RAM labeled as 'Dual Channel' is that it means those two sticks have been tested to run in dual channel and are guaranteed to run in dual channel mode in your computer. RAM doesn't come as 'dual channel' its just the ones like I said, that are labeled that, have already been tested to run in it and perform flawlessy.

Two different makers alone could cause the ram to NOT run in dual channel, different sizes guarantees it. It has to be EXACT

and only one stick (the 512, i also have a 256) says it will run at 133, the other says 166 for both CAS# settings if I read this correctly. would that throw my system off if one stick kept running at 166??

I need a screenshot of the CPU SPD table to fully understand what you're talking about. And have each RAM selected so I can see their tables.

Basically though, you want your RAM downclocked to PC2100 speeds, so get the FSB of the RAM down to 133(266) find out what the tightest timings you can get...so if one stick is lower than the other you'll have to choose the higher timings so both sticks will work properly.