Downclocked Ram and FPS ??'s

[Laecia]

Here's my situation:

AMD 1800
2x512 GB of 400DDR (1 gig)
ABIT KD7 RAID Mobo
RADEON 9550 256 MB

Problem #1:
The program I'm trying to run crashes to desktop after about 15 minutes. The only solution to this problem is when I downclock my ram from 400 to 333. This doesn't make sense to my why I would have to do this for the program to work. The motherboard says it handles 400. It stinks because I want to use what I paid for. Would my bus speed be a reason for this?

Problem #2:
I noticed some jerkiness in some parts of the program. I downloaded fraps. My average frame rate is at 20. My gut says it should be higher, but I don't know where to look. What goes into making good framerates BESIDES videocards? What about bus speed? I'm not sure if my system is holding my video card back.

Thanks for the help!!!

-L-

 

[IceyDeath23]

what program are you trying to run

 

[Laecia]

Everquest 2.

Demanding program, but I meet all requirements.

Their support is no help. Right now I have to run on minimum settings and still get horrible frame rates.

 

[PP Mguire]

The 1800+ has an FSB of 266mhz. Your problem might be because of that and your actually OC'ing your fsb. So because of thta its making your copmuter unstable. If its not an 1800+ then NVM lol.

 

[Laecia]

Ah! Thanks. Upgrading to an Athlon 3200+ (FSB of 400mhz) should show some improvements then.

 

[Nubius]

Your problem might be because of that and your actually OC'ing your fsb.

What? I don't recall them saying they were overclocking their FSB.

If his CPU is 266FSB and his RAM is 400 there is simply a HUGE bottleneck in which it doesn't matter if it's 400, infact you'd be better off downclocking it to PC2100 speeds with tighter timings to optimize your system performance.

Also you could check your RAM with memtest86+ just to ensure one of the sticks isn't giving you errors thus creating that problem.

You don't really have that powerful of a setup so I really wouldn't expect much from it on the get go. Mainly this case is the CPU that's creating that huge bottleneck but that shouldn't cause any problems like the ones you are stating. That 3200+ XP will definitely be a nice upgrade from the 1800+ though.

 

[Laecia]

"Mainly this case is the CPU that's creating that huge bottleneck but that shouldn't cause any problems like the ones you are stating. "

Do you have any idea's what would cause these kind of problems then?

-L-

 

[Nubius]

Have you tested your memory yet to see if both sticks are actually running smoothly with no errors?

Use Memtest86+ to do so.

Also you made sure you installed all motherboard drivers right? The drivers for the AGP slot, generally the drivers are AGP 3.0, the newest drivers for your card?

If it's not the memory then I would assume it's some kind of driver issue.

Is it just everquest that it does this in? Or other intensive programs as well? If so what kind.

Also is the game crashing back to desktop the only thing that happens? Any error codes, windows restarts blue screens anything of that nature?

 

[SanToast]

If u have the AGP 4.0 prototype (limited quantities), then install the drivers from the AGP organization. The drivers should correspond with your motherboard.

 

[SanToast]

Josh?