ram speed probs with A7N8X-X mobo

[adamjsawyer]

Hi I bought an ASUS A7N8X-X mobo last year and was using an Athlon 1700 XP+ CPU. Then I bought some PC 2700 ram, which i was running at PC 2100 speed. More recently, I bought an Athlon 2500 XP+ CPU, which boosted my FSB to 333, and the ram automatically adjusted to PC 2700 (333MHz). That was when the problems started. Games and intensive apps kept crashing with "Memory can't be read" General Protection Faults. After a while of having an unusable machine, I set the RAM down manually to 80% (266MHz). This worked for a while. Very recently the same errors as before have started turning up again. Just today I checked the receipt for the RAM, and found out it was PC2100, not PC2700 (ie: I was lied to by the shop I bought it from, and they are now out of business - some advice, never buy new hardware from a "friend"
I ran the MemTest86 program, and it produced lots of errors with the RAM at 333MHz, but none at 266MHz.This is weird. I would now like to buy some PC3200 RAM, but am not sure if it will work properly at the 333 MHz speed of my FSB. If that is the case I will just buy PC2700 ram, and buy some PC3200 when I get a new motherboard - prolly 6 to 8 months away.
I appreciate any advice
Thanks
Adam

 

[nvalhalla]

Get the 3200! Then you can just run it slower (2700) until you upgrade.

 

[Ares]

Have you had any other problems with that board? I'm just curious because i'm thinking about investing in one.

 

[XT]

If you buy pc3200 ram it will just downclock its self to pc2700 ram because of the 333 lower bus speed meaning its the weakest link. eveything is conected threw silicon on the board called bus(s) And the bus forms a circit which will only work at the lowest speed in the circit. So you will be fine

 

[Trax]

That mobo, is one of my favorit cost effective mobo's on the market

 

[True_Orb]

Yeah your RAM will automatically downgrade. My mobo will only accept up to PC2100, but when I bought the RAM, they only had PC2700, which, with the sale, was the same price as PC2100, so the computer automatically downgrades.

I don't know if that helps, but anecdotes are fun!