Memory Confusion

[Robert Neville]

Memory has become so convoluted these days with dual channel boards. I
purchased two different memories a year ago for a total of one gig.
Apparently, Asus A7N8X does not perform in an optimal fashion without
the same memory brand. Presently, my system posts with CPU External
Frequency of 100, 133, & 166, but the latter is slower and somewhat
unstable. CPU External Frequency of 133 appears to be the most stable,
but PC 2700 memory should run at 166mhz; right?

Now, I may have to bite the bullet and purchase more memory; or remove
one stick. Please let me know if you have any advice on the matter.
What stick should I replace the Crucial and Kingston Value Memory?
Where can I get the best price for memory these days? Should I upgrade
to 3200+ memory (this alternative will hurt the wallet)? Can I do it
economically?

OS - Windows XP Pro / Processor - Athlon Barton 2600+ / Motherboard -
Asus A7N8X Deluxe / Power Supply - Antec 430W True Power / CoolMaster
WaveMaster / Memory - 2x 512 MB DDR PC2700: Crucial and Kingston
ValueRam /
Hard Drive - 60GB and 30GB Western Digital 7200 rpm, 2 x 200 GB
Western Digital SATA 7200 rpm /
Lite-On DVD+-R/RW / Sony CRX220E / Video Card - Matrox G400 AGP /
Sound - Soundblaster Live! Platinum / Modem - Zoom Faxmodem v.42
(3025)

 

[Wes Newell]

Memory has become so convoluted these days with dual channel boards. I
purchased two different memories a year ago for a total of one gig.
Apparently, Asus A7N8X does not perform in an optimal fashion without
the same memory brand. Presently, my system posts with CPU External
Frequency of 100, 133, & 166, but the latter is slower and somewhat
unstable. CPU External Frequency of 133 appears to be the most stable,
but PC 2700 memory should run at 166mhz; right?

Did you try swapping the slots they are installed in? Or set timings
manually slower instead of by SPD?

Now, I may have to bite the bullet and purchase more memory; or remove
one stick. Please let me know if you have any advice on the matter. What
stick should I replace the Crucial and Kingston Value Memory? Where can
I get the best price for memory these days? Should I upgrade to 3200+
memory (this alternative will hurt the wallet)? Can I do it
economically?

If you decide to replace the ram, get something faster than PC3200 to be
on the safe side, and also use in the future. PC3700 or higher. Problem
is, I think ram prices are up pretty high now compared to a couple of
weeks ago.

 

[Graham]

Did you try swapping the slots they are installed in? Or set timings
manually slower instead of by SPD?


If you decide to replace the ram, get something faster than PC3200 to be
on the safe side, and also use in the future. PC3700 or higher. Problem
is, I think ram prices are up pretty high now compared to a couple of
weeks ago.

Yeah as you have two different memory sticks try slackening the memory
timings - in particular try a slower CAS latency speed. I had a similar
problem until I changed from CAS2 to CAS2.5.
As your Athlon is 166 clock it's bad you are having to throttle the memory
down to 133.
If you do decide to purchase more RAM - try the shops! I was suprised to
pick up 512mb PC3200 at about half the price of internet stores this weekend
from PC World (UK), but I guess it's due to shops having stock purchased
some time ago thus not yet affected by the recent hikes in prices...
Graham