Memory Problems

R

Radu

Hi. I just purchased 512MB of new memory today - OCZ DUAL DDR PC-3200
Performance Series Rev. 3 Dual Channel, 512MB, PC400. I installed it on
my Dell Dimension 4600 (which already had 512M of RAM Dual Channel).
Here is the report on my computer BEFORE installing the memory:

___________________________________________________________________________________________
This PC currently has 512 MB of memory installed, and supports a
maximum of 4096 MB. There are 4 memory slots on the motherboard, and 2
of them are empty. The maximum memory module supported by this system
is 1024 megabytes. You can add up to 2 PC3200 DDR DIMM modules (choose
from available sizes below). To maintain consistent memory performance,
select memory with a CAS Latency (CL) of 3.0 clocks or lower.

Slot 1: Kingston 256MB PC3200 DDR K
Slot 2: Kingston 256MB PC3200 DDR K
Slot 3: EMPTY
Slot 4: EMPTY



Total RAM Installed : 512MB
Type : DDR DIMM PC3200
Used RAM Slots: 2 of 4
Memory Bus Frequency: 199 MHz
Memory Timings: 3.0-3-3-8


Number Of Processors : 1 Hyper-Threading Enabled
Type : Intel Pentium 4 3000 MHz
Package : mPGA-478
Manufacturer Codename : Northwood
Clock Speed : 2992 MHz
Clock Multiplier : 15.0
Front Side Bus (FSB) Speed : 800 MHz
L2 Cache Size : 512 KBytes Stepping : D1
Trace Width : 0.13
Microcode : 21h
Instruction Sets : MMX, SSE, SSE2
___________________________________________________________________________________________


After installing the memory, the system correctly reported a total of
1GB of RAM, but at a speed of 266Mhz INSTEAD OF 400. I took the new
memory out, I rebooted, and the speed went back again to 400Mhz. I
re-installed it, I rebooted again, and the speed went down again to 266
Mhz.

What could it be ????

Thank you.

Alex
 
C

Cuzman

Radu wrote:


" After installing the memory, the system correctly reported a total of
1GB of RAM, but at a speed of 266Mhz INSTEAD OF 400. I took the new
memory out, I rebooted, and the speed went back again to 400Mhz. I
re-installed it, I rebooted again, and the speed went down again to 266
Mhz. "


Did you enter the BIOS and attempt to change the memory bus from 133
(266/2) to 200 (400/2)? Why did you buy different RAM in the first
place? Also, why did you spend so much money on OCZ Performance memory
when your system is unlikely to boot below 3-3-3-8? (given that's
probably the standard timimgs of your existing RAM)
 
R

Radu

I can't !!! Remember, this is a DELL BIOS, and it's VERY skinny ! These
fields are read only, and in the memory section I can only change the AGP
aperture, which is currently at 128, I think.....

Different RAM ? Which RAM should I have bought ? It is Dual Channel, it is
DDR, it is 3200.... what else ? I don't know what else to look for ! I
assumed that's all I need.

BTW, I assume that the computer takes for these timings the lowest common
denominator (in our case, the "largest" timings). Is that right ?

I also tried the following - I took out the original memory and I installed
ONLY the OCZ memory - the system reported 333 Mhz. I switched back to the
original memory, and my BIOS immediately reported 400Mhz, correct. Could it
be that everything is fine, but the BIOS gets somehow confused ? I don't
really think so, but... I have no other idea, assuming that the stiks have
not been mis-labeled by OCZ...

Thank you for your posting !

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cuzman" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware
Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: Memory Problems
 
S

Sleepy

Radu said:
I can't !!! Remember, this is a DELL BIOS, and it's VERY skinny ! These
fields are read only, and in the memory section I can only change the AGP
aperture, which is currently at 128, I think.....

Different RAM ? Which RAM should I have bought ? It is Dual Channel, it is
DDR, it is 3200.... what else ? I don't know what else to look for ! I
assumed that's all I need.

BTW, I assume that the computer takes for these timings the lowest common
denominator (in our case, the "largest" timings). Is that right ?

I also tried the following - I took out the original memory and I
installed
ONLY the OCZ memory - the system reported 333 Mhz. I switched back to the
original memory, and my BIOS immediately reported 400Mhz, correct. Could
it
be that everything is fine, but the BIOS gets somehow confused ? I don't
really think so, but... I have no other idea, assuming that the stiks have
not been mis-labeled by OCZ...

Thank you for your posting !

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cuzman" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware
Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: Memory Problems

to analyse your RAM and see what speeds it really runs at use CPU-Z (google
for it).
If your bios auto-detects RAM and adjusts accordingly with no override -
maybe theres a jumper setting on the motherboard that'll allow you to force
the full 400mhz.
Check your motherboard manual.
 

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