a7v333/athlon 3000xp/PC2100 ram

  • Thread starter Thread starter curiosity
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curiosity

this cpu will run at 2.17Ghz with the fsb at 333 but my 2100 ram
requires 266fsb. I'm currently running it at 333 but it will crash
unpredictably within the hour or day depending on mood.

I've tried to set the bios using 'manual' for the cpu and a suitable
multiplier on an fsb setting of 266 but the cpu insists on running at
1.74Ghz whatever the multiplier.

A google search suggests this is a problem other a7v333 users have
experienced.

Does anyone have a workaround?
 
this cpu will run at 2.17Ghz with the fsb at 333 but my 2100 ram
requires 266fsb. I'm currently running it at 333 but it will crash
unpredictably within the hour or day depending on mood.

I've tried to set the bios using 'manual' for the cpu and a suitable
multiplier on an fsb setting of 266 but the cpu insists on running at
1.74Ghz whatever the multiplier.

A google search suggests this is a problem other a7v333 users have
experienced.

Does anyone have a workaround?
Click to expand...

I can see a couple possibilities. You could do some endless
research on whether a locked multiplier processor can be
unlocked, what bridges control it, and so on. Chopping up
bridges on a processor doesn't sound like a lot of fun.

Or, you could try to stabilize the RAM. There are a couple
of things you could try for the RAM.

The board has two jumpers that aren't documented in the
manual. They are mentioned here, and elsewhere.

http://forums.pcper.com/printthread.php?t=113092&pp=40

"Just above the AGP slot there are 2 undocumented jumepers
J1 and J2, with them it is possible to adjust the DIMM/RAM
voltage. The settings are:

JP1 [1-2] - JP2 [1-2] = 2.50volt
JP1 [2-3] - JP2 [1-2] = 2.65volt
JP1 [1-2] - JP2 [2-3] = 2.75volt
JP1 [2-3] - JP2 [2-3] = 2.80volt "

According to this article, the default JP1/JP2 settings are
already overvolting the RAM, so perhaps no further tweaking
is needed. 2.75V should be enough.

http://www.lostcircuits.com/motherboard/asus_a7v333/5.shtml

JP1 JP2
x x i = jumper in lower position
x x ! = jumper in upper position
x x

"ii 2.59 - 2.63V (same with one or both jumpers removed completely)
i! 2.78 - 2.85V (default setting, out of spec according to JEDEC guidelines)
!i 2.88 - 2.96V
!! 2.95 - 3.06V "

One article I read a while back, mentioned increasing the Trcd
setting, as a way to help overclock a memory. Have a look in
the BIOS for that setting.

Changing the memory clock, means the timings have to change
too. If set to Auto, the BIOS will compute the necessary
scaling and rounding up, needed to figure out the new timing
numbers. You can use a copy of CPUZ from cpuid.com , to see
what the BIOS is using for timings. Write down the numbers,
then go into the BIOS, select a Manual mode for the timing,
and enter those numbers manually. Increasing Trcd by 1, is
supposed to open up more head room, in case the RAM cannot
really handle a 25% overclock.

The following is how you would calculate new timing numbers
manually:

Say the RAM is 2-2-2-5 at DDR266. The clock rate in that case
is 133MHz, and the clock period is 7.5ns (the inverse of 133).
For CAS, the first number, 2*7.5=15ns. At the new speed of
DDR333, the clock is 166Mhz and the clock period is 6ns.
The internal timing number of 15ns, divided by the new clock
period of 6ns, is 2.5. For CAS, you round to the next nearest
half-integer value - in this case, 2.5 happens to be right on
the line, so you get to use 2.5. If the division operation
had returned 2.6, you would round up to CAS 3.0 . You
do a similar calculation for the other timing numbers too,
except the other ones round to the nearest integer. A
division that returned 2.2 would round to the next full
integer, which is 3. So, the 2-2-2-5 would become 2.5-3-3-7
at DDR333. If the RAM did not like the overclock, the
second number, Trcd, would be increased, as in 2.5-4-3-7.
(There is a limit to how far these numbers can be pushed,
as a hardware register somewhere has to have room for the
number you just computed.)

Test the memory, by using a copy of memtest86+ from
memtest.org . Memtest86+ can boot the computer, without
the use of an OS. Do at least a couple of full passes error
free, with memtest86+, before considering booting back
into Windows. Then, use Prime95 (torture test) from mersenne.org,
as a final test that the overclocked memory timings are
working properly. Again, no errors are acceptable.

If you simply cannot stabilize the memory, either consider
a future filled with processor bridge cutting, or buy some
fast-enough cheap DDR ram before the price goes out of sight.
DDR400 is backward compatible with DDR333, DDR266, DDR200, so
can be used as a "universal donor".

HTH,
Paul
 
this cpu will run at 2.17Ghz with the fsb at 333 but my 2100 ram
requires 266fsb. I'm currently running it at 333 but it will crash
unpredictably within the hour or day depending on mood.

I've tried to set the bios using 'manual' for the cpu and a suitable
multiplier on an fsb setting of 266 but the cpu insists on running at
1.74Ghz whatever the multiplier.

A google search suggests this is a problem other a7v333 users have
experienced.

Does anyone have a workaround?
Click to expand...

I can see a couple possibilities. You could do some endless
research on whether a locked multiplier processor can be
unlocked, what bridges control it, and so on. Chopping up
bridges on a processor doesn't sound like a lot of fun.

Or, you could try to stabilize the RAM. There are a couple
of things you could try for the RAM.

The board has two jumpers that aren't documented in the
manual. They are mentioned here, and elsewhere.

http://forums.pcper.com/printthread.php?t=113092&pp=40

"Just above the AGP slot there are 2 undocumented jumepers
J1 and J2, with them it is possible to adjust the DIMM/RAM
voltage. The settings are:

JP1 [1-2] - JP2 [1-2] = 2.50volt
JP1 [2-3] - JP2 [1-2] = 2.65volt
JP1 [1-2] - JP2 [2-3] = 2.75volt
JP1 [2-3] - JP2 [2-3] = 2.80volt "

According to this article, the default JP1/JP2 settings are
already overvolting the RAM, so perhaps no further tweaking
is needed. 2.75V should be enough.

http://www.lostcircuits.com/motherboard/asus_a7v333/5.shtml

JP1 JP2
x x i = jumper in lower position
x x ! = jumper in upper position
x x

"ii 2.59 - 2.63V (same with one or both jumpers removed completely)
i! 2.78 - 2.85V (default setting, out of spec according to JEDEC guidelines)
!i 2.88 - 2.96V
!! 2.95 - 3.06V "

One article I read a while back, mentioned increasing the Trcd
setting, as a way to help overclock a memory. Have a look in
the BIOS for that setting.

Changing the memory clock, means the timings have to change
too. If set to Auto, the BIOS will compute the necessary
scaling and rounding up, needed to figure out the new timing
numbers. You can use a copy of CPUZ from cpuid.com , to see
what the BIOS is using for timings. Write down the numbers,
then go into the BIOS, select a Manual mode for the timing,
and enter those numbers manually. Increasing Trcd by 1, is
supposed to open up more head room, in case the RAM cannot
really handle a 25% overclock.

The following is how you would calculate new timing numbers
manually:

Say the RAM is 2-2-2-5 at DDR266. The clock rate in that case
is 133MHz, and the clock period is 7.5ns (the inverse of 133).
For CAS, the first number, 2*7.5=15ns. At the new speed of
DDR333, the clock is 166Mhz and the clock period is 6ns.
The internal timing number of 15ns, divided by the new clock
period of 6ns, is 2.5. For CAS, you round to the next nearest
half-integer value - in this case, 2.5 happens to be right on
the line, so you get to use 2.5. If the division operation
had returned 2.6, you would round up to CAS 3.0 . You
do a similar calculation for the other timing numbers too,
except the other ones round to the nearest integer. A
division that returned 2.2 would round to the next full
integer, which is 3. So, the 2-2-2-5 would become 2.5-3-3-7
at DDR333. If the RAM did not like the overclock, the
second number, Trcd, would be increased, as in 2.5-4-3-7.
(There is a limit to how far these numbers can be pushed,
as a hardware register somewhere has to have room for the
number you just computed.)

Test the memory, by using a copy of memtest86+ from
memtest.org . Memtest86+ can boot the computer, without
the use of an OS. Do at least a couple of full passes error
free, with memtest86+, before considering booting back
into Windows. Then, use Prime95 (torture test) from mersenne.org,
as a final test that the overclocked memory timings are
working properly. Again, no errors are acceptable.

If you simply cannot stabilize the memory, either consider
a future filled with processor bridge cutting, or buy some
fast-enough cheap DDR ram before the price goes out of sight.
DDR400 is backward compatible with DDR333, DDR266, DDR200, so
can be used as a "universal donor".

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...


thanks Paul, I couldn't possibly have asked for a more comprehensive
answer! I have a mixture of reasonable and indifferent ram here so I
think - as interesting as it would be to put it collectively through
its paces - this might end up being a thankless task with
unsatisfactory results.

I'm a complete beginner on this subject but I see that DDR400 is still
around at reasonable prices - is it expected then that prices could
rise soon?
I'm not one of nature's overclockers - I run a modest audio
workstation in a small room and noise is ananthema so I prefer to run
with a quiet fan at low temps.
Much appreciate the response though - many thanks.
 
- I meant to ask, are there any modern boards that come recommended
and will work also at 266fsb but with some of the newer processors?
For audio recording and audio plugins, it seems to me to be cpu power
rather than ram or HD which causes bottlenecks.
 
thanks Paul, I couldn't possibly have asked for a more comprehensive
answer! I have a mixture of reasonable and indifferent ram here so I
think - as interesting as it would be to put it collectively through
its paces - this might end up being a thankless task with
unsatisfactory results.

I'm a complete beginner on this subject but I see that DDR400 is still
around at reasonable prices - is it expected then that prices could
rise soon?
I'm not one of nature's overclockers - I run a modest audio
workstation in a small room and noise is ananthema so I prefer to run
with a quiet fan at low temps.
Much appreciate the response though - many thanks.
Click to expand...

I guess the question would be, what mix of sticks of RAM do you
have, and what would constitute enough RAM for the applications
you use.

First off, if I look at the A7V333 downloadable manual, it doesn't
mention any limits on speed versus number of banks. (Actually,
there is an insert page you can download, and it added some info
to the manual.) RAM is limited by:

1) Memory chip timing (what CAS is advertised, what clock speed)
2) Chipset timing (what clock speed the chipset can handle)
3) Signal integrity (what happens to the shape of the electrical
signals, when more DIMMs are added to the bus)

The A7V8X, the successor to the A7V333, mentions four banks limit
at DDR333, two banks limit at DDR400. That is two double sided DIMMs
at DDR333 or one double sided DIMM at DDR400. That means, the only
way to occupy all three slots with memory, on the A7V8X, is to run
them at 266MHz. It doesn't have as much to do with the actual chip
timing, as it does with the Signal Integrity.

This is one reason dual channel boards are sometimes more useful
than single channel boards. A dual channel board only has two slots
per channel (four slots total). By having fewer slots per channel,
the signal integrity cannot get as bad as having three slots on
the same channel.

Let us say your audio application can live with 512MB. You could,
for example, take a single stick of DDR266 memory, plug it into
slot 3 (furthest from the Northbridge), then try running it at DDR333.
The memory will be most forgiving, in this configuration.

If you use two sticks, place them in slot 1 and slot 3. The
equivalent capacitance per inch is what determines the transmission
line impedance, and by spreading the DIMMs apart, sometimes you
get a slight improvement in signal integrity. Using your DDR266
memory in a DDR333 overclock, and running them at the signal integrity
limit (say it is two double sided sticks at DDR333), is tougher than
the previous configuration.

Using three double sided sticks is just asking for trouble. Even
with DIMMs having good memory timing, no memory controller (at
least the kind with a single address bus and single data bus)
likes running with a load like that. (The reason an Nforce2
board, like an A7N8X can do it, is there are more address busses
to handle the loading.)

Now, it is unfortunate, but the Mushkin web pages, where they
evaluated their memory products with various motherboards, have
been removed. The pages could never be deep linked, because they
used an inline cookie in the URL. From a previous thread of mine,
there were no warnings about using 1GB DIMMs, so I assume, if you
wanted 1GB total memory, you could go out and buy a single 1GB
DDR400 DIMM, stick it in slot 3, and it should run fine.

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.c..._frm/thread/931247ca504312c0/87bc8f18d58837c0

If you wanted to go shopping for a 1GB DDR memory, you want one
made with (16) 64Mx8 chips on it. I use this advert as an example.
The stuff on the right (the cheapest product) doesn't use 64Mx8
chips, and I would avoid buying that module. A single stick
of one of the other two, should be OK.

http://www.portatech.com/catalog/memory.asp?ID=285

If you want to experiment with the RAM you currently own, see
if you have a 512MB stick, and test it at DDR333 in slot 3. It
might just work, even though you are running the DDR266 memory
at DDR333.

HTH,
Paul
 
I guess the question would be, what mix of sticks of RAM do you
have, and what would constitute enough RAM for the applications
you use.

First off, if I look at the A7V333 downloadable manual, it doesn't
mention any limits on speed versus number of banks. (Actually,
there is an insert page you can download, and it added some info
to the manual.) RAM is limited by:

1) Memory chip timing (what CAS is advertised, what clock speed)
2) Chipset timing (what clock speed the chipset can handle)
3) Signal integrity (what happens to the shape of the electrical
signals, when more DIMMs are added to the bus)

The A7V8X, the successor to the A7V333, mentions four banks limit
at DDR333, two banks limit at DDR400. That is two double sided DIMMs
at DDR333 or one double sided DIMM at DDR400. That means, the only
way to occupy all three slots with memory, on the A7V8X, is to run
them at 266MHz. It doesn't have as much to do with the actual chip
timing, as it does with the Signal Integrity.

This is one reason dual channel boards are sometimes more useful
than single channel boards. A dual channel board only has two slots
per channel (four slots total). By having fewer slots per channel,
the signal integrity cannot get as bad as having three slots on
the same channel.

Let us say your audio application can live with 512MB. You could,
for example, take a single stick of DDR266 memory, plug it into
slot 3 (furthest from the Northbridge), then try running it at DDR333.
The memory will be most forgiving, in this configuration.

If you use two sticks, place them in slot 1 and slot 3. The
equivalent capacitance per inch is what determines the transmission
line impedance, and by spreading the DIMMs apart, sometimes you
get a slight improvement in signal integrity. Using your DDR266
memory in a DDR333 overclock, and running them at the signal integrity
limit (say it is two double sided sticks at DDR333), is tougher than
the previous configuration.

Using three double sided sticks is just asking for trouble. Even
with DIMMs having good memory timing, no memory controller (at
least the kind with a single address bus and single data bus)
likes running with a load like that. (The reason an Nforce2
board, like an A7N8X can do it, is there are more address busses
to handle the loading.)

Now, it is unfortunate, but the Mushkin web pages, where they
evaluated their memory products with various motherboards, have
been removed. The pages could never be deep linked, because they
used an inline cookie in the URL. From a previous thread of mine,
there were no warnings about using 1GB DIMMs, so I assume, if you
wanted 1GB total memory, you could go out and buy a single 1GB
DDR400 DIMM, stick it in slot 3, and it should run fine.

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.c..._frm/thread/931247ca504312c0/87bc8f18d58837c0

If you wanted to go shopping for a 1GB DDR memory, you want one
made with (16) 64Mx8 chips on it. I use this advert as an example.
The stuff on the right (the cheapest product) doesn't use 64Mx8
chips, and I would avoid buying that module. A single stick
of one of the other two, should be OK.

http://www.portatech.com/catalog/memory.asp?ID=285

If you want to experiment with the RAM you currently own, see
if you have a 512MB stick, and test it at DDR333 in slot 3. It
might just work, even though you are running the DDR266 memory
at DDR333.

HTH,
Paul
Click to expand...


Thanks Paul. My novice status becomes more evident as your detail
unfolds. I only discovered yesterday that the a7v333 couldn't run 3
sticks of 2700 at anything other than 2100.

As to requirements: I'm running a lot of 'soft samplers' (Halion,
Battery etc) - these place very modest demands on the cpu but the
sample data for many instrument libraries where there has been an
effort to emulate performance nuances is huge these days, e.g. a
rhodes electric piano has 1.6 gig of data alone and there's
conspicuous performance advantage in running as large a proportion of
these directly from ram (preloading) rather than reading data in
realtime off the HD which tends to produce pops and crackles. A
couple of these running together and lots of ram becomes a necessity -
i've currently got 2 gigs in 3 sticks and that's fine at the moment
without being excessive.

The A7N8X board has been recommended to me in another thread so I
might go with this in the short term if I can pick one up at a
reasonable price.

You might have guessed that I'm not given to a lot of tweaking so, if
I were to opt for a new system that worked 'out of the box' and
represented value for money rather than 'best available', what
mobo/cpu/ram combination would you recommend today that won't become
quickly obsolete - no gaming, just DAW use and at least as fast as the
3000xp (no dual's though - too much fan noise)

thanks for any thoughts.
 
Thanks Paul. My novice status becomes more evident as your detail
unfolds. I only discovered yesterday that the a7v333 couldn't run 3
sticks of 2700 at anything other than 2100.

As to requirements: I'm running a lot of 'soft samplers' (Halion,
Battery etc) - these place very modest demands on the cpu but the
sample data for many instrument libraries where there has been an
effort to emulate performance nuances is huge these days, e.g. a
rhodes electric piano has 1.6 gig of data alone and there's
conspicuous performance advantage in running as large a proportion of
these directly from ram (preloading) rather than reading data in
realtime off the HD which tends to produce pops and crackles. A
couple of these running together and lots of ram becomes a necessity -
i've currently got 2 gigs in 3 sticks and that's fine at the moment
without being excessive.

The A7N8X board has been recommended to me in another thread so I
might go with this in the short term if I can pick one up at a
reasonable price.

You might have guessed that I'm not given to a lot of tweaking so, if
I were to opt for a new system that worked 'out of the box' and
represented value for money rather than 'best available', what
mobo/cpu/ram combination would you recommend today that won't become
quickly obsolete - no gaming, just DAW use and at least as fast as the
3000xp (no dual's though - too much fan noise)

thanks for any thoughts.
Click to expand...

At DDR333 rates, the A7N8X family would be a good choice.
I have an A7N8X-E Deluxe, and had some problems trying to run
FSB400/DDR400. The solution was to use some CAS2 memory. The
Nforce2 chipset can be picky about RAM at FSB400/DDR400 rates.

At DDR333 rates, I would expect fewer problems, and so either
an A7N8X-X (single channel) or an A7N8X-E Deluxe (dual channel)
would be good substitutes.

The Nforce2 uses multiple address busses, which means there is
less sensitivity to bus loading. There would not be much
practical performance difference between the A7N8X-X and the
A7N8X-E Deluxe, as a FSB333 processor's bus width and speed
means a single DDR333 stick meets that rate. The second channel
only "fills in the gaps" as it were.

If you have 2x512MB plus 1GB stick, you could place the 1GB stick
on one channel, and the 2x512MB on the other channel, of the
A7N8X-E. As long as the total quantity of RAM is the same on
both channels, all memory will have the dual channel performance
level. If you put 512MB on one channel, and 1GB on the other
channel, the upper 512MB runs at single channel rates. The Nforce2
is more flexible in this respect, than other four slot DIMM boards,
in that the memory in the two channels doesn't have to match.

The only thing I cannot help with, is any special PCI cards you
might have. Sometimes people have trouble mixing certain chipsets
with expensive PCI cards, and you really have to find a forum
that discusses the audio cards in question, to see if there are
issues moving to a new motherboard.

Returning to your original problem - if the DIMMs are rated for
DDR333 or DDR400, then moving to the A7N8X family might give
you an improvement over what you've got (as signal integrity
"max banks" would no longer be a problem). The A7N8X allows
running the memory asynchronous, as there are settings like
"83%" in the BIOS, which is useful for running FSB400 and DDR333
at the same time. If your RAM was only PC2100 (DDR266), I'm sure
you could downclock the memory enough in any case, without
upsetting the FSB setting.

You could try two 1GB sticks in your current A7V333 (to meet
the "max banks" thing). That would mean replacing the two 512MB
sticks, with a single 1GB stick. As long as the two 1GB sticks
are made with (16) 64Mx8 chips, it should work. Or, you could
try a A7N8X type board (subject to its compatibility with
whatever PCI cards you are using). You have a couple of options.

If the 1GB stick uses 128Mx4 memory chips (like in that sample
advert, the sticks on the right side of the ad), the Nforce2
might have trouble with those. The 128Mx4 chip is "long and
narrow", compared to the 68Mx8 memory chip. On some motherboards,
there aren't enough address bits to drive the "long" dimension,
and only half the memory on the DIMM is detected. You have to
be more careful when buying 1GB modules, due to the difference
in construction techniques between cheap modules and slightly
more expensive modules. You may want to investigate just what
you've got, in that 1GB module, in any case.

Paul
 
At DDR333 rates, the A7N8X family would be a good choice.
I have an A7N8X-E Deluxe, and had some problems trying to run
FSB400/DDR400. The solution was to use some CAS2 memory. The
Nforce2 chipset can be picky about RAM at FSB400/DDR400 rates.

At DDR333 rates, I would expect fewer problems, and so either
an A7N8X-X (single channel) or an A7N8X-E Deluxe (dual channel)
would be good substitutes.

The Nforce2 uses multiple address busses, which means there is
less sensitivity to bus loading. There would not be much
practical performance difference between the A7N8X-X and the
A7N8X-E Deluxe, as a FSB333 processor's bus width and speed
means a single DDR333 stick meets that rate. The second channel
only "fills in the gaps" as it were.

If you have 2x512MB plus 1GB stick, you could place the 1GB stick
on one channel, and the 2x512MB on the other channel, of the
A7N8X-E. As long as the total quantity of RAM is the same on
both channels, all memory will have the dual channel performance
level. If you put 512MB on one channel, and 1GB on the other
channel, the upper 512MB runs at single channel rates. The Nforce2
is more flexible in this respect, than other four slot DIMM boards,
in that the memory in the two channels doesn't have to match.

The only thing I cannot help with, is any special PCI cards you
might have. Sometimes people have trouble mixing certain chipsets
with expensive PCI cards, and you really have to find a forum
that discusses the audio cards in question, to see if there are
issues moving to a new motherboard.

Returning to your original problem - if the DIMMs are rated for
DDR333 or DDR400, then moving to the A7N8X family might give
you an improvement over what you've got (as signal integrity
"max banks" would no longer be a problem). The A7N8X allows
running the memory asynchronous, as there are settings like
"83%" in the BIOS, which is useful for running FSB400 and DDR333
at the same time. If your RAM was only PC2100 (DDR266), I'm sure
you could downclock the memory enough in any case, without
upsetting the FSB setting.

You could try two 1GB sticks in your current A7V333 (to meet
the "max banks" thing). That would mean replacing the two 512MB
sticks, with a single 1GB stick. As long as the two 1GB sticks
are made with (16) 64Mx8 chips, it should work. Or, you could
try a A7N8X type board (subject to its compatibility with
whatever PCI cards you are using). You have a couple of options.

If the 1GB stick uses 128Mx4 memory chips (like in that sample
advert, the sticks on the right side of the ad), the Nforce2
might have trouble with those. The 128Mx4 chip is "long and
narrow", compared to the 68Mx8 memory chip. On some motherboards,
there aren't enough address bits to drive the "long" dimension,
and only half the memory on the DIMM is detected. You have to
be more careful when buying 1GB modules, due to the difference
in construction techniques between cheap modules and slightly
more expensive modules. You may want to investigate just what
you've got, in that 1GB module, in any case.

Paul
Click to expand...

Sorry Paul, I confused the issue completely when I said "I only
discovered yesterday that the a7v333 couldn't run 3 sticks of 2700 at
anything other than 2100". In fact I only have PC2100 memory and only
meant to say that if I'd been 'forunate' enough to have PC2700 on the
A7V333, I wouldn't benefit anyway - although I see from what you say
above that there is hope with 2 sticks of 1 gig. Apologies for
creating the confusion.

So coming back to the A7N8x - would this be ok with the slower PC2100
and the 3000xp?
 
Sorry Paul, I confused the issue completely when I said "I only
discovered yesterday that the a7v333 couldn't run 3 sticks of 2700 at
anything other than 2100". In fact I only have PC2100 memory and only
meant to say that if I'd been 'forunate' enough to have PC2700 on the
A7V333, I wouldn't benefit anyway - although I see from what you say
above that there is hope with 2 sticks of 1 gig. Apologies for
creating the confusion.

So coming back to the A7N8x - would this be ok with the slower PC2100
and the 3000xp?
Click to expand...

Since the A7N8X has dividers between CPU clock and memory clock,
it should be OK. I've run my A7N8X-E at FSB400 and DDR333, and
didn't see a problem running async like that.

From the manual:

"Memory Frequency [By SPD]

This field sets the type of memory frequency based on the type
of DDR (Double Date Rate) memory module installed. Resulting
frequency can vary depending on percentage setting which is
multiplied by the FSB frqequency. Normally, the default, by SPD,
permits autodetection.

Configuration options: [By SPD] [50%] [60%] [66%] [75%] [80%] [83%]
[Sync] [120%] [125%] [133% [150%] [166%] [200%]"

It looks like 80% would be the right ratio, for FSB333 and DDR266.

Paul
 
Sorry Paul, I confused the issue completely when I said "I only
discovered yesterday that the a7v333 couldn't run 3 sticks of 2700 at
anything other than 2100". In fact I only have PC2100 memory and only
meant to say that if I'd been 'forunate' enough to have PC2700 on the
A7V333, I wouldn't benefit anyway - although I see from what you say
above that there is hope with 2 sticks of 1 gig. Apologies for
creating the confusion.

So coming back to the A7N8x - would this be ok with the slower PC2100
and the 3000xp?
Click to expand...

Since the A7N8X has dividers between CPU clock and memory clock,
it should be OK. I've run my A7N8X-E at FSB400 and DDR333, and
didn't see a problem running async like that.

From the manual:

"Memory Frequency [By SPD]

This field sets the type of memory frequency based on the type
of DDR (Double Date Rate) memory module installed. Resulting
frequency can vary depending on percentage setting which is
multiplied by the FSB frqequency. Normally, the default, by SPD,
permits autodetection.

Configuration options: [By SPD] [50%] [60%] [66%] [75%] [80%] [83%]
[Sync] [120%] [125%] [133% [150%] [166%] [200%]"

It looks like 80% would be the right ratio, for FSB333 and DDR266.

Paul
Click to expand...

much obliged Paul.
 
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