I've k7vta3 v6.0c mb and kingston 256mb ddr400 memory.
Are they can work together?
I don't know if ddr400 is backward compatible to low speed
memory such as ddr333 and pc2100.
I had ver. 8.0c of that mobo (two DIMM slots) and experienced no
compatibility problems when I tested it with 512MB PC3200/DDR400
modules, even when I used the slowest bus speed and BIOS memory
settings. I did have problems with a couple of PC2100/DDR266 mobos at
their slowest settings, including their BIOSes' safe defaults.
I don't like Kingston memory because a lot of their ValueRAM (the only
kind I've used) has failed my testing, including a whopping 8 out of 11
or 12 DDR400 modules at DDR400 speeds when set to run at 1T command
timing (the default). At 2T they were fine, but I won't use anything
that requires tweaking. The worst of these had completely unmarked
chips, the next worst had chips marked Pxxxxxxxxx, while the best had
chips marked Fxxxxxxxx and also the tiny SPD chip on the back side of
the circuit board. I believe all of these except those with the
completely blank chips were reliable at DDR333 and slower bus speeds.
Another troublesome brand was Mushkin Enhanced Memory (their budget
line), with 2 out of 2 DDR400 modules failing at DDR400 speeds,
including with the K7VTA3 mobo, even when slowed to 2T command rate.
OTOH 5 out of 5 PNY 512MB DDR400 modules never failed, even when
overclocked. These had chips marked either PNY or BRAVO an
ADP324TM-50.
Whatever you buy, test overnight with both Gold Memory and either
MemTest86 or MemTest86+, and be sure the BIOS is set for the module's
SPD defaults, even if it requires setting the BIOS manually for them
because some BIOSes won't do this even when told to use the defaults,
and most will instead choose 2T command rate. If possible, test not
only with your normal mobo but also with a mobo based on an nVidia
nForce chipset because they seem to be among the most troublesome for
memory compatibility.
