P4C800 Motherboard detects DDR400 as DDR333

  • Thread starter Thread starter yogi
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yogi

I Installed the new P4C800 motherboard tonight but It does not boot
up, I get 2 beeps and the computer starts to bootup but after the
splash screen I get a blue error screen that flashes so quick that it
cant be read and the computer goes to the multi choice screen where it
ask's me if I want to boot with the last known good configuration or
to safe mode and the like, but no mater what I choose I end up with
the same error and back at the same place.

I noticed that in the bootup bios screen that the ram is shown as
333MHz and not the 400MHz that is installed, the only place in the
Bios that I found that I could change the ram speed was in the
overclock section but it does not give me a 400MHz choice.

Any ideas how to fix this, The ram is King-Max DDR400 (PC3200).
Cheers

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First, let me admit that I have a P4P800 (Springdale) system rather than the
P4C800 (Canterwood), but I believe that they're quite similar to each other.

I take it that you're running XP. If you swapped mainboards under an
existing XP installation, you'll probably need to do a repair install of XP
to get the proper drivers installed.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341 , "How to
Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP"

(In short: change the boot order in your BIOS settings to boot from the CD
drive. Boot from the XP installation CD. Choose to install rather than the
repair console. Under install, choose repair rather than new. You will
probably have to re-activate XP; at worst, it's a five minute toll-free
phone call, at least in the USA.)

Some people claim that a clean XP installation is the only way to go with a
new mainboard, but I've had good luck with the repair install route, the few
times I've tried it.

As regards the DDR333 business: what CPU are you using? If it's a 533 MHz
CPU, you will be able to run the RAM at 1:1 (266 MHz DDR) or 5:4 (33 MHz
DDR). No 3:2 multiplier was offered on my P4P800, so 400 MHz was not an
option.

In a way, 400 MHz *was* an option with a 533 MHz CPU. The AMI BIOS reported
333 MHz, regardless of the FSB (front side bus) settings. If you can set the
FSB to 160 MHz, and the 5:4 memory multiplier (for 333 MHz nominal), you'll
be running at DDR400 frequencies.
(My old 2.66 GHz CPU wasn't happy much above 150 MHz FSB. Raising the core
voltage helped very little.)

If you install an 800 MHz CPU, you'll get options for 400 MHz (1:1), 320 MHz
(4:5), and (if memory serves), 266 MHz (2:3). The BIOS will report the RAM
frequency this way, and won't do the arithmetic for you should you alter the
FSB away from the nominal.

I apologize in advance if any of the above guesses are wrong. You didn't
really provide enough information for me to be confident in offering
solutions, but I think that my ideas are consistent with what you stated.

Bob Knowlden

Spam dodger may be in use. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
yogi said:
I noticed that in the bootup bios screen that the ram is shown as
333MHz and not the 400MHz that is installed, the only place in the
Bios that I found that I could change the ram speed was in the
overclock section but it does not give me a 400MHz choice.

Any ideas how to fix this, The ram is King-Max DDR400 (PC3200).
Click to expand...

Hey, I just read this:
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3416593

Pertaining to Corsair CMX512A-3200C2 modules,
it says, at the bottom:

"SPD programmed at expected JEDEC values for PC2700
(PC3200 not defined by JEDEC)"

It could have something to do with that...
 
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