Performace Rating & Ram...

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I just got an extra 2GB of ram today which brings my computer up to 4GB
(Corsair 4 x 1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR). When I was running 2GB (2 x
1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR), Vista rated the ram performace at a 5.3,
however with 4GB Vista rated it at a 5.2, how come? Does more ram slow my
computer down? Is my ram configuration not set up properly in my bios?

This is what I have right now.

Timing Mode - [Manual]
Memclock index value (Mhz) - [400Mhz]
Cas# latency (Tcl) - [3]
Min Ras # active time (Tras) - [7T]
Ras# to cas# delay (Trcd) - [3T]
Row precharge time (Trp) - [3T]
Row cycle time (Trp) - [10T]
Row refresh cycle time (Trfc) - [11T]
Read-to-write time (Trwt) - [4T]
Write Recovery Time (Twr) - [3T]
1T/2T memory timing - [2T]
S/W Dram over 4G Remapping - Enabled
H/W Dram over 4G Remapping - Enabled

My System Specs:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64
LG Flatron Slim 19" LCD Monitor
Asus A8N-SLI Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ ~2.2Ghz Processor
NVIDIA GeForce7900 GT PCI-Express 256MB Graphics Card
500 Watt Power Supply
Corsair 4 x 1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR Ram
Pioneer DVD-RW/DVR-111D/CD-ROM-RW
Creative Megaworks THX 250-D 2.1 Speaker System

I want the best performance out of my computer so if you guys can tell me
what to edit/change I would appreciate it.
 
Are your ram sticks single sided or dual sided? I have been reading that if
you use 4 sticks they have to be single sided in order to run dual channel,
and single channel 1gb ram sticks are near to impossible to find. I'm facing
the same situation.
Tom
 
Well, you could probably ask this question in the ASUS or almost any AMD
motherboard fourm and get a better answer.

Under the older P4 Intel boards they have their PATA technology for memory,
but it was only enabled if you used 2 sticks of memory, using 4 disabled it.
Under the Intel boards, it's not that big of a loss, at least it was never
that much for me

Under AMD boards,if I use 2 sticks I get a SANDRA memory score of 6400MB/s.
If I use 4 sticks, I get a memory rating of 5500/MB/sAgain, it's back to 2
sticks veruss 4, and the way Dual channel tech works. I read teh answer many
moons ago, but I can't remember teh details. The fact you only dropped .1 is
pretty good.
 
I just got an extra 2GB of ram today which brings my computer up to 4GB
(Corsair 4 x 1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR). When I was running 2GB (2 x
1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR), Vista rated the ram performace at a 5.3,
however with 4GB Vista rated it at a 5.2, how come? Does more ram slow my

computer down? Is my ram configuration not set up properly in my bios?

This is what I have right now.

Timing Mode - [Manual]
Memclock index value (Mhz) - [400Mhz]
Cas# latency (Tcl) - [3]
Min Ra's # active time (Tras) - [7T]
Ra's# to cas# delay (Trcd) - [3T]
Row precharge time (Trp) - [3T]
Row cycle time (Trp) - [10T]
Row refresh cycle time (Trfc) - [11T]
Read-to-write time (Trwt) - [4T]
Write Recovery Time (Twr) - [3T]
1T/2T memory timing - [2T]
S/W Dram over 4G Remapping - Enabled
H/W Dram over 4G Remapping - Enabled

My System Specs:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64
LG Flatron Slim 19" LCD Monitor
Asus A8N-SLI Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ ~2.2Ghz Processor
NVIDIA GeForce7900 GT PCI-Express 256MB Graphics Card
500 Watt Power Supply
Corsair 4 x 1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR Ram
Pioneer DVD-RW/DVR-111D/CD-ROM-RW
Creative Megaworks THX 250-D 2.1 Speaker System

I want the best performance out of my computer so if you guys can tell me
what to edit/change I would appreciate it.
Click to expand...

4 may not be better than 2 when it comes to performance. This is what the
Ram Guy is saying in the Corsair forums. You can read all about it here.
http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=128
 
I run 4GB of Corsair TWINX 3500LL in my AMD 64 X2 4800+ on the same board you
have running Vista Ultimate 32 bit, and in order to have dual channel with
1GB sticks either 2GB or 4GB must be used - the RAM must be in pairs. So, if
you run only 3 sticks, you get single channel, which will reduce speed. I
mention this because at one time I was running only 3 1GB sticks thinking I
could avoid the slightly reduced Mhz hit I take running 4 sticks.

Filling all slots with 4GB will give Windows 3GB to work with in a 32 bit
verson of Windows - the other 1GB is used by hardware (I believe the PCI
bus). But you might be getting better performance because you are running
the 64-bit version. Also, 4GB will lower the RAM speed from 400 mhz to
333mhz on a 32-bit system, causing it to be slower. Does your Vista 64 bit
version see all 4GB in Windows? That I would like to know, as I do want to
go x64 when I can get drivers for my hardware.

In my system I get a 4.6 permformance rating, but that's with the RAM at 333
Mhz, and RAM is the lowest rated item in my list. The processor comes in at
4.9 and everything else is in the 5's. The Corsair RAM I have installed will
overclock to run at 400 Mhz. I'm sure that would improve my RAM score and
may improve the processor some, too.
 
5.3 down to 5.2! OMG, that's terrible.. I am going to lose countless nights
sleep now while worrying about your plight.. :)
 
Ed,

I have posted my issue I was having on many forums and I got many replies.
I have concluded the following:

(1) With an Asus A8N-SLI Motherboard, with 4GB, it will auto set the MHz to
333. To set it to 400 MHz, I had to go into the bios and change the settings
from Auto to Manual. So it is possible to run 4GB at 400 MHz. Setting it to
400Mhz improved performance.

(2) Windows Vista Performance Rating is not a true benchmark.

(3) Microsoft just updated the Vista Performance Rating a few days ago. I
am getting 5.0 with my 4GB of ram now. I tried 2GB and I got 5.0 as well. I
am assuming that since 2GB and 4GB run at Duel Channel mode, they are running
at the same speed and 4GB is not faster than 2GB. I tried 1GB and 3GB and
got a lower rating due to they were running at single channel mode.

(4) 4GB is better than 2GB when using Windows x64 even though the Vista
Performance rating is saying they are the same. Windows XP/Vista x32 can
only utilize around 2.5GB max (from what I heard). Windows XP/Vista x64 can
use 4GB efficiently. So when I am multi-tasking, 4GB will def. come in handy
with Windows Vista x64.

Other things I have observed:

-Creative Sound Cards crackle/pop when using more than 3GB. So I had to get
rid of my Creative X-fi and use onboard sound. No biggies, since I have
really good speakers, I hardly notice any difference between Onboard and
Creative X-fi.

-Although 4GB does not speed up anything, I am sure it will come in handy
when I alt + tab out of a video game and when I am doing some heavy
multi-tasking. Since more games are more demanding now a days, they require
more ram and that is where I will benefit the most with using 4GB over 2GB.
Not sure if I’ll get any higher frame rates, lol.

I want to thank everyone who replied with there input. You guys and girls
helped me out a lot.

-NpGreg04

PS: If I am missing anything else or if any of you had any questions,
please feel free to ask.

Ed Stoddard said:
I run 4GB of Corsair TWINX 3500LL in my AMD 64 X2 4800+ on the same board you
have running Vista Ultimate 32 bit, and in order to have dual channel with
1GB sticks either 2GB or 4GB must be used - the RAM must be in pairs. So, if
you run only 3 sticks, you get single channel, which will reduce speed. I
mention this because at one time I was running only 3 1GB sticks thinking I
could avoid the slightly reduced Mhz hit I take running 4 sticks.

Filling all slots with 4GB will give Windows 3GB to work with in a 32 bit
verson of Windows - the other 1GB is used by hardware (I believe the PCI
bus). But you might be getting better performance because you are running
the 64-bit version. Also, 4GB will lower the RAM speed from 400 mhz to
333mhz on a 32-bit system, causing it to be slower. Does your Vista 64 bit
version see all 4GB in Windows? That I would like to know, as I do want to
go x64 when I can get drivers for my hardware.

In my system I get a 4.6 permformance rating, but that's with the RAM at 333
Mhz, and RAM is the lowest rated item in my list. The processor comes in at
4.9 and everything else is in the 5's. The Corsair RAM I have installed will
overclock to run at 400 Mhz. I'm sure that would improve my RAM score and
may improve the processor some, too.

NpGreg04 said:
I just got an extra 2GB of ram today which brings my computer up to 4GB
(Corsair 4 x 1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR). When I was running 2GB (2 x
1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR), Vista rated the ram performace at a 5.3,
however with 4GB Vista rated it at a 5.2, how come? Does more ram slow my
computer down? Is my ram configuration not set up properly in my bios?

This is what I have right now.

Timing Mode - [Manual]
Memclock index value (Mhz) - [400Mhz]
Cas# latency (Tcl) - [3]
Min Ras # active time (Tras) - [7T]
Ras# to cas# delay (Trcd) - [3T]
Row precharge time (Trp) - [3T]
Row cycle time (Trp) - [10T]
Row refresh cycle time (Trfc) - [11T]
Read-to-write time (Trwt) - [4T]
Write Recovery Time (Twr) - [3T]
1T/2T memory timing - [2T]
S/W Dram over 4G Remapping - Enabled
H/W Dram over 4G Remapping - Enabled

My System Specs:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64
LG Flatron Slim 19" LCD Monitor
Asus A8N-SLI Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ ~2.2Ghz Processor
NVIDIA GeForce7900 GT PCI-Express 256MB Graphics Card
500 Watt Power Supply
Corsair 4 x 1024 Dual Channel PC-3200 DDR Ram
Pioneer DVD-RW/DVR-111D/CD-ROM-RW
Creative Megaworks THX 250-D 2.1 Speaker System

I want the best performance out of my computer so if you guys can tell me
what to edit/change I would appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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