Ram question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Karl
  • Start date Start date
K

Karl

I am going to replace my MB with a A7N8X-X and a AMD xp 3000+ barton core
cpu. My question is can I use my current momory, pc2100 ddr333 non ecc/
unbuffered to get the system up and going until I can afford to upgrade the
ram in a few months?

Thanks Karl
 
I am going to replace my MB with a A7N8X-X and a AMD xp 3000+ barton core
cpu. My question is can I use my current momory, pc2100 ddr333 non ecc/
unbuffered to get the system up and going until I can afford to upgrade the
ram in a few months?

Thanks Karl
Click to expand...

Shouldnt be a problem. The board will support as low as PC1600. Obviously its
not going to run at its full potentional but no harm will come of it.

~A
 
Karl said:
I am going to replace my MB with a A7N8X-X and a AMD xp 3000+ barton core
cpu. My question is can I use my current momory, pc2100 ddr333 non ecc/
unbuffered to get the system up and going until I can afford to upgrade
the ram in a few months?

Thanks Karl
Click to expand...

PC2100 memory is only ddr266, not ddr333. You want PC2700 for 333Mhz CPU.
Double check what the memory actually is. If it is only 266Mhz, then set
your board to run at this speed and run the CPU underclocked until you have
matching RAM.

Matt
 
Sparky said:
PC2100 memory is only ddr266, not ddr333. You want PC2700 for 333Mhz CPU.
Double check what the memory actually is. If it is only 266Mhz, then set
your board to run at this speed and run the CPU underclocked until you
have matching RAM.

Matt
Click to expand...

Or he could just run the RAM out of sync with the FSB so the RAM runs at 266
and the CPU at 333 for the time being?
 
Karl,

I see that the Barton 3000+ uses a 400 MHz FSB (front side bus). (I'm not
knowledgeable about AMD CPUs. My current A64 3500+ is my first.) You'd
ideally have PC3200 (DDR400) memory.

As another poster remarked, PC2100 memory is the same as DDR266. DDR333 is
PC2700. Which do you have?

A quick glance at the manual (available for download from
http://www.asus.com.tw/ ) shows that the memory can be set in the BIOS to
run at a ratio from the FSB, as for other Asus mainboards I've used.. You
could choose 66% for PC2100, or 83% for PC2700, to run your RAM at its rated
frequency when the CPU is set to 400 MHz.. This assumes that the memory
can't stand to be overclocked.

Some people will recommend against "asynchronous" memory operation, but I've
done it in a couple of systems with no performance penalty that I could
measure.

Let me be clear: I haven't done precisely what you wish to do. I expect that
it would work, though.

If you have PC2700 memory, you may be able to manually set the system to run
it at PC3200 frequencies (maybe with relaxed timings). If it works as
PC3200, you may never wish to upgrade it - the performance gains from
low-latency RAM may not be enough to justify the expense.

Good luck.

Bob Knowlden

Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
Karl said:
I am going to replace my MB with a A7N8X-X and a AMD xp 3000+ barton core
cpu. My question is can I use my current momory, pc2100 ddr333 non ecc/
unbuffered to get the system up and going until I can afford to upgrade the
ram in a few months?

Thanks Karl
Click to expand...
Karl try it first and see how stable it is if OK dont touch a thing just
upgrade to ram the same speed as the CPU when you can afford. If the system
is unstable, personally I would get the correct ram.
 
Ok now for mey next stupid question.... Any recomended ram manufacturers?
I know I need 512meg ddr400 pc3200 non ecc and un buffered.
I read in the group some people had problems with coursair ram. I'm just
trying to narrow it down.
Thanks for all the input. Karl
 
Karl said:
Ok now for mey next stupid question.... Any recomended ram
manufacturers? I know I need 512meg ddr400 pc3200 non ecc and un
buffered. I read in the group some people had problems with coursair
ram. I'm just trying to narrow it down.
Thanks for all the input. Karl
Click to expand...
I've used crucial.com for a long time and find them quite reliable ...
they guarantee to sell you the proper memory or your money back. Use
their 'Memory Advisor' at www.crucial.com They also have an online
advisor. Hard to beat them for service.
 
Phil said:
By using the Memory:FSB ratios in the BIOS? What the hell else do you
think they're for?
Click to expand...

It is reported that hte Nforce2 boards do not like having memory run out of
synch with the cpu. So its best to keep them to same.
 
Matt said:
It is reported that hte Nforce2 boards do not like having memory run out
of synch with the cpu. So its best to keep them to same.
Click to expand...

For a temporary solution it's a more than adequete setting to use; if the
nforce boards didn't run well at all with these ratios then surely they
wouldn't be in the BIOS?

I agree with you that for a long term solution nforce boards definately like
running in sync, but the OP was only looking for a short term solution until
they got new RAM.
 
Back
Top