RAM upgrade

Dogboy73 · 23 Oct 2011 at 20:15

... for my Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R mobo. I currently have 2GB (2 x 1GB sticks) of 800 Mhz DDR2 RAM. But this board has DDR3 slots & support for up to 1333 Mhz RAM. Will either of the 2GB sticks of RAM on this page be suitable? And will it be a worthwhile upgrade? At only £15 - £20 for this I'm tempted to go for it as long as I know the RAM will be compatible.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=8&subid=1180&sortby=priceAsc

Cheers

GTO656 · 23 Oct 2011 at 21:06

Gaming wise yes it would be worth it,although I've seen that your mobo can use up to 4GB for DDR3, So I'd suggest going to 4GB especially if you multi-task and game a lot. and going from 800mhz to 1333mhz. should be quite a difference as it will be more quicker e.g when loading games.

Dogboy73 · 23 Oct 2011 at 22:30

I'm still on XP so 4GB wouldn't work would it? I just won some Corsair (2 X 1GB) DDR3 1333MHz RAM on e-bay for £6.50. From what I understand it should work with my mobo okay. At £6.50 I thought it was worth giving a go

Surveyor · 23 Oct 2011 at 23:33

Dogboy73 said:
I'm still on XP so 4GB wouldn't work would it? I just won some Corsair (2 X 1GB) DDR3 1333MHz RAM on e-bay for £6.50. From what I understand it should work with my mobo okay. At £6.50 I thought it was worth giving a go

That RAM will work as the motherboard takes DDR2 and DDR3 but you can't use both at the same time.

If you want to use the DDR3 you'll have to remove the DDR2.

Dogboy73 · 24 Oct 2011 at 00:27

Surveyor said:
That RAM will work as the motherboard takes DDR2 and DDR3 but you can't use both at the same time. If you want to use the DDR3 you'll have to remove the DDR2.

Of course. I'll sell the DDR2. Not much point me keeping it now

Be a result if the Corsair RAM I won on e-bay works okay for the £6.50 I paid for it

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190590883117?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Dogboy73 · 26 Oct 2011 at 12:05

I just got that RAM I bougt in the post. Tried to install it but when I power up & get 3 short bleeps then the power resets. I've put my old RAM modules back in. The seller assures me the RAM is working & he has good feedback so I don't doubt his sincerity. Could it just be that this RAM is not compatible with my mobo? It wasn't listed in the compatible list on the Gigabyte web site but the RAM I have installed now is not listed either. I'll try this advice I found on another forum;

unplug power cable - disconnect battery from motherboard to clear CMOS - Connect battery after about 10-20 seconds - restart computer.

.... Then it's back to the drawing board

Dogboy73 · 26 Oct 2011 at 12:40

dblpost

Dogboy73 · 26 Oct 2011 at 15:32

Hold the phone! It seems to be working perfectly fine now! I tried Disconnecting the power from the mobo & re-installed the new RAM. When I fired up the PC I got one bleep during POST & then XP booted up okay. I then tried running a bunch of applications at once, played a game for half an hour or so & then ran Memtest86 for a couple of hours. No faults were found. Seems lik it does work after

Dogboy73 · 28 Oct 2011 at 09:31

Just using CPU-Z to check out my new RAM. I'm not sure what to make of what I'm seeing though. Does this look right for my new 2GB DDR3 RAM 1333Mhz :confused:

Dogboy73 · 28 Oct 2011 at 19:44

..... the memory is rated at 1333Mhz. So is what's showing in the screen grab above correct? :confused:

RJC · 28 Oct 2011 at 21:06

Your running at 800mhz, you will need to pop into the BIOS and manually setup the speed.

Dogboy73 · 28 Oct 2011 at 22:15

RJC said:
Your running at 800mhz, you will need to pop into the BIOS and manually setup the speed.

Ah ha! I thought it didn't look correct. Okay, what do I need to change in the BIOS?!

RJC · 28 Oct 2011 at 22:22

Dogboy73 said:
Ah ha! I thought it didn't look correct. Okay, what do I need to change in the BIOS?!

There will be a memory multiplier or ratio option which you manually change, I am not sure on the BIOS so cant say for sure.

Edit: Downloaded the manual, if you check page 49 the board uses a multiplier, you need to manually change this. (Located in "MB Intelligent Tweaker" off the front screen)

Dogboy73 · 28 Oct 2011 at 23:14

Many thanks, RJC. I'll look at this now.

Dogboy73 · 29 Oct 2011 at 12:16

I noticed that my BIOS was version F2. The latest version is F12! So I've just updated that. Bit unsure about the memory multiplier thing though. When I changed the settings here the memory Mhz changes - it usually goes down, stays the sam but never goes up. I was expecting to see it go up. The manual states that memory multiplier options are dependent on CPU FSB. So maybe my CPU just doesn't cut it to handle 1333Mhz RAM?