So I've just bought some RAM..... (problem)

whitelight1985

whitelight1985

whitelight1985

Associate
Joined
22 Dec 2012
Posts
19
Hi there,

So I've just bought 4GB of DDR2 RAM..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-039-KS

..but I'm afraid that I'm a bit of a NOOB at this and just hoped that I could plug it in and that'd be it. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case.

The good news is that in windows control panel it is accepting that I now have 4GB of RAM so there is nothing wrong with it. The problem is that whenever I now load the computer up, at the start up BIOS screen, my 'memory clock' is running at 800MHz instead of the 1067MHz that the RAM should be (Though my FSB clock is at that??)and the timings are 5-5-5-18 instead of 5-5-5-15... it also states:

"Warning! Now system is in safe mode - please reset CPU or memory Frequency in the CMOS setup"

So I now have to press F1 to get into windows which isnt right plus my computer does a god-awful beep now before it starts. I have tried to rectify the situation in BIOS by selecting 'Advanced Chipset Features' -> 'FSB and Memory config' and changing the 'MEM (DRR)' to 1066 instead of 800, but even though I've done this it still classes the 'current value' as 800MHZ?? (Though the 'actual MEM' value states 1066.2Mhz, and that "The 'actual MEM' reflects the actual frequency that will take effect on a reboot"

The same goes for the memory timings, that though I've changed them to 5-5-5-15 the 'current value' still reads 5-5-5-18. The 'advanced memory settings' for example tRRD and tRC read 3,23,5,9 and 7.8uS but I have no idea what these numbers are supposed to relate to so have let them be.

The other thing I've changed is the voltage to 2.1v as it is specified by the manufacturer and this is now green whereas before it was red so I'm guessing that's all good.

So basically I'm not sure what's wrong, I've changed all of the parameters to what they should technically be but it doesnt seem to be applying the changes even though I save them before I leave BIOS. My MOBO is an nForce 680i if that information helps and I'm running windows vista.

Any help anyone could give would be grand and anything I could do within windows would be best, as stated I fear I'm crap at navigating the BIOS screens!

Cheers all!
 
Further to this I've had a play around with the MEM Mhz and reset it to 800MHz which resolves all of the above boot-up problems and annoying bleeps. It has also changed the timings to their correct 5-5-5-15 which is great. However, it has changed the FSB clock to 1333MHz instead of the previous 1666MHz that it was (I'm guessing there's a relationship between the two). I'm happy to keep these settings but am I getting my full performance out of the RAM considering they should be running at 1666MHz and not just 800MHz??

Thanks.
 
Hi there, I shall check for an update but my old RAM ran at these settings so I didnt consider that to be an issue.

You're right, it IS 1066, my mistake. I've currently got it running at 1000Mhz at 5-5-5-15 but I fear thats the closest I can get without causing instability issues.

Interestingly, even though I've achieved this speed in BIOS, I ran 3d mark 11 last night and in the report at the end it stated that I was running 4Gb of RAM with each at 400MHz.. any idea why that would state a different speed?
 
So I've downloaded CPU-Z, it says that its running at about 500MHZ at 5-5-5-15... since its dual does that equate to the 1000MHz that BIOS states?

Thats under the 'memory' tab.. and 'DRAM Frequency', in the 'SPD' tab it states the max bandwidth as 400MHz.... which makes me think that I've inadvertently overclocked it?
 
Last edited:
Since its dual data rate (ddr) it is indeed running at 1000mhz.

The spd tab displays the ram's programmed settings that the bios reads. These are designed to make sure that at stock auto settings the bios sets the correct timings/mhz.

What options does the bios give you for ram speed, can you select a specific ram speed or a ratio where the ram speed is linked to fsb?
 
Ignore what it says in the Max Bandwidth field.

Effectively Kingston overclocked them for you. At 500MHz you're still a bit short of their rated speed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom