Do I have a memory problem?

[Rubber Bullets]

Err, right.

Where was I?

Oh yeah.

I have recently upgraded my PC, well a total rebuild really, but it is not quite performing as I would like.

The main thing that I noticed is that the video rendering I do doesn't seem appreciably faster than my old machine, a PIII 800MHz with crappy OEM motherboard etc.

Another irritating thing is that when I open my photo files, which I find usefull to view as thumbnails it takes up to a minute to render all the thumbnails, and even leaves some as generic file icons. Irritating but not earth shattering that one.

Also my 3D benchmark has fallen dramatically since first install. 8900 down to 7500, and that is with a slight increase from a move to 29.xx detonators.

I ran the sandra tune-up wizard and everything looked OK, except this warning: Large memory modules should be Registered/buffered.
and this note: Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.

I have no idea how to do this, mostly because I don't have any idea what it means.

I ran the memory bandwidth test, and although there didn't seem to be an exact match for my system the results did look worryingly low, about 2/3 of broadly similar, but lesser systems.

My machine spec is:

Athlon 1900XP
Abit KR7A-133 mobo (non Raid)
1x512Mb ddr ram
Leadtek GF4 ti4400 Graphics card. (BTW when I overclocked this slightly using the Leadtek software my 3D Mark score went down!)
40GB Maxtor HD 100
20Gb can't remember what HD
Hercules GameTheater XP soundcard.

Oh and WinXP Pro

Is there anything else I need to tell?

Any help very gratefully received.

s

 

[S-Gray]

would trying it (The memory) in another bank do anything?

 

[Embattle]

Don't worry about the memory report thing in Sadra, it states that to me as well.

Have you got the latest VIA 4-in-1?

 

[Testin da Cable]

um [it's late] have you checked that your ram's speed in bios is pci clock + host clock [just reaching here heh]

names may be different in your bios but you get my drift I'm sure

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Well I played around in the BIOS, and after a couple of attempts where my PC wouldn't boot I have made my 3DMark score jump back to 8500ish, which is a great start.

SG I think the ram is in the slot it is supposed to be in.

And Embs I am pretty sure my 4in1s are up to date but will check.

Thanks TdC, I think I caught your drift, though I was messing with things I don't really understand. I got lucky I guess!

s

 

[Embattle]

FSB might of been on 100Mhz when it should be on 133Mhz.

 

[Xavier]

would have an obvious affect on CPU speed tho too

 

[Rubber Bullets]

The FSB was correct, it was the CAS latency I changed to 2 as well as a couple of other settings in the same place (CAS RAS?)

Xavier, what might have caused the drop in 3DMark scores? The BIOS changes may have put the scores back up, but weren't the cause of the drop in the first place. If I could fix that I may be able to get a score closer to 10,000, which I feel the system should, just about, be capable of.

Thanks

s

 

[Embattle]

You could most probably nudge 9,500. BTW CAS 2 may cause instability unless your RAM is designed to run at CAS 2 instead of the normal 2.5.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Yeah, thanks Embs, I'm keeping an eye on it.

TBH it was not particularly good RAM, just cheap, so I know I won't get as much out of it as I could. It is rated at 2.5, though I have read that a lot of memory is able to run at 2 despite its rating.

I guess I'll find out.

9,500'd be just fine I really don't know enough about the tech side of computing to do it on my own, though.

s

 

[Testin da Cable]

glad things are looking up