help a noob in distress

[Tom]

Wrong forum, but I might get more responses here:

I'm set on this motherboard, I need help choosing the RAM.

I will choose from this lot, I understand that having 2 x 256MB is better than 1 x 512MB (at pc3200), so what is the difference between the cheaper ones listed there (Corsair), and the more expensive ones?

I'm a cheapskate right now, due to taxman looming large in 3-4 months.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Well there are lots of differant versions of memory from each brand. In this case corsair.

The Corsair XMS is the stuff you find at www.overclockers.co.uk and most other places. This is the high performance stuff and as such is more expensive.

 

[kameleon]

I'm assuming you mean the twin x stuff?

The difference is that the two modules come from the same process and have been tested all through the process as a pair. They are guaranteed to work pairfectly as a pair for twinbank purposes.

The price on the other dimms will depend on the latency of the ram and other factors too, such as materials used for the heatsink etc.

The ones marked ECC are for use in servers as they have extra chip(S) on them for error checking. These generally woont work on normal motherboards.

For general purposes and with the CPU you intend to use the standard Corsair modules will suit you fine.

 

[Rubric]

On another note. Sorry to move a little off topic. If you make sure you have the uptodate bios you can have 400fsb.

 

[Tom]

I was just wondering what the most all-round cost effective solution was to getting some RAM.

For instance:

Corsair XMS 256Mb DDR 400MHz PC3200 Cas 2 - with Heat Spreader £46.50

Corsair Value Select 256Mb DDR PC3200 £29.75

Whats the difference?

 

[Deadmanwalking]

In you case i would go for the value stuff.

As you don't have a high end chip and i assume you arn't going to be overclocking it.

 

[Tom]

Thx Deadman, what is the difference between the two? Is it just a case of one being more reliable than the other? What difference am I likely to see between the two in terms of performance and reliability?

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Well to make it simple, the reliability i doubt will be a problem. In term sof performance. The XMS stuff is low latency and as i said earlier is good for overclocking your FSB.

With your CPU i wouldn't worry to much about the performance stuff. Unless of course you are planning an upgrade later on in which case you could purchase the memory now and improve the CPU later.

 

[Tom]

Ok, the cheapo stuff it is then

 

[Xavier]

Personally I'd go for the CAS2, moving from CAS2.5/3 down to CAS2 is better than a couple of hundred Mhz additional horsepower in a lot of cases.

 

[Tom]

*takes aspirin*

 

[Deadmanwalking]

I don't think tom is going to be needing the expensive stuuf to be perfectly honest. Saying that if you can afford it i would get it, as it would give a performance increase.. but depends on your cash flow/requirments.

You could also go for some matched pair stuff to get some duel channel goodness going.

 

[kameleon]

they dont have to be matched pairs two of those cheapo ones will work

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Cheap stuff it is then tom i think

 

[Xavier]

Originally posted by Deadmanwalking
You could also go for some matched pair stuff to get some duel channel goodness going.

That's actually a bit of a myth, to run at its native speed unmatched memories of similar specs are fine, it's only when you're overclocking or tweaking that it's better to have two DIMMs of a known matched tolerance so that you can push them both to the same extent.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Oooh you learn something new every day

 

[Jonaldo]

get the best shit you can afford, that way you don't have to worry about having cheap shit later on when it comes to bragging rights

 

[throdgrain]

I did this fairly recently Tom, and was advised against the corsair memory for exactly the reasons stated here, its only useful if you're going to overclock, which I wasnt.
I bought 2 512 DDR Samsung sticks of RAM, and they have been 100% reliable and improved a lot of games considerably.
For the mobo I bought a AOpen AK79D -400 Max which will run 400fsb no problem, even though my memory and chip (XP2600+) are 333 at the moment, because next time I upgrade, when the XP3000+ loses a bit of price, it will drop straight into the board no problems.

 

[Gumbo]

It's all from the same factory anyway, the only difference is the stickers and the price

 

[Tom]

Fookin 'ell, remind me never to upgrade again. Next time, I'm paying someone to do it.

First off, I put it all together, and boot it up. Windows goes bonkers, and I realise I can't fix it. Then the CPU overheats (wrong hs/fan). So I take it around to my Dad's, and we get windows sorted, and a bigger hs/fan.

Then the real fun starts. I can't get the CPU to run at 1.8GHz (athlon 2200). It insists on running at 1.35GHz. Anytime I try and correct it, the post tells me that their is a memory error. So I take it back home, and connect it to my NTL box. NTL doesn't recognise the computer. Phone tech support, they refuse to help me unless I have the computer patched for viruses etc (remember, its a new install of windows over the old one so theyve all gone). Drive back to my Dad's, get the files, check it over (its clean duh), then they reconnect me.

Now I've gotta figure out this memory business.


Athlon 2200 XP running at 1.8Ghz
2x 256MB Corsair RAM PC3200

The bios should be 133MHz external speed, 13.5x multiplier

What should the memory settings be? What frequency? Thanks if you can help me.

 

[kameleon]

memory settings should be 200 mhz

there may be a setting for the Ram in bios that gives you the option "by speed or by spd"

 

[Tom]

Thx, the memory is running at 200 (or rather 400), but I still can't get the CPU up to 1.8GHz.

 

[kameleon]

Check the revision of the board and get the latest bios update for it Tom, I checked out that while all revisions of the board support the XP2000+ only those from 1.4 onwards support the 2200+ straight away.

I'd suggest trying the Bios auto update software that comes with the board.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by kameleon
Check the revision of the board and get the latest bios update for it Tom, I checked out that while all revisions of the board support the XP2000+ only those from 1.4 onwards support the 2200+ straight away.

I'd suggest trying the Bios auto update software that comes with the board.

Been there done that

 

[kameleon]

ok have you tried manually setting the FSB to 133 and the multiplier to 13.5?

 

[kameleon]

instead of 100 mhz like you have

 

[Tom]

Yes, and some silly american woman's voice tells me that the memory failed, whereupon the system reboots and defaults back to 100MHz external clock

 

[kameleon]

hmm
which slots have you got the memory in?


for dual channel it should be in slots 1 and 3 or 2 and 3

for single channel it should be in slots 1 and 2

 

[Tom]

1 and 3. Dual channel mode is fine, memory is running at the correct speed, just not the processor.

I'm thinking that the CPU is 2200, and the memory is a bit overkill for that CPU (PC3200), and therefore the memory needs 'slowing down' a bit so it can work with the CPU running at it's correct speed.

Figuring out how to do that is what is causing me headaches.

 

[kameleon]

It should be fine with pc 3200. Which memory did you get in the end? And try running it in single chanel mode.