BIOS reads 400Mhz ram at 333

[voltar]

I have a Gigabyte GA8NS-939 with Athlon 64 3000+
I have 2 GB of ram Corsair 1gb 400 and 2 Kingston 512s 400
My BIOS sees that The RAM is only runnin 333 and only detects 1.5 GB

Yet all sticks work like a charm seperatly, I pull 1gb out i still got 1gb left i pull both 512s out I got 1 GB anyway. So somehow its missing half a gig of ram and BIOS only shows 333.

Can anyone help?

 

[KevinADC]

I couldn't find that motherboard listed on the gigabyte website. Do you have the manual? Does it support the speed of the ram you have and the amount of RAM?

 

[voltar]

im 100% sure my mobo takes 400MhZ up to 4 GB

And sorry the mobo is GA-K8NS-939

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-K8NS-939.htm

 

[paparazi]

Page 15 of the PDF manual shows memory configurations that cause a non boot but in my experience incorrect reading can also be a symptom of harware incompatibility/conflicts
Some motherboards are just so fussy with memory type/make/speed, it doesn't suprise me that you present this issue.
I suppose the only advice I could give is to see if your supplier can swap what you have with a differant make/type or perhaps a friend wouldn't mind changing like for like

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Download...st/Manual/manual_k8ns-939(k8ns pro-939)_e.pdf

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[BadBigBen]

Type: Dual channel DDR400/ 333/ 266 -184pin"

You may need to get that 1gb Corsair Ram exchanged for two 512mb, or get another 1gb Corsair...

about the Speed, is in the BIOS a setting for AUTO and/or BY SPD? or can you set it yourself? usually the RAM Speed is syncronous to the FSB setting...


Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[jayjaykay]

badbigben has hit the nail on the head, this mobo needs to have balanced ram, especially if you have set the board up up to use ram interleaving, it never likes unbalanced values.

I had a clietn try and do this very thing.

Either use all 512 or 1gig

Jim

 

[cdogg]

As some of the others have touched on, it's not just about the speed 400MHz. Every stick of RAM has several "timing" categories associated with it. The most popular is CAS Latency, abbreviated CL, but there are several others. Usually you see it written as something like 2-3-3-6, where the first number is CL.

Because there are so many combinations, it's not usually a good idea to mix brands, or even different models of the same brand. Just because you have Corsair for example, doesn't mean buying any other stick of Corsair is going to fix it. Only one with compatible or equal timings is going to work.

In theory, you shouldn't have to worry about the timings. The motherbaord is supposed to automatically adjust to the slowest timings that are common among all sticks. So, I'm not sure why it's lowering the speed to 333MHz, other than the fact that the motherboard is having a hard time finding a setting that is compatible with all sticks.

Remember, the Athlon 64 939-pin chipset uses Hypertransport and runs DDR in dual-channel. Because of this, it is even more important that each stick of RAM have similar timings if not exactly the same.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[voltar]

Ok well in my BIOS all the items are set to auto if I put it in Manual alot of timings and speeds can be changed except for the 333 RAM speed. However I noticed that if I raise CPU clock speed from 200 to like 242 my RAM speed also goes up to 400mhz. However I am a bit nervous about overclocking my CPU like that.

 

[cdogg]

Yeah, avoid doing that! It can damage more than just your CPU.

You said everything is fine when each stick is running by itself. Does that mean the BIOS shows it at 400MHz? Does it only drop to 333MHz when you make any combination of sticks?

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[voltar]

No no 333 MHZ is always actually

 

[kmcferrin]

If your board is socket 939 then that means your CPU has a dual-channel memory controller. Memory must be added in pairs (preferably matched), 1 stick in each channel. Havnig an odd numbers of modules means that you didn't add them in pairs. My suggestions:

1. Get another 1GB Corsair stick to take you to 3GB. Make sure that the first memory slot for each channel has the same size memory in it, and the same for the second slot for each channel.

2. Trade that 1 GB Corsair for a pair of 512 MB Kingston. It is always advisable to use the same memory modules all around, so that you know you have the same speed, timings, etc.

I don't know about your board specifically, but I do know that some boards will revert back to 333 MHz memory if you fill all of the memory sockets, but will run just fine at 400 MHz with only 1 or 2 sockets filled. This is a design limitation on some systems to prevent issues with the higher speed signalling.

 

[cdogg]

kmcferrin,

I know it's not clear in the first post, but if you look closely, you'll see that he in fact has 4 memory modules - two 1GB modules of Corsair, and two 512MB modules of Kingston.

Also, it is not always true that Dual-Channel must be in pairs only. There are some boards out there that can do dual channel using 3 sticks. But this board, after looking at the manual, can only run in Dual-Channel using 2 or 4 sticks as you suggested.


voltar,
You should have enough information now to show that there is either a compatibility problem with the 4 sticks you are using, or there is a setting issue in your BIOS.

Since you said everything is set to AUTO, then we can pretty much assume that the problem is with the RAM. kmcferrin brought up a good point here. If your Corsair sticks are exactly identical, then look at page 15 of your manual and try different configurations with only those 2 sticks. Leave the Kingston sticks out of the system for now.

Assuming they're identical you should be able to get them to work at their rated speed of 400MHz.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[voltar]

All sounds very depressing... I can't trade in any of my sticks final purcahses ya know...

 

[voltar]

Actually I only gbot 3 sticks

2x512 Kingston
1x1024 Corsair

I meant 2 gb total sorry for the confusion

 

[BadBigBen]

@Voltar it was clear to me... you stated 2gb and 1gb Corsair and 2 512mb Kingston.... or did you not...

sorry, but the information given too you by Members CDogg and KmcFerrin pretty much covers what I would have said... and even more...


Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[voltar]

Ok wellt thanks alot guys

I have to the conclusion that I am scarewed for now. Until I can get my ram to match.

 

[cdogg]

voltar,

Yeah, sorry for that. Instead of going with my suggestion using the Corsair RAM since you only have one stick, do it with the Kingstons that you have. I'm assuming that both sticks you are using are the same. If so, then the test should work. Just read pg 15 in your manual to make sure you have them in the right slots. Leave the Corsair stick out of the system while you test it.

If it does work, then I would imagine that kmcferrin's original suggestion to purchase a matching Corsair stick should be the fix you were looking for. Remember, your system only properly works with 2 or 4 memory sticks according to the manual.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884