RAM Upgrade: SDRAM PC100 or PC133 and FSB100MHZ or 200MHz

[pechenegs]

pechenegs (MIS) Nov 28, 2003
Hi all, it's been suggested from another post that I should start another post pertaining to SDRAM PC133 and what type of RAM do I actually have? Anyway, perhaps I should cut and paste from the last thread to start the ball rolling. what I ultimately want to know is do I have SDRAM PC 133 FSB 200 or FSB 100?Firstly thx to Cdogg and Freestone for their suggestions on this and to Syar for his help!!!This is what I initially posted as to my specs, and what I found using software tools like belarc and AIDA. My appreciation is extended to all who helped-participated too the last post and those who suggested this post!hi all, I don't mean to hijack someone elses post. I have a msi 6340 km133 socket A, 256 ram and 850 mhz duron. I know I have sdram, but I used the belarc tool and it said I had 100 bus mhz. However, I dowloaded the msi manual and it says the bus speed is 100/133, so I take it I can use sdram pc133? I'm still not sure which ram I have as it doesn't say in belarc.thx in advance


pechenegs (MIS) Nov 28, 2003
hi all, I don't mean to hijack someone elses post. I have a msi 6340 km133 socket A, 256 ram and 850 mhz duron. I know I have sdram, but I used the belarc tool and it said I had 100 bus mhz. However, I dowloaded the msi manual and it says the bus speed is 100/133, so I take it I can use sdram pc133? I'm still not sure which ram I have as it doesn't say in belarc.thx in advance


SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) Nov 28, 2003
Yes you can use 133mhz ram .Forget about belarc .Goto

http://www.crucial.comtype

in your mb name and it states the ram compatiblefor you .
pechenegs (MIS) Nov 28, 2003
Syar, I downloaded the aida programme, nice piece of software, told me a lot more about my system and yes it is sdram pc133. Txx to kim leece for this excellent software tool! So, do you think my computer is set to 100 or 133, as belarc seems to be misinforming? and if so, I just do into the BIOS and set it to 133?thx for the reply Syar
SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) Nov 28, 2003
If you mean the front speed bus (FSB)You have to check the cpu also.It may be a 100mhz cpu and thats the reason thesystem(and mem with it) is clocked at 100mhz .Check what processor info AIDA gives about the cpu.You can also use WCPUID program to identify it.(But i think AIDA will do)

http://www.3dcenter.de/downloads/wcpuid.php

Freestone (MIS) Nov 28, 2003
A Duron 850 MHz has a 100 MHz FSB


pechenegs (MIS) Nov 28, 2003
Syar, I checked the MSI manual it says; clock generator: 100/133 mhz are supported ( 200-266mhz internal system bus). Chipset: VIA KM133 VT8365/KM133A VT8365Achipset. (552BGA)-FSB@200MHz/266MHz-AGP 4x and PCI advanced high performance memory controller- support PC100/133 SDRAM, & VCM technology.I couldn't see anything pertaining to bus speeds in aida.Ah, wait, Front Side Bus is: Real clock 100MHZeffective clock 200MHZ also, Memory bus properties:Real clock 100MHZeffective clock 100MHZ from aidathx pech


SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) Nov 28, 2003
pechYou don't have "sdram" but DDR200 = PC1600 1.6GB/sec rating .DDR200 is set at 100mhz and since its dual speedit's doubled by the chipset on your mb.100mhz * 2 ~ 200mhz .DDR 1600 / 2100 / 2700 / 3200 What do all the numbers mean? DDR memory chips are commonly referred to by how much data they can transfer. A PC1600 memory module uses DDR200 chips and can deliver bandwidth of 1600MB/second. PC2100 uses DDR266 memory chips, resulting in 2100MB/second of bandwidth. PC2700 module uses DDR333 chips to deliver 2700MB/second of bandwidth. And PC3200 uses DDR400 chips to deliver 3200MB/sec of bandwidth. To summarize : DDR200 = PC1600 1.6GB/secDDR266 = PC2100 2.1GB/secDDR333 = PC2700 2.7GB/secDDR370 = PC3000 3.0GB/secDDR400 = PC3200 3.2GB/secDDR433 = PC3500 3.5GB/secDDR466 = PC3700 3.7GB/secNow we respect cdoooogggs hintand makes new post to address other issues .Leaving this one since it's beeing clogged.


Freestone (MIS) Nov 28, 2003
Sorry to diagree, but pechenegs does not have DDR memory. DDR support wasn't introduced until the KT266 chipset was released by VIA. His board has the KT133 chipset.Refer to VIA's site:

http://www.via.com.tw/en/apollo/kt133.jsp133MHz

Memory Bus Maximizes the performance of AMD Athlon™ processor-based PC systems at minimal extra cost through support for high-speed PC133 SDRAM and Virtual Channel RAM. 200MHz Front Side Bus Settings Optimizes the performance of the AMD Athlon™ processor, delivering twice the throughput of 100MHz Pentium III based systems
Freestone (MIS) Nov 28, 2003


Oops, the board in question has the KM133 chipset, but it has the same basic architecture as the KT133, i.e. the FSB and Memory Bus are two different entities and clocked at different speeds.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/ProSavage Chipsets/km133.jsp

 

[TheGoatMan]

You should really look into DDR. The difference is huge. And with ram prices the way they are you could sell yours for the same price as it would cost for DDR. Look into it.

 

[pechenegs]

why goatman, I have sdram, wouldn't DDR be incompatible?

 

[Freestone]

pechenegs,

The FSB in your chipset is 200MHz. Your Duron chip is being clocked at 100 MHz, which is being doubled internally in the chipset to achieve the 200 MHz FSB.

The FSB speed is irrelevent to your memory speed. Your board supports PC66, PC100, PC133 memory. DDR memory is not compatible as this chipset won't support it, and it won't physically fit in the sockets anyway.

I thought the following post from one of the other threads you created summed it up pretty well:

----------------------------------------------------------

braddds (TechnicalUser) Nov 28, 2003
Well according to your own findings you have 256 pc/100 ram and to the links provided by others in your thread the motherboard supports:

• Supports four memory banks using two 168-pin unbuffered DIMM.
• Supports a maximum memory size of 1GB (32M x 8).
• Supports 3.3v SDRAM DIMM.
- Supports PC100/133 SDRAM, & VCM technology

This is from the MSI site concerning your motherboard.

To sum up you have pc/100 ram. 256 mb to be exact and you can add another 768 mb for a total of 1 gb ram pc/100 or 133...your choice. However getting pc/100 ram maybe hard to find. Also if you want to get the full 1 gb of ram you'll have to abandon your 256 mb ram chip and get two (2) 512 mb ram chips as you only have two (2) slots for ram. Otherwise you can just add one more chip 128, 256 or 512 mb ram chip to the open slot on the motherboard. Even if it your old ram is pc/100 and your new ram is pc/133 it should still work only the new ram will operate at 100 and not 133...not a big deal.

Hope this clears it up for you!
Cheers

----------------------------------------------------------

A question I suppose you should be asking too is what are you looking to achieve with this memory upgrade? You will see mimimal speed increase going from 256MB to 512MB or even 1GB. You'll get more bang for your buck by upgrading to a newer motherboard with DDR memory.

 

[cdogg]

Freestone is pretty much right on the money. However, I would not immediately jump to the conclusion that you have PC100 SDRAM. Nothing that's been reported so far has indicated this to be a fact.

You've reported the FSB being 100MHz, but like Freestone said, it doesn't necessarily mean that your memory bus is operating at the same frequency. What you need to do is go into your BIOS settings at startup and check what information it has listed for the memory. It should say PC100 or PC133.

If in fact you do have PC100, I would recommend going out on EBAY or

http://www.pricewatch.com

to find a cheap 256MB stick of PC133. It can easily make a noticeable difference. Just remember that if you want it to run at 133MHz, you need to get rid of the PC100 stick. Finally, how much memory to get depends on your operating system. If it's Windows 95/98/ME, then there's no need to go any higher than 256MB. If it's 2000 or XP, then definitely make sure you grab 512MB.

Of course, the best alternative is to replace the motherboard with one that supports DDR. You can always upgrade the CPU later...


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[TheGoatMan]

I meant getting a new board too.

 

[pechenegs]

ok guys thx for your replys and input I am duel booting linux mandrake and Xp pro, so I am thinking about doubling the RAM to 512. I can get pc100 easy, a shop near me still sells it. I will go into the BIOS later and see if its pc100 or 133, me thinks it is pc133 but maybe the FSB is set at 100MHz is this right?

Anyway, thx to all who have contributed to this post!

cheers pech

 

[SYAR2003]

Pc133 has no trouble running at 100mhz if the mobo
accepts the memory .
It's the other way around that don't work
(pc100 is not capable of running with 133mhz speed).

 

[Freestone]

In BIOS, the Advanced Chipset Features is where you select the clock for your memory

DRAM Clock
The chipset support synchronous and asynchronous mode between the host clock and DIMM clock.
[ul][li]Host CLK (default) DIMM clock equal to host clock[/li]
[li]Host CLK-133 DIMM clock equal to 133MHz[/li][ul]

 

[SYAR2003]

Here is a listing of compatible memory chips for your mobo.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listpa...at=RAM&model=MS-6340+(KM133M+Pro-A)&submit=Go

 

[cdogg]

And just to help explain Freestone's last post in more detail...

FSB stands for frontside bus, as I'm sure you're already aware of. It is the path between the CPU and the chipset, nothing more. Memory is not connected directly to the CPU. Instead, it also has a path that leads to the chipset, which is a separate data bus altogether. Its speed can either be the same as the frontside bus (synchronous), or it can be different (asynchronous). That's pretty much what Freestone already mentioned.

Again, the bottom line is that you can tell nothing about your memory by looking only at the FSB. There should be a description of the "memory" bus or clock frequency somewhere in the BIOS.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[pechenegs]

ok, i looked in bIOS and i can't see anything pertaining to 100/133 MHZ, on boot up it says SDRAm. Where in the BIOS should I be looking? I have looked everywhere?

 

[Freestone]

All the manuals I've downloaded for a MSI 6340 board with a KM133 chipset show the RAM frequency setting in BIOS where I described earlier:

Advanced Chipset Features section, DRAM Clock setting:

Host CLK (default) DIMM clock equal to host clock
Host CLK+33M DIMM clock equal to 133MHz

 

[pechenegs]

ok, I checked Freestone and it's 33 so it's SDRAM pc133 after all.

thx