# memory speed puzzle



## broomas (Nov 8, 2008)

Hi, it's not overclocking I suppose but near as dammit. My ECS motherboard clearly states that it supports DDR400 (I know it's low but it's all i've got...)
but my memory (pc2700 1gb, pc3200 1gb) is running at 333mhz. Checking diagnostics it says the FSB is 400mhz. The RAM timings are set at 166.7 but when I change this in the BIOS to 200mhz it reverts back as soon as I boot up.
I can't think of anything else, I have checked the RAM using one stick at a time in different banks but only shows 333mhz even for pc3200.
Any ideas?


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## jobob1 (Jan 15, 2009)

PC 2700 is 333 mhz ram. Your ram speed will always revert to the lower speed ram.


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## broomas (Nov 8, 2008)

Cheers Jobob, that was my initial thought and I had actually ordered some more pc3200 but like I said I tried both sticks independently and they both showed 333mhz. Also CPUZ shows both sticks to be capable of running at 400mhz which is why I haven't replaced the pc2700 (£30 a time...)
I'm still suspicious though and may buy some pc3200 as long as I can return if no change. OK, looking round it looks like pc2700 IS 333mhz....Doh!
Thanks.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

cpu-z says 400MHz then its actually 800Mhz cpu-z show the speed of the ram you have to x 2 to know the real speed so if it says 400Mhz then its 800Mhz.

If you look in your bios and it shows wrong then either the ram isn't compatible with the board or its a board that defaults to a certain speed and it requires you to manually change the speed. For example my asus rampage formula defaults ram to 800Mhz even though it can take ram upto 1333Mhz and 2000MHz by overclocking

When I put my 1066Mhz it only showed up as 800MHz I had to manually change the dram setting in the BIOS your motherboard manual will tell you if you are required to do this.


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## broomas (Nov 8, 2008)

Problem sorted. Although I bought a new stick of pc3200 I needn't have bothered because I noticed in cpuz that the clock speeds depended on the DRAM speed which depended on the CPU speed which depended on the VOLTAGE!
I notched up the voltage in the BIOS which has bumped up the cpu speed and then when I adjusted the DRAM clock the memory ran faster. Simple!
I also noticed that the DRAM speed is not yet at 200mhz, I would have to max the cpu to achieve the rated 'top speed' of the memory. 188 mhz will have to do....
All in all a success as I now have an extra 200mhz on my cpu as well as the memory boost.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you shouldn't have had to do any of that if the ram was totally 100% compatible with your board.

Some motherboards default at 800MHz even though they can take higher speed ram and you just change the dram speed you dont have to change the voltage or fsb.


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## broomas (Nov 8, 2008)

Hi Greenbrucelee, My mobo surely is '100% compatible' with the RAM or it wouldn't be shipped with the options in the BIOS.
The manual says it can run at 400mhz which it can, the only limitations are in the settings and the socket type (Athlon 3400 is the 'fastest' cpu for the socket).
It may not be the default speed but that is simply to ensure that the pc is cool, stable and reliable.


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