I went to my dealer for a 512 MB RAM upgrade yesterday, and to my surprise even the PC266 (PC2100) RAM modules from i.e. Kingston "ValueRAM" refuse to work with my mainboard or the first generation P4 2 GHz. It has been said that PC333 or PC400 should be backwards compatible (frequency-wise) and would work in PC266 slots when clocked at lower frequency, but that's not the case either with my mainboard. We've tested PC266 and PC333, but none of them work. When these chips were used, the well-known "wrong or missing system memory" sound began to ring after power-on. Maybe someone here knows what's going on.
My processor is a first generation Pentium 4 with 2 GHz (either P4-Northwood 2.0G or P4-Willamette 2.0G, I can't say for sure), and the mainboard is a relatively new Gigabyte GA-8PE800(-L) motherboard with an Intel 845PE chipset that supports PC266 and PC333 RAM modules and P4's up to 3 GHz. Supported FSB (Front Side Bus) speeds via BIOS settings are 400, 533 and 667 MHz. The BIOS on the mainboard is the latest version (F9) from 2004/3/1. Supported RAM sizes are as follows:
<b>Support of Unbuffered DDR DIMM Sizes (according to the GA-8PE800(-L) motherboard manual):
64 MBit (2Mx8x4 banks)
64 MBit (1Mx16x4 banks)
128 MBit (4Mx8x4 banks)
128 MBit (2Mx16x4 banks)
256 MBit (8Mx8x4 banks)
256 MBit (4Mx16x4 banks)
512 MBit (16Mx8x4 banks)
512 MBit (8Mx16x4 banks)
Total System Memory: 2 GB max.</b>
What I've figured out so far is the following: The first generation P4 2 GHz has only 400 MHz FSB (100 MHz Host clock) support which means - due to the limited capabilities of the Intel 845PE chipset - (official) support of 200 MHz and 266 MHz RAM frequencies. 333 MHz (or PC333 (PC2700) RAM support respectively) is supported <i>only</i> for P4 processors with 533 MHz FSB (133 MHz Host clock), which would be the 2nd or 3rd generation of the P4 2+ GHz CPU's. The old original 512 MB RAM chip that's currently installed in the computer is labeled as follows:
<b>Infineon 64Mx64 SDRAM (16 chips, 8 on each side)
PC2100U-20330-B1
512 MB, DDR, 133 MHz, CL2</b>
Now, this is "Double Data Rate" DDR-RAM (184 or 186 pin module respectively), so I assume that both the label "SDRAM" and "133 MHz" on the sticker of the RAM are somehow an old description (from the year 2002) but actually mean "PC266". But even when we've removed that old RAM chip and inserted i.e. a new Kingston PC266 (PC2100) 512 MB "ValueRAM" module, the system hangs at power-on with a ring tone. We've also tried all BIOS options available for the 400 MHz FSB ("Auto" (set Memory frequency by DRAM SPD data), "2.66" (Memory frequency = Host clock x 2.66), "2.0" (Memory frequency = Host clock x 2.0)).
Could it be that my P4 2 GHz is actually that old that it doesn't even support "PC266" modules of today, or that it will only work with chips like the Infineon above? Or are the PC266 modules being sold today de-rated PC333 modules which won't work with a 400 MHz FSB anyway? Is there any difference between the architectures of PC266 (PC2100) and PC333 (PC2700) modules? Do special older versions of PC266 exist which will work with the first generation P4 2 GHz CPU? Or do DDR memory size configurations matter (as listed above)? Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.
My processor is a first generation Pentium 4 with 2 GHz (either P4-Northwood 2.0G or P4-Willamette 2.0G, I can't say for sure), and the mainboard is a relatively new Gigabyte GA-8PE800(-L) motherboard with an Intel 845PE chipset that supports PC266 and PC333 RAM modules and P4's up to 3 GHz. Supported FSB (Front Side Bus) speeds via BIOS settings are 400, 533 and 667 MHz. The BIOS on the mainboard is the latest version (F9) from 2004/3/1. Supported RAM sizes are as follows:
<b>Support of Unbuffered DDR DIMM Sizes (according to the GA-8PE800(-L) motherboard manual):
64 MBit (2Mx8x4 banks)
64 MBit (1Mx16x4 banks)
128 MBit (4Mx8x4 banks)
128 MBit (2Mx16x4 banks)
256 MBit (8Mx8x4 banks)
256 MBit (4Mx16x4 banks)
512 MBit (16Mx8x4 banks)
512 MBit (8Mx16x4 banks)
Total System Memory: 2 GB max.</b>
What I've figured out so far is the following: The first generation P4 2 GHz has only 400 MHz FSB (100 MHz Host clock) support which means - due to the limited capabilities of the Intel 845PE chipset - (official) support of 200 MHz and 266 MHz RAM frequencies. 333 MHz (or PC333 (PC2700) RAM support respectively) is supported <i>only</i> for P4 processors with 533 MHz FSB (133 MHz Host clock), which would be the 2nd or 3rd generation of the P4 2+ GHz CPU's. The old original 512 MB RAM chip that's currently installed in the computer is labeled as follows:
<b>Infineon 64Mx64 SDRAM (16 chips, 8 on each side)
PC2100U-20330-B1
512 MB, DDR, 133 MHz, CL2</b>
Now, this is "Double Data Rate" DDR-RAM (184 or 186 pin module respectively), so I assume that both the label "SDRAM" and "133 MHz" on the sticker of the RAM are somehow an old description (from the year 2002) but actually mean "PC266". But even when we've removed that old RAM chip and inserted i.e. a new Kingston PC266 (PC2100) 512 MB "ValueRAM" module, the system hangs at power-on with a ring tone. We've also tried all BIOS options available for the 400 MHz FSB ("Auto" (set Memory frequency by DRAM SPD data), "2.66" (Memory frequency = Host clock x 2.66), "2.0" (Memory frequency = Host clock x 2.0)).
Could it be that my P4 2 GHz is actually that old that it doesn't even support "PC266" modules of today, or that it will only work with chips like the Infineon above? Or are the PC266 modules being sold today de-rated PC333 modules which won't work with a 400 MHz FSB anyway? Is there any difference between the architectures of PC266 (PC2100) and PC333 (PC2700) modules? Do special older versions of PC266 exist which will work with the first generation P4 2 GHz CPU? Or do DDR memory size configurations matter (as listed above)? Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram