Problems with AMD Cool and Quiet

Have you tried disabling cool and quiet and having your ram at 400mhz? How does it run then? Do you really have a need for cool and quiet? oOr do you just use it because its there? My personal thought is that its a feature that isnt a bad concept, but i have no use for it because my temps are good and system noise isnt too bad. Its personal preference but i say that if your system runs stable with C 'n' Q OFF and ram @ 400mhz then do it.

After pondering over the situation, I have come to realize that the timing on my memory is different. I am wondering if when cool and quiet kicks in, the memory has a problem adjusting. I have no problem running at full speed, just when it starts adjusting. I never should have baught cheap ram at two seperate times. Lesson learned.

Thats why they sell matched ram modules. I suspect that your problems may go beyond cool and quiet, and that your unmatched ram modules may be "barely getting by" at 400.

C&Q lowers voltages on the cpu (and I assume that means the memory controller too), and it's probably less forgiving. Most people that OC turn of C&Q, but especially don't run C&Q if you overvolt your memory. When the CPU volts down, there is a potential of actual damage to the mem controller on the chip when DIMM voltage is over 2.9 volts.

I leave my machine on 24x7 and I like the idea of it clocking down, producing less heat, but mostly using less energy. Maybe you should run some benchmarks and see if your memory really runs better at 400 than 333. Sometimes the real results don't justify the anguish of the higher specs.

Have you installed the AMD processor driver for Windows XP (avail from the AMD website)? I run CnQ at home for energy saving purposes and from what I gather, there are 3 steps to make CnQ work correctly:

1) Enable CnQ in the BIOS ( and the latest non-beta bios for your mobo is prolly a good idea too)
2) Download + install the AMD processor driver for WinXP
3) Under Power management control panel, select "minimal power management"

If all these are done and you still can only run CnQ at 333MHz -- is it possible that your mobo is defective, and rather then just decreasing the voltage to the cpu it is reducing the voltage to the RAM too?? Use a voltage monitoring program when you run the CnQ and make sure this isn't happening..or if it is, maybe a BIOS update will help.

Judging by the problem i would say the motherboard is defective or hasa strange bug. You did upgrade to the latest bios right? Then double checked all settings? You could try stock settings to see if that helps. If you have a buddy who has some ram you can borrow, you could very well have defective ram. You just have to do the process of elimination. It is also possible one of the ram slots in the mb is not working correctly, take out the ram and reinsert it in different slots. Also if dual channel is enabled that could be a problem.