Patriot DDR400 problems(?): MHz and commant rate

[brendanhinkle]

I just put my system together three weeks ago, and I might be experiencing some problems with my ram. Here's the deal:

CPU-Z correctly identifies my ram (Patriot "Extreme Performance" 2x1GB dual-channel kit, DDR400, CL2.0 at 2-3-2-5 1T), yet tells me that it's only operating at 200MHz. Patriot has it spec'ed at 400MHz. I've manually set my BIOS to 400MHz, and it still does this. Also, CPU-Z sometimes shows the command rate at 2T instead of 1T, and has listed the Tras at 11 clocks instead of 5.

I've checked powerflow and heat, I'm running latest BIOS, I've checked for new drivers. So far, none of this has yielded any results.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Here's my system:

Athlon64 X2 3800+
Abit AN8-SLi mobo
2x1GB Patriot "Extreme Performance" PC3200 Low-latency ram (2-3-2-5 1T)
Silverstone SST-ST50EF 500W psu (36A across the two +12V rails)
2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB SATA 3Gb/s hdds


Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[acidrain]

DDR 400 = 200 MHz

The DDR rating does not directly relate to the Mhz.

Your HT multiplier is 9.

9X200= 1.8gighz

Patriot makes great Memory and the low cas #,s on this memory are good for
AMD processor.

 

[brendanhinkle]

Oh, ok. Patriot's documentation lists it as "400MHz", which was the cause of my confusion.

Thanks for clarifying.

What about the random change in command rate? Is that just SOP that I need to accept? (Obviously, I'm pretty much a n00b.)

 

[acidrain]

It is 400 at "double rate" hence the name DDR.

I know it doesn't make alot of intuitive sense, you have to have followed the history of memory and bus rates to keep up with the logic(or lack thereof)

The Command rate reverts to default settings in the Bios if settings conflict.

Hence if you set the rate at 400, an overclock the memory and processor cannot handle, it reverts to default settings.

try leaving the MHz at 200 and then your cas rates should not change.

 

[acidrain]

ntune is a handy program that lets you change your setting inside window, once you find an overclock you find stable, you can make the change permanent in the bios.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/ntune_5.00.08.06.html