RAM slowing down loading?

Kuji

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May 12, 2007
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I've got a MSI KT6V-LSR (MS-7021) (2003) motherboard, max RAM allowed is 2GBs, so I go out and upgrade from 512 to 2GBs ( Patriot Signature 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) )

I check the motherboard manual and it says it supports this type of RAM ( http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=567&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no= ). But when I installed it the PC loads slower. Once I get into my windows account everything is fine, but loading windows and etc is a lot slower than it was when I had the 512 in by itself.

Is the RAM 'too much' for this motherboard to handle? Is it not compatible? (Don't really see how it wouldn't be since it technically works fine, just loads windows slower). I can't figure out what the issue is, and CPU-Z says everything matches what my motherboard can handle.

I have everything in BIOS set to auto when it comes to the latency timers and what not, so.. should I go in and change the settings manually?
 

Kuji

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May 12, 2007
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So I take it from the lack of responses this question has been asked way too much and there's already an answer floating about on these forums?
 
I've got a MSI KT6V-LSR (MS-7021) (2003) motherboard, max RAM allowed is 2GBs, so I go out and upgrade from 512 to 2GBs ( Patriot Signature 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) )

I check the motherboard manual and it says it supports this type of RAM ( http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=567&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no= ). But when I installed it the PC loads slower. Once I get into my windows account everything is fine, but loading windows and etc is a lot slower than it was when I had the 512 in by itself.

Is the RAM 'too much' for this motherboard to handle? Is it not compatible? (Don't really see how it wouldn't be since it technically works fine, just loads windows slower). I can't figure out what the issue is, and CPU-Z says everything matches what my motherboard can handle.

I have everything in BIOS set to auto when it comes to the latency timers and what not, so.. should I go in and change the settings manually?

I have everything in BIOS set to auto when it comes to the latency timers and what not, so.. should I go in and change the settings manually?

With the memory frequency and timings set to auto the MB has probably defaulted the new 2 GBs of memory to something slower than 400 mhz. I would think the new RAM is running at 333 mhz. and SPID timings like 3 CAS Latency which would be slower than 400 mhz. at say 2 CAS LAT. Manually adjusting the RAM frequency and timings is your option. You could cause the system to fail to boot using manual settings on that board. be sure you are familiar with resetting your CMOS jumper.
 

Kuji

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Well I changed the frequency in BIOS manually, things seem to be a bit faster now. But loading windows still takes longer than usual. It's progress though! I guess I'll figure this out with trial and error tactics since I don't know a whole lot about 'overlocking' RAM and what not.

One other question though, I read through the FAQ and came up with the chart for my type of RAM - DDR-400 = PC-3200 (200MHz @ CL=3, tRCD=3, tRP=3, or 3-4-4) - Since I don't know a whole lot about changing my RAM in BIOS I took a picture of the DRAM Timing Control options so hopefully someone could tell me which options I should change to get it to 3-4-4 and which ones I should leave alone.

P1010110.jpg
 
Well I changed the frequency in BIOS manually, things seem to be a bit faster now. But loading windows still takes longer than usual. It's progress though! I guess I'll figure this out with trial and error tactics since I don't know a whole lot about 'overlocking' RAM and what not.

One other question though, I read through the FAQ and came up with the chart for my type of RAM - DDR-400 = PC-3200 (200MHz @ CL=3, tRCD=3, tRP=3, or 3-4-4) - Since I don't know a whole lot about changing my RAM in BIOS I took a picture of the DRAM Timing Control options so hopefully someone could tell me which options I should change to get it to 3-4-4 and which ones I should leave alone.

P1010110.jpg

Sorry, my mistake. Does the RAM frequency say 400 mhz. or 100 mhz. My eyes are starting to go!
 

Mondoman

Splendid
The other thing to think about is that with 2GB of RAM, Windows has more room to load stuff into RAM at startup. It's not like Win will be using only the less-than-512MB that it used when you only had 512MB installed. It will, of course, take extra time to load the extra data/programs into RAM at startup time.
 

Kuji

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May 12, 2007
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Yeah I kinda figured that. I got stuff kind of figured out now, but my games seem to lag a lot. I can play the simple stuff (Starcraft, Guilty Gear, etc) fine, but the 'big' games like Counter-Strike: Source and Battlefield 2 either freeze when I try to load them up, or have a really choppy frame rate issue going on.

I'm still reading through other posts and the FAQ to see what the issue is, but if someone can save me the time and pop in and post the solution or a step towards a solution it'd be appreciated.
 

Kuji

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Some motherboards have a bios setting which checks the memory at boot time. If this option is set, it will take longer to check it with 2gb vs. 512mb. Is this a possibility?

Haven't checked that yet actually, but I turned off quick boot and it scanned through the memory, so I assume it's active. Dunno where to turn it off though. Still can't figure out why games are choppy. :?