[SOLVED]Kingston with Spectek [ thanks brent :P ]

[cryptonx]

hello ,
first i would like to thanks lotsa of u ppl who helped me buying my system .

I posted here before cuz i wanted to upgrade my memory ( 2x256 SpecTek pc3200 DDR400 )

Now I bought a Kingston 512 DDR400 ValueRam .

my system :

Amd Athlon 64 3000+ ( S745 )
2x256 Rams ( Spectek ddr400 )
Gigabyte K8NS PRO
XFX Geforce 6600 128 AGP 8X

my problem is
after installing the new rams , the system reads them as 1048mb of ram and windows runs fine

but then I was hasty to test my system .. and I noticed one very ackward thing

its showing the RAMs running at 333mhz bus speed insted of 400mhz

I said to myself , I dont really care if it just works ok

now every like 10 minutes windows freezes
I took off one of the old spectek modules

it showed 400 and the system is running perfectly
I tried to switch places of the modules .. same result doesnmt matter which one is in , if all 3 are in there it runs at 333 and shows some ackward stability .

So I am kinda confused , I searched on the forums and someone had the same issue altho his problem was that the new module is CLS3 while the old ones are 2.5 mine are showing at SiSoft sandra to be CLS3.0

Could please anyone help ? I really want my system to have a 1 gb of ram without buyin anymore i hope ..heh

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by cryptonx on 09/08/05 01:40 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

It's normal for systems to clock four DDR-400 modules down to DDR-333 speeds for stability concerns; four modules are less stable than two. No need to worry.

In your case, your system just cannot run all four modules at DDR-400 speeds; too complicated for the memory controller to handle.

I would not recommend adding more voltage or overclocking these modules in anyway since the modules you have are not capable of too much strain.

DDR-333 is not soo bad, unless you are paranoid at losing a few frames/second in your games.
Then you should be worried! :tongue:

<font color=blue>******
<font color=green>"My Memory is not working today"
<font color=blue>AIM SoCaliCrowley

 

[cryptonx]

Thanks BrentUnited

I actualy have NOTHING against DDR333 , the problem is its UNSTABLE , ie 3Dmark 2005 couldnt load the 2nd demo , just freezes.. playing Chronicles of riddick ... it was fine , then after 10-15 minutes it FREEZED .

So What I want to know is that theres anyways possible to actualy RUN the 4 of them at 333 and STABLE

right now i am using the 512 KingSton module with a 256 Specktek one total of 768 running at 400

no problems so far .. but I want the extra 256 cuz I need them so much in my work ( 3Ds Max 7 )

not to mention to try playing half life 2 or doom3 without HOOKUPS and HD loading freezes and to do that magic wussy page file ting

 

[cryptonx]

hey I re-installed the third one
I think I know whats the problem

My gigabyte bios was using a " Top Peformance Mode " which simply increases the DDR bus speed by 15mhz ... so the 3 modules ( 2x256 and the 512 one ) were running at 348mhz insted of 333 , which I think pushed it so far for the spectek modules .. I am using them now while i write this ( hope it wont blow ) and I played riddick for along time ,I think its fixed .. but let me check 3Dmark 2005

thanks alot I will confirm what I've in a few miuntes .

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

Spectek is a popular module and should work well with many applications. Spectek is considered Micron sencond-tier memory- Lower standards, competetive pricing.

However, it's not a good module for running gaming applications.

As I suggested earlier, it's probably not a good idea to run an overclock on these modules, especially if you are running them in tandem with other brands, or during game play.

If you continue having issues, you may want to relax the memory settings in the BIOS.

<font color=blue>******
<font color=green>"My Memory is not working today"
<font color=blue>AIM SoCaliCrowley

 

[cryptonx]

Yes brent I get you

Well I set them back to 333 and now everything is great , 3Dmark demo didnt freeze and the system is running FINE so far . yet I really don't feel any perfomance boost from 512 to 1024 .. maybe its just me .

Anyways THanks alot Brent , I think the problem is solved now , Thanks to ur tips

I am gonna try that page file tweak by wussy hope it helps .

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

You can check to see how much memory you use in total for your last boot by launching the 'Windows Task Manager'. Check in the Performance section and look at the 'peak' value.

For peaks significantly under 512MB, you will most likely have better performance with 512MB.

If you go over 512MB, then 1GB is definitely better. Plus, 1GB is optimal for WINXP.

Keep in mind that more memory does not equal more performance unless the additional memory is being used. That is, any unused memory is equal to a loss in performance.

<font color=blue>******
<font color=green>"My Memory is not working today"
<font color=blue>AIM SoCaliCrowley

 

[cryptonx]

lol thanks ... after a few games the peak was 900 mb so i guess i need more ? hehehe

Yes I get you , THanks alot for the fast replies , U are really helpfull mate

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

900MB peak. So you definitely need at least 1GB.

Not a good idea to follow WUSY's page file trick in your case, as that will surely put you over 1GB.

I hope you run Ad-Aware-SE and possibly CC cleaner, etc..
You can check the 'processes' tab in the Windows Task Manager to see what is taking up your space. Usually best to leave system files alone- just look for user programs you arent using and possibly consider cleaning them up.
note: You can check how much page-filing is used:
VIEW --> SELECT COLUMN --> check.Virtual Memory Size

Or maybe you are using some applications you need that cause your system to peak at 900MB.

My computer peaks at 700MB- but I only run a few apps. at a time, including World of Warcraft at nearly at full setting.

<font color=blue>******
<font color=green>"My Memory is not working today"
<font color=blue>AIM SoCaliCrowley

 

[cryptonx]

well the most demanding application is JAVA.EXE ( 26 mb )
Edonkey client ( usualy closed ) (30 mb ) and Microsoft Antispyware Realtime scan ( 26 mb ) not to mention Explorer ( 30 mb nearly )

that's a total of normaly 128 mb used without any other thing loaded ..

added with the small progies / msn messgener etc ..

that actual avaialble memory at what I normaly is my IDLE status is about 600 mb

I just played the demo of FEAR , maxxed out .
it still asked for a pagefile ( Windows is increasing ur page file size )

but the game runs almost perfect on MAXIMUM settinsg ( i do mean maximum ) except for soft shadows .. which simply ruins the game experience for me ( fps drops from 40-50 to a damned 10 or 15 )

anyways I am happy the way things are now . I only limited the page file to 700mb

the peak after fear was 1200mb
which is close .. If I close some unwanted apps I am sure it wont use the page file at all .

tanx

that's a total of

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

If you have the page file set to a specific range, your computer will use the page file, even if you have enough memory to support the application fully.

Under normal windows operation, you wont use up too much memory. It's when you start to use several programs at the same time that adds up. Often, programs you don't need are running in the background taking up resources and slowing your machine.

It's a good idea to clean the registry from time to time, and run programs that actively or passivly remove threats.

<font color=blue>******
<font color=green>"My Memory is not working today"
<font color=blue>AIM SoCaliCrowley