Newb Memory Question

[Mulch]

Hi,
New here and kinda overwhelmed. I read quite a lot but I am still lost.

I am using P4C800-E Deluxe with bios 1023

Intel Pentium 4 3.0C Northwood 800MHz FSB Socket 478 Processor

Antec Performance II SX1040BII Black 1mm SECC Steel SOHO File Server Computer Case 400W SmartPower ATX12V including Pentium 4 SL400 Power Supply

PROLINK PixelView GeForce FX5600(MVGA-NVG31AL) Geforce FX5600 256MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card

my original matched set ram was 1gig:

http://www.geilusa.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=14

i recently bought 2 more gigs matched :

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820221133

so now i have 3 gigs but i have a hunch I am not getting the best performance.

I built this rig for video editing on Vegas 4.0 (using 5.0 now), but I do some gaming. I have 1 OS HD (80g) and 2 160g set to raid striped for video.

2 Questions. Should I set my paging on OS HD or video HD? I had it set to 4096 on the OS HD as the video advice says keep everything off the video HD but after reading http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=395280#395280 performance&Match=Entire Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=1week&Main=538104 I am unsure. Any advice?

Also, I want to make sure my RAM is effective as possible considering how much I have, any suggestions about how to set the bios (about to set it as suggested in the above sticky post, but it seems a bit outdated and I wonder if it still applies, especially considering my physical memory and graphics memory and apperture)?

I don't really need to overclock ATM, and even when gaming my Asusprob rarely registers Ram usage (only during prerendering on video do I see it use memory). I am wondering if I have it set to use the swap too often instead of the physical and if this is the best set up.

Thank you in advance. All my friends think I am some computer genius but I am humbled here for sure. I hope someone knows for sure what my guesswork cant figure out.
-Mulch

<A HREF="http://mulched.blogspot.com/" target="_new">http://mulched.blogspot.com/</A>

 

[Mulch]

What OS are you running? (expecting reply of WinXP Pro...)

You're good. Thats the one!

Windows can address of 4GB maximum including swapfile SO here's what you need to do to make Windows smarter:
-Disable Executive paging (done through CachemanXP/Xteq X-Setup/Registry)

Need more info (specifics), sounds good, but I'm not that smart or educated =)

-Set pagefile to 400MB maximum and minimum

400 as opposed to 4096? Any comments as to whether to do that on the OS HD or the striped raid HD (I love my games but for best video editing)

Now Windows will not be stupid enough to try and address over 4GB and screw itself.

I must say this is the most stable Windows setup I have ever used. I have no problems with stability at all, just a hunch that my performance is suffering because of my newb configuration.

Thank you very much, btw.

<A HREF="http://mulched.blogspot.com/" target="_new">http://mulched.blogspot.com/</A>

 

[Mulch]

I don't know that it matters but in case it does my swap was running at 3069 when I had it set min: 2 max: 4096

if it doesn't matter, sorry, just wanted to note it

<A HREF="http://mulched.blogspot.com/" target="_new">http://mulched.blogspot.com/</A>

 

[Mulch]

The point is to make Windows use less than 4GB and setting pagefile to 4096 is suicidal.
Fine, set it to 500MB static then if you wish.

I came here for advice, a fool would disregard it.

Was told min:2 max 4096 was the way to go, but I have always questioned that

my only concern ATM in regards to your suggestion is which drive to use for the swap. Everything else makes perfect sense.

i am certainly going to follow your suggestions. thank you

<A HREF="http://mulched.blogspot.com/" target="_new">http://mulched.blogspot.com/</A>

 

[Mulch]

Well, my virtual memory question answered, I still am only getting 266 on my Ram speed, and I should be getting 400. Can anyone help me figure out how to configure my dual channel to 400? Please =)

<A HREF="http://mulched.blogspot.com/" target="_new">http://mulched.blogspot.com/</A>

 

[Mulch]

OK I jumped into Bios and saw nothing that matched what you said.

Under the heading of
Configure DRAM Timimg by SPD, I got the Enabled/Disabled. When I opted to configure it myself, i got the following headings with the following configurations:

DRAM CAS# Latency:
2.0 CLocks
2.5 Clocks
3.0 Clocks
DRAM RAS# Precharge:
4 Clocks
3 Clocks
2 Clocks
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay:
4 Clocks
3 Clocks
2 Clocks
DRAM Precharge Delay:
8 Clocks
7 Clocks
6 Clocks
5 Clocks
DRAM Burst Length:
4 Clocks
8 Clocks

Also the other RAM headings:

Performance Acceleration Mode:
Auto
Enabled

DRAM Idle Timer
Infinite
0T
8T
16T
64T
Auto

DRAM Refresh Rate
Auto
15.6 uSec
7.8 uSec
64 uSec
64T

Any ideas if this is what I am looking for and what I should set them at? Of course, I am warned of dire results if I screw up (system instability)

If this isn't the correct BIOS part I shoudl be configuring, any ideas what the entries of the Asus Bios this all may be under?

Thank you again for your help =)

<A HREF="http://mulched.blogspot.com/" target="_new">http://mulched.blogspot.com/</A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mulch on 10/11/05 05:56 AM.</EM></FONT></P>