Ok, so i bought some new RAM for my pc and well nothing really has improved. My computer has a P4 3.2 presscot processor and well i dont think the computer acts like it has a good processor. its not the slowest machine, but something isnt right. i ave 4 memory banks on my mobo, all four are populated the first two have kingston 512 DDR pc3200 each, and the other two have Micron 1gig pc3200 DRR400 each. i have used everest to get the details of my machine, can you see anything that can be improved? i remember Jam saying something about a 1:1 ratio? didnt know what the meant (i think he wasnt impressed by me lack of understanding coz he never responded after that lol)
so altogether i should have 3024 RAM right 512, 512, 1000, 1000 = 3024? but in dxdiag it shows 2942 how come?

there is a bios update available shall i update my bios?

im only gona put down the details for one of each RAM coz they are in pairs.

Micron RAM
Field Value
Memory Module Properties
Module Name Micron Tech. 16VDDT12864AY40BF2
Serial Number DA111196h (2517701082)
Manufacture Date Week 39 / 2007
Module Size 1024 MB (2 ranks, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC3200 (200 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings
@ 200 MHz 3.0-3-3-8 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 11-14-2 (RC-RFC-RRD)
@ 166 MHz 2.5-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 10-12-2 (RC-RFC-RRD)
@ 133 MHz 2.0-2-2-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 8-10-2 (RC-RFC-RRD)

Memory Module Features
Early RAS# Precharge Not Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported

Memory Module Manufacturer
Company Name Micron Technology, Inc.
Product Information http://www.micron.com/products/cate...

Kingston RAM
Field Value
Memory Module Properties
Module Name Kingston K
Serial Number 502A4598h (2554669648)
Manufacture Date Week 16 / 2006
Module Size 512 MB (2 ranks, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC3200 (200 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings
@ 200 MHz 2.5-3-3-8 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 11-13-2 (RC-RFC-RRD)
@ 166 MHz 2.0-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS) / 10-11-2 (RC-RFC-RRD)

Memory Module Features
Early RAS# Precharge Not Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported

Memory Module Manufacturer
Company Name Kingston Technology Company, Inc.
Product Information http://www.kingston.com/products/de...

Motherboard
Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 63-3200-001169-00101111-040201-I875$1I875XXX_A6758IMS V3.20 032404
Motherboard Name MSI 875P Neo-FISR (MS-6758 v2.0)

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel GTL+
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 202 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 808 MHz
Bandwidth 6466 MB/s

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
DRAM:FSB Ratio 4:5
Real Clock 162 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 323 MHz
Bandwidth 2586 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel Hub Interface
Bus Width 8-bit
Real Clock 67 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 269 MHz
Bandwidth 269 MB/s

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 478
Expansion Slots 5 PCI, 1 AGP
RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394
Form Factor ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 300 mm
Motherboard Chipset i875P
Extra Features CoreCell

Motherboard Manufacturer
Company Name Micro-Star International
Product Information http://www.msi.com.tw/program/produ...
BIOS Download http://www.msi.com.tw/program/suppo...

CPU
Field Value
CPU Properties
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 3233 MHz (16 x 202)
CPU Alias Prescott
CPU Stepping E0
Instruction Set x86, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
Original Clock 3200 MHz
Min / Max CPU Multiplier 14x / 16x
Engineering Sample No
L1 Trace Cache 12K Instructions
L1 Data Cache 16 KB
L2 Cache 1 MB (On-Die, ECC, ATC, Full-Speed)

Multi CPU
Motherboard ID INTEL I875
CPU #0 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz, 3200 MHz
CPU #1 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz, 3200 MHz

CPU Manufacturer
Company Name Intel Corporation
Product Information http://www.intel.com/products/proce...

CPU Utilization
CPU #1 / HTT Unit #1 1 %
CPU #1 / HTT Unit #2 3 %

Memory
Field Value
Physical Memory
Total 2942 MB
Used 557 MB
Free 2385 MB
Utilization 19 %

Swap Space
Total 4323 MB
Used 494 MB
Free 3828 MB
Utilization 11 %

Virtual Memory
Total 7265 MB
Used 1051 MB
Free 6213 MB
Utilization 14 %

Physical Address Extension (PAE)
Supported by Operating System Yes
Supported by CPU Yes
Active No

anyone see anything i can do to improve the performance of my machine?

Thanks,

Actually it should be more along the lines of 3072mb... a 1gig stick is 1024b not 1000b, and I have no idea where the 130mb has gone... maybe a bad stick.

I was never impressed by memory upgrades in the first place. If you were running something like 256M and upgraded to 1 gig, then you would probably see some good things happen.

But unless you're running some reasonably serious software, or always have A LOT of programs open at the same time, 1gig mem is not that bad and any kind of upgrade will hardly be noticable.

Either way, a 130Mb loss will not make a difference at all.... but if you want to track it down, then try putting one stick in, boot up and see if your machine is seeing that entire stcik. Do this for all 4 sticks, and you may find the one that is shorting you. But again, don't look for miles of improvement after you solve this problem.... because there won't be much... if any at all.

If you feel your machine is not running up to par, then I would examine other areas as opposed to the memory.

Is the memory capable of running in DUAL-CHANNEL Mode ?

Does the Motherboard support 1GB memory sticks ??

2GB Memory is ideal for XP, any more is overkill!!

Run your memory at 200mhz to get to a 1:1 ration. You should be able to do this through the bios. Your cpu is running at 200mhz fsb and your memory is running at 162mhz. Thats not an ideal situation.

ok im now running the RAM as dual channel, i looked in the manual and found out which order i need to place the modules for dual channel. my mobo supports 1gig sticks per bank. i have it like this for dual channel.

bank 1) 1gig ddr400 pc 2300
bank 2) 512 pc3200
bank 3) 1gig ddr400 pc 2300
bank 4) 512 pc3200

i do not have many programs running with windows, i have gone into msconfig and disabled all unessary progs, i have also run a AV, spyware check etc.

when i go into bios, i see something called DRAM frequences (mhz) the smallest value i cn select is 266mhz, is this what i need to change for the 1:1 ratio?

my mobo has a 800mhz fsb speed is it running at that speed? how do i check?

cheers for your replies.

Jeez you read the manual, you must be the first to admit that !!

The CPU fsb is quad pumped ie 4 x 200mhz, therefore you memory should be running at 200mhz, maybe Jam could give some insight...

where is jam gone man? he doesnt seem to be around much anymore. maybe he is sick of my ignorance and doesnt wana help me :(

oh yeah can you tell me if its worth me updating my bios? an update is available but im not sure if its worth doing coz apartently if your comp is running fine, no need to update

cheers

right ok, i have TRIED to get my memory to run at 200mhz but i have done something and it has dropped to 135, man i feel like giving up now. Can someone please be kind enogh to allow me to send them screen dumps of my bios screen so that they can tell me what i need to increase to inrease my memory speed to 200mhz?

this is my first proper attempt at doing this so im not sure, i have gone through the WHOLE manual and have set the settings for ultimate performance but when i go into everest it still says 135mhz.

HELP

It gets frustrating having to go over this stuff time & time again. Not only are there numerous posts that explain it, but there are dozens if not 100's of websites that explain it in even more detail.

An Intel CPU at 800MHz FSB has an actual frequency of 200MHz. It's "effective" bus speed is 800MHz because of QDR (quad data rate) technology...usually referred to as "quad-pumping". Simply, 200MHz x 4 = 800MHz.

PC3200 RAM (DDR400) is designed to run at 200MHz, although it is sometimes referred to as 400MHz (effective) because of DDR (double data rate) technology. Again, 200MHz x 2 = 400MHz.

Do not confuse "effective" with "actual".

If the BIOS choices for your RAM are 100MHz, 133MHz, 166MHz, or 200MHz, choose 200MHz. If they are 200MHz, 266MHz, 333MHz or 400MHz, choose 400MHz. For whatever reason, some BIOS menus use "actual" & others use "effective". You have to figure out which is being used & configure the settings accordingly.

Use CPU-Z to check your CPU & RAM settings:

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

As for your RAM amount - you currently have 3GB RAM [(1024MB x 2) + (512MB x 2)] = 3072MB. If only 3024MB are being reported, 48MB are being used elsewhere...onboard video perhaps?

I suggest temporarily removing the 2 x 512MB & just running with 2 x 1GB in dual channel mode. Then you can experiment with timings & overclcking.

I just scrolled down to your other post & see that you're running a Radeon 9600XT, not onboard video. It may be that the "missing" 48MB are being used by other devices.

If you already had 1GB (2 x 512MB), why did you add 2GB more? What did you think it was gonna do, make your PC scream like a banshee? lol! You would only see an appreciable performance difference if the original 1GB wasn't enough for what you use your system for.

And since you asked about overclocking in your other post (& I assume you're gonna ask again)...here goes.

1st of all, overclock thru the BIOS only. Do NOT use MSI Core Center!

Here's my recommendations, but don't expect miracles.

Under Advanced Chipset Features:

DRAM Timing Setting [press ENTER]....

Configure DRAM Timing by SPD = disabled
DRAM CAS# Latency = 2.5
DRAM RAS# Precharge = 3
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay = 3
DRAM Precharge Delay = 7
DRAM Burst Length = 4
DRAM Integrity Mode = disabled

Memory Hole = disabled
AGP Aperture Size = 128MB

Under Frequency/Voltage Control:

Performance Mode = normal
D.O.T. Range = disabled
DRAM Frequency (Mhz) = 400 (or AUTO)

Adjust CPU Bus Clock (Mhz) = this is where the real overclocking is done. Start at 200MHz, then go to 210MHz, reboot & test the system for stability. If all is well, try 215MHz, reboot & test again...

Adjust AGP/PCI Clock (Mhz) = 66/33MHz

I'm a little unclear about the CPU voltage adjustment. The manual lists, "CPU Vcore Adjust (for Northwood CPU only)". You have a Prescott CPU, not a Northwood, but vcore adjustment is essential to overclocking. All I can suggest is that you try enabling it & then seeing if you can change the "CPU Voltage (V)" setting.

i understand it gets frustrating, but you must understand im no expert and just wanted to learn, also it can destroy your system if you dont do things correctly cant it? but i promise this case is now closed lol. i will do what you have recommended above and set the bios settings accordingly. Thanks Jam and everyone else you helped.

Just for the record alwayswillingtolearn. I have the exact CPU you have. I've upped the FSB 25mhz on both CPU and RAM with NO volt increase. So my CPU is now running @ 3.6ghz and my RAM @ DDR450, 1:1 ratio. Up to now it's been sweet as a nut. Maybe you want to give those settings a try?

P4 3.20HT @ 3.60ghz
Abit IS7-E2
2x1024mb OCZ Value DDR400 @ DDR450 Dual Channel
80GB Diamondmax9+ SATA 160GB Diamondmax10 SATA Sapphire Radeon X1650 PRO 256mb
Hiper Type R 530W PSU