Hope you can understand my question. Is it better to run 4 sticks of 512mb PC3200 ram (total of 2 gb and it runs at 400MHz. OR 3 Gb of PC3200 which only shows up as 2.75 gb and runs at 266 MHz? Yes I am running Windows XP. Thanks for the help.

This really depends on how you use your computer. Here's how I would break down your two options... 1. You could use 2GB of the slightly faster RAM. This will act a little quicker but if you run many applications at one time, you may run out of RAM. 2. You can use the 3GB but the RAM is slower. The only reason I would go with this option is if you run many programs at once and are running low on RAM. You should user Windows performance monitoring while using your PC to see if you are running out of RAM. If not, stick with the 2GB of faster RAM.

Excellent post by SpecialK! Concise with all the information needed.

Thanks Specialk. The only reason I consider running the 3gb is because I have it extra. Also, why does my bios start up show it as 266.MHz when they are all PC 3200 400MHz sticks? Thanks again. I am new to all this bios stuff.

"...why does my bios start up show it as 266.MHz when they are all PC 3200 400MHz sticks?" It's a quirk of your particular main chipset. http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/con... "Maximum Memory: 2 GB using 400MHz DDR modules 4 GB using 333MHz or 266MHz DDR modules " If you had 3 or 4 333 mhz modules they would run at 333 mhz. There is probably info about that in the Asus manual for your mboard as well. I've got an Asus AV7600 that has the same situation.

"3 Gb of PC3200 which only shows up as 2.75 gb and runs at 266 MHz" Update your BIOS. http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_...

That link jam quoted crashes my IE 6.x in 98SE. I took another look. No mention of more than 2gb running at less than 400mhz in the English manual, or when I look up ram for this model on the Asus or Crucial or Corsair web sites. I found these Asus FAQs . Q: Why does the memory run at 333MHz if I use four DDR400 512MB/256MB memory modules on A8N-SLI? Answer To be more compatible and stable with some memory modules, the default clock will be at 333MHz if four DDR400 memory modules are plugged on the A8N-SLI. But you still can set at 400MHz manually in the Bios to gain better performance http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.asp... ........... So - try setting the speed manually in the bios Setup instead of setting it to Auto. "To be more compatible and stable with some memory modules..." Are your specific module part numbers listed as compatible with A8N-SLI Deluxe (or A8N-SLI anything) ? ....... Q: Why can't A8N-SLI boot up if I plug one memory stick on DIMM_A1? Answer Due to hardware limitation, you must plug the memory on DIMM_B1 or DIMM_B2 if using just one memory stick. http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.asp... (That's not mentioned in the manual.)