Ram/Bios

I have pc3200 ram and it's running at pc2700 according to Everest. Do I need to update my Bios... if so which do i need. (Asus A7N8X) Asus' website has about 17000000 updates for it, and I dunno which one to use. PLz help.

 

What cpu do you have and what is the fsb showing?

 

AMD Sempron 2800+, Real clock = 167 MHz (ddr), Effective Clock = 333 MHz

 

Yeah thats normal because the front side bus(166) and the multiplier(10 I beleive) on the cpu is limiting you from running @pc3200 speeds.
You woulkd have to push the fsb to 200mhz in order to get the ram running at its full potential.Unfortunately that would require a huge overclock.
You could run the ram async with the fsb but for AMD systems you actually lose performance like that.

 

oh alright cool... so that has to do with the processor? I am upgrading to a AMD 64 3500+ and an Asus A8N-SLI Mobo... will I be able to reach the full potential of the ram then? And Also about the overclock.... I don't think that would work with this set up.... do you? if so, what are we talking for heat and wear and tear? Oh ya... the multiplier is 12x. Thanks

 

Yes the A64 chips run a 200fsb natively.As far as trying to overclock the Sempron I think it will require alot of work trial and error with voltages and whatnot.Wear and tear is no problem but heat will become an issue with such a large overclock.I would leave it alone but thats just me.

 

ya, I'm not to worried about it, since I am getting this new stuff, right away, not a big deal.... Thanks for the info.

 

you could run the RAM asynchronous to the CPU by adjusting the CPU: DRAM ratio, however you wont see much performance raising the RAM to DDR400, as stratcatprowlin said, since the CPU would be limiting the bandwidth anyway.

good choice on the A8N-SLI, its a rock solid board as most asus are. Just put it in my brothers new computer. a word of advice:

don't be alarmed when the power supply connector doesnt appear to fit into the motherboard slot. its a new generation 24-pin ATX motherboard (+the 4 pin ATX12V plug), however the power supply will still fit into 20 of those 24 pins nicely. when running this way though, you do need to plug in a standard molex adaptor to the plug inbetween the pci-e 16x SLI slots.... anyway, i'm rambling, but if you have trouble when you get it, post on here.

 

No need to update bios, but you can make some changes in bios, your memory is most likely set to auto, since your cpu is 333 fsb it set's the ram to match speed with cpu.
As others posted probably no real world preformance gain by manually setting ram to pc3200 speeds, there would be some minimal gains seen when bench marking. (just did a little testing same subject different mobo couple weeks ago)
Another note with the ram running at 333fsb it's probably running at more agressive timmings, which also makes changing to 400fsb alittle more pointless.

You can always change & test, see for your self.
Plus the option to overclock your cpu fsb, always risks involved when OCing

 

InYearsToCome,

Do u think u could illaborate on that plz... I know what u mean by the four pin connector, and I have never known what they are used for... So they are used in this board? Also, what connector to I have to buy and how much are they? roughly where do I plug it into the mobo... could u post a pic? If so that would be great... Thanks for the info

 

to briefly elaborate, you will not need any extra connector, so long as your power supply has a standard 20-pin ATX motherboard, 4pin ATX12v connector (which usually plugs in separate, over near the CPU), and 1 available component power adapter (Molex) that you normally plug into a hard drive or cd-rom.

the unusual part (to me anyway) was plugging that 20 pin ATX into the new 24 pin socket on the motherboard. Asus workaround for those of us without the most recent power supplies was to add that molex plug on the motherboard right above the PCI-E slots, as it is extra power for them.

dont worry much about it, it will make sense when you see it.

 

alright, I just got the motherboard today, I haven't looked at it yet... thanks for the info

 

I have a 24 pin power... so do i need to connect the 4 pin 12v?

 

Nm, I found out u do... Sorry about the post..... Can someone with an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe walk me through the setup?