Added 1gb PC2700 DDR Memory to my 768mb... reports 1.5gb?

[Punkrulz]

Hey guys,

I have an Asus A7V333 motherboard. I previously had 2 memory chips, a 512mb and a 256mb. I have purchased a 1gb memory chip, and installed that into the primary slot, shifting the other 2 memory sticks over. When I look at my computer properties (Windows XP SP3) it reports that I only have 1.5GB of memory.

I ran the application PC Wizard 2008, and it is correctly reporting that I have memory in all three of my banks. I'm used to seeing Windows take resources away from computers that have onboard video cards, however I have an ATI Radeon 9800 pro video card, and it shouldn't be taking away resources for that reason.

Could someone please explain why I'm missing 256mb worth of memory?

 

[roaf85]

I remember when I had this board there was something in the manual regarding that the board would not support more than 1 GB of memory at PC2700 speeds. Can you try setting the speed down to PC2100 speeds (266 mhz)?

Although with this logic it would not report the correct amount in PC Wizard.

What about updating the bios? What bios version are you on? That board reminds me of old memories. Good board.

 

[Punkrulz]

Googling I found an update page regarding the memory situation. Apparently the "3gb max memory" only applies if they are 266MHz / PC2100. If you have 3x 333MHz memory sticks, the system *should* revert back to 266MHz.

I don't know if the system had reverted, or if it simply disabled the 3rd bay. Here's my question:

Which is better for gaming: 2x PC2700 333MHz chips (1.5gb)
Or
3x PC2700 DDR Chips, running at 266MHz and effectively showing 1.76gb memory?