Athlon64 and DDR333

[icthus13]

Ok, so I just purchased a nice shiny new athlon 64 mobo and processor, with the intention of just moving everything in the current computer over onto it rather than buying all new parts. Then, to my horror, I realized that my gig-o-ram was only rated to DDR333/PC2700 and to make matters worse, it's PNY! This is what I get for saving money awhile ago. So the question is this: Is is (a) possible to run async FSB-memory on a 64 and (b) how horrible will the performance hit be? I would also love some hints on getting the mem to hit DDR400. It runs 2.5-3-3-7, so where shoud I start loosening for the max benefit?

 

[RawsonDR]

Prepare to be pleasantly surprised. This particular case is not as detrimental to your performance as it may have been with older K7 technology. You will be able to run your memory asyncronously and you will still be pleased with the power of your newly purchased hardware. You will find those options in your BIOS and if you can't figure them out on your own you can find help here. I'm sure you will be back here anyway... Getting new athlon 64 systems running as they should be can be a little trickier than with K7 as well.

Basically you'll have to find your own happy compromise between memory speed and memory latencies. You will possibly be able to run your RAM at DDR400 with perhaps 3-4-4-8 timings. Otherwise you can apply a divider and lower those timings. Its up to you and it also depends on if/how you'll be overclocking.

You won't be disappointed with your upgrade. I'm going to go find a link that may interest you, as well, concerning this matter.

edit: Read this. Its good information to have.

 

[icthus13]

Thanks a bunch... I just knew that bad things happened to Athlon XP's when you tried it. I am much relieved I don't have to plunk down $150 more dollars right now!