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Performance issue when all 3 dimm slots used

S

streetskater

n00b
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
6
I have an ASUS K8V-X which has 3DIMM sockets. I've been using 2 sticks of 512 DDR400 PC3200 memory--and everything benchmarks accordingly.

I recently tried adding a 3rd stick of my old PC2100 (512mg) sticks. It, of course, brought all the memory down to PC2100--but that extra 512 really seemed to pay dividends with XP pro SP2.

So I bought a 1 gig stick--identical in every way to the 2 512 PC3200 sticks EXCPEPT it has 3 latency instead of the 2.5 latency of the other sticks.
Summary looks like this:
DIMM1: Corsair VS512MB400 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (2.5-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)
DIMM2: Corsair VS512MB400 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (2.5-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)
DIMM3: Corsair VS1GB400C3 1 GB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (3.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)
Performance:
Everything benches at PC1600 level and the computer is in fact slow as ShT.

When I haul out Eversest--it sees all 2 gig of memory correctly as PC3200 but I cannot improve on the dismal ram speeds and I can't figure out what's going on. It doesn't make sense it the latency difference...Maybe the result of unequal size DIMMS that creates a RAM paging "issue" under XP?

The Stick is already RMA'ed back to Tiger but
Just thought one of the guru here might be able to offer some insights before I call UPS.
 
the board is probably reverting to 100mhz.. try manually adjusting the memory ratio back to 1:1?
 
Good call Eclipse--at least I think it is :)
anyway looking at CPU-Z the CPU is at 2500mhz but the memory speed is indeed 100mhz with those 3 stick plugged in. I assume that 100mhz memory speed is what you're referring to? And that indeed looks pretty slow and in keeping with the pc1600 benchmarks I'm seeing.
And just to clarify that and make sure we're really on the same page. From the cpu-z Utilities Memory Tab--the memory speed is 100mhz BUT from the SPD tab all three DIMM sticks are showing a "memory frequency" of 200mhz. I'm not totally up to speed on what this stuff but I figure for you overclockers this is all elementary.

I just did another cover-to-cover scan of my ASUS K8V-X manual** and I'm not seeing anything in the BIOS that lets you manually adjust that CPU-Memory ratio--no physical dip switches either....I'll have to query the ASUS forum but I haven't seen anything in my own frequent trips through this BIOS.. Seems like I had dips on my older ASUS board.

**reading manuals is ALWAYS a last resort :)

BTW: should have already mentioned that I'm running an AMD 64 3400 CPU.
 
Have now verified that my memory bus speed is indeed being cut in half--i.e., running at 100.1mhz.

I still haven't found a way to force a 1:! ratio on this junk mobo. It is already set explicity to a MEMCLOC value of DDR400 in the BIOS---and that generally runs the RAM at PC3200 level speeds. Seems like the ASUS is just throwing up it's hands in dispair when it sees those different size DIMMS.

OH and Kudos to HardForum. Out of about 10 forums--including ASUS, Corsair and ExpertsExchange---this is the first place to give me the best understanding of the Problem.
 
ah, the SPD tell you what the sticks are programmed to run at, while the memory tab shows what it is running at :D

try messing with the ram stick order, maybe something might work out :confused:
 
na SIZE Matters! Order Doesn't :)
Setting the MEMCLOC value to DDR400 --which is an override of the default AUTO--would seem to be the correct setting to attack here. Once the brain-dead mobo overides that there doesn't seem to be any court of appeals!

Well this ASUS mobo is just landfill waiting to happen anyaway. I'm buying my hardware on a 6 month to 1yr turnaround cycle these days! Seems the K8V-X is going to be running closer to the 6month boundary :))
 
hehe, it does seem like that will be the case. sorry it didn't work out the way you wanted :(
 
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