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RAM question


Parabellum

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OK, here's my question:

My PC is currently running a 133 MHZ FSB, wigh 256Mb of RAM installed. I've been having some problems with lockups, which I believe might be caused by not having enough RAM. So, I put in another 256Mb of RAM - PC 100 RAM. The PC seems to be running just fine as it is. Will this hurt my PC? Will the PC100 RAM overheat? Will blowing a fan into the PC help? Am I going to harm the mobo or processor? Am I just plain stupid for trying it at all?

Just to clarify: I'm using 256 Mb of PC133 RAM, and 256 Mb of PC100 RAM, and I'm running at 133 MHz.

Edited by Parabellum
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No, it wont overheat bro. It will just slow your system down to 100Mhz.

Tyhe system will only run as fast as the slowest stick of RAM.

Really? Because, according to ADCM, I'm running at 133, and the processor is still running at 1533 MHz, rather than the 1.1 GHz that it would run at if the clockspeed were set at 100. If that's the case, does that mean that my RAM is operating at a different clock speed than the processor?

I know very, very, very little about FSB, clockspeed, and all that. I appreciate any advice I can get.

:)

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Actually the bus and the proc are running at what memory can handle, and memory is only running at the speed of the slowest stick. The memory sticks in your PC all have to run at the same speed, therefore they will only run as fast as the slowest one, there by slowing your entire system down, in this case by 33Mhz.

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Actually the bus and the proc are running at what memory can handle, and memory is only running at the speed of the slowest stick. The memory sticks in your PC all have to run at the same speed, therefore they will only run as fast as the slowest one, there by slowing your entire system down, in this case by 33Mhz.

So, is my PC actually running at 1100 MHz, (what it would run at if I set the FSB to 100MHz in the BIOS)? The PC seems to think that it's still running at 1.5 GHz. Regardless of that, you don't think it will kill my PC, right? That's good enough for me, because it's flying now!

:rocky:

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I just dont seem to be getting this right today. Sigh. Sorry bro. Other stuff on my mind.

Your proc is running at it's rated speed, 1.5 GHz.

The main Data bus or Frontside Bus if you will can only run as fast as the slowest RAM in your machine, in this case 100MHz. The 133MHz will slow down and match speeds with the slowest RAM in your machine. RAM is basically a scratch pad that your PC uses to work, much as you do when you are taking a math test.

Although your proc can process the info and everything it has to do at 1.5GHz, to xfer it to RAM, it has to slow down to the slowest speed RAM on your machine, which in your case will slow the FSB down from 133MHz to 100MHz.

Your RAM will dictate the clock speed of your FSB, not your processor.

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I just dont seem to be getting this right today. Sigh. Sorry bro. Other stuff on my mind.

Your proc is running at it's rated speed, 1.5 GHz.

The main Data bus or Frontside Bus if you will can only run as fast as the slowest RAM in your machine, in this case 100MHz. The 133MHz will slow down and match speeds with the slowest RAM in your machine. RAM is basically a scratch pad that your PC uses to work, much as you do when you are taking a math test.

Although your proc can process the info and everything it has to do at 1.5GHz, to xfer it to RAM, it has to slow down to the slowest speed RAM on your machine, which in your case will slow the FSB down from 133MHz to 100MHz.

Your RAM will dictate the clock speed of your FSB, not your processor.

I see. Thanks a bunch. Cheers!

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NP mate. I hope i got it right for ya this time. Like I said, it has been a very rough week in phantom land.

PC seems to be doing OK, though we're still experiencing the odd freeze. I really don't know what to do - it seems to only happen when we play games. On another forum, someone else had a similar problem, and traced it to their SBLive! card. Apparently, Creative hasn't updated their drivers for the Live cards for two years, and their not even Dx8 compliant, let alone Dx9 compliant. I don't know if that's the source of my problems, but I'm loathe to pull out my soundcard unless I've no other options available.

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Go to start , run, and dxdiag, and hit enter.

Go to the sound tab and turn off hardware acceleration.(slide bar all the way to the left.)

Turn off EAX in game sound options, and turn off alt sound or whatever the other thing, I forget what its called.

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Okay....if he sets the FSB to 133 like it was. and puts the ram at a 4/5 ratio that will make his ram run at .8x133=106.4MHz which is a very small oc on the ram but it would be okay. I dont know much about the mainboard he has and if it is a mobo from a prefab company than it wont matter prolly cause most of them dont allow u to select the mem/ram ratio. But if he does he sure as hell can make it run at a 133FSB again.

When the FSB slows down to 100 to match the PC100 ram in there it will go by its multiplier 11? and not be at its top speed because the fsb decides the cpu speedxthe cpu's multiplier.

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Okay....if he sets the FSB to 133 like it was. and puts the ram at a 4/5 ratio that will make his ram run at .8x133=106.4MHz which is a very small oc on the ram but it would be okay. I dont know much about the mainboard he has and if it is a mobo from a prefab company than it wont matter prolly cause most of them dont allow u to select the mem/ram ratio. But if he does he sure as hell can make it run at a 133FSB again.

When the FSB slows down to 100 to match the PC100 ram in there it will go by its multiplier 11? and not be at its top speed because the fsb decides the cpu speedxthe cpu's multiplier.

My processor is running at the speed it's supposed to run at, ~1.5GHz Athlon XP1800+. That's why I was confused. The CPU is still running at the normal setting. I assumed that if the RAM slowed down, that the CPU would do so as well, but that is not the case. At any rate, adding the 256Mb of PC100 seems to have helped my PC so far. I've just finished 1.5 hours of hard gaming, with no trouble at all. You wouldn't believe how cool it is to fly a P-51 Mustang in OFP. :D

@Phantm: I'll try that and see what happens.

Edited by Parabellum
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I always go on the assumption that most people dont overclock and have stcok systems that they dont want to mess with, which is true in Para's case.

Besides that, the performance loss between the PC100 and the PC 133 isnt enough that he will even notice it at all, nor will any of his programs or hardware.

And no matter what his Proc speed is, or the multiplier, the bus is still only going to match the slowest RAM in his machine. And the RAM he has may not run over clocked.

There are alot of variables here that we dont know about, so in a case like this it is best to go with stock and not even bring tweaks and overclocking into it. The user also may not be comfortable taking a chance or risk with his hardware, no matter how small a risk or chance us experts think it might be.

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Ram cannot run at 133 and 100 indivudually so your ram is either both at 133 meaning one has been oc'd or the other hasbeen brought down to too. You're FSB and ram are directly connected. You can't have ur fsb be 133 and ur ram be at 100MHz unless u use a divider or mem ratio which I am pretty sure you aren't. Your ram would have to be at 100 pretty much there really isn't any way for it to be oc'd without you doing so.

So your ram is at 100Mhz frequency thus so is your FSB. Your multiplier is 11.5. So 11.5x100=1150MHz is what ur cpu is actually running at unless you have changed the cpu/mem ratio.

What are you using to tell ur ram and cpu frequency? Try CPU-Z.

I assumed that if the RAM slowed down, that the CPU would do so as well
You are right as long as you are in a 1:1 ratio.

I'm not asking him to OC or mess with his settings Im just explaining to him that his cpu isn't@1533MHz since his FSB is now 100.

Edited by Stinger
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Bottom line is in a stock machine if he mixes 133 and 100, his FSB and all RAM will run at 100, and the performance difference is next to nil under his circumstances. No matter what he does with the RAM his proc is still going to run at 1.6.

Thats real world, no tweaking, just mixing PC100 with PC133 and changing nothing.

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And no matter what his Proc speed is, or the multiplier, the bus is still only going to match the slowest RAM in his machine. And the RAM he has may not run over clocked.
So that would be 100 right? The multiplier is 11.5 so 11.5x100=1150MHz and that is not 1533MHz so his cpu is not at default and 400MHz is kinda big at least in my opinion.

My processor is running at the speed it's supposed to run at, ~1.5GHz Athlon XP1800+. That's why I was confused. The CPU is still running at the normal setting. I assumed that if the RAM slowed down, that the CPU would do so as well, but that is not the case
It is dude go to any hardware site they will tell you the same thing.
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Ram cannot run at 133 and 100 indivudually so your ram is either both at 133 meaning one has been oc'd or the other hasbeen brought down to too. You're FSB and ram are directly connected. You can't have ur fsb be 133 and ur ram be at 100MHz unless u use a divider or mem ratio which I am pretty sure you aren't.  Your ram would have to be at 100 pretty much there really isn't any way for it to be oc'd without you doing so.

So your ram is at 100Mhz frequency thus so is your FSB. Your multiplier is 11.5. So 11.5x100=1150MHz is what ur cpu is actually running at unless you have changed the cpu/mem ratio.

What are you using to tell ur ram and cpu frequency? Try CPU-Z.

I assumed that if the RAM slowed down, that the CPU would do so as well
You are right as long as you are in a 1:1 ratio.

I'm not asking him to OC or mess with his settings Im just explaining to him that his cpu isn't@1533MHz since his FSB is now 100.

Look here:

CPU Clock Speed: 1526.4 MHz

Clock multiplier: x 11.5

Front Side Bus Frequency: 132.7 MHz

Bus Speed: 265.5 MHz

Memory

RAM Type DDR-SDRAM

RAM Size 512 MBytes

That's straight from CPU-Z. As you can see, the processor's FSB is not currently set at 100 MHz. My PC is also running closer to 1533 MHz than 1500 MHz. As you can see, my FSB is not 100 MHz, nor is my PC running right at 1500 MHz. Interestingly, CPU-Z did not tell me anything about my RAM. It simply told me that I have 512 MBytes. And, yes, my CPU is running at the default speed. :D

Edited by Parabellum
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Than that means one of two things: your ram has been oc'd or that is pc133 ram (both modules). This is just how it is you can't just have magic and the ram work at 133 and 100 and make ur cpu then 133x11.5 :(

One module is clearly marked PC133, and one is clearly marked PC100. At this point, I'm assuming that the PC100 has become Over-clocked, which is what I thought happened in the first place. My concern was whether or not that would damage my PC. I'm really not worried about overheating, as I've got a desktop fan blowing through the case at all times.

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Well then, one of two things has happened.

One, The hardware test and site are wrong.

Two, Your mobo BIOS automatically over clocked your PC100 to PC133 or it isnt PC 100 RAM at all.

Your RAM all has to run at the same speed. There is no getting around that.

So something has to give here.

95% of all PC's, left to default settings with no intervention, slow down to the speed of the slowest RAM since Overclocking on 95% of machines is not an automatic option.

So something else is happening here that we dont have the facts about.

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95% of all PC's, left to default settings with no intervention, slow down to the speed of the slowest RAM since Overclocking on 95% of machines is not an automatic option.

So something else is happening here that we dont have the facts about.

Agreed, I have never heard of a mobo clocking up slower ram.

@Para, try another cpu program calle WCPUID it is another analyzer of cpu speed.

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