ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA

[Neurodog]

Nicely priced board for Quad support! about $80 Canadian

 

[Mr Vain]

A recent review by ProClockers.

http://www.pro-clockers.com/review.php?id=207

 

[ComatoseDelirium]

PCI Express / AGP selection flexibility is also one of the features that can?t be missed out in this Dual series product line. Being the Dual Series, 4CoreDual-VSTA is able to support AGP8X and PCI Express Graphics card simultaneously, supporting up to 4 monitors together at the same time.

Thats from the Pro-Clockers review... the way I read that both an agp and a pci-e 4x card will work at the same time.. for the 4 monitor support.. but that just can't be true

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: ComatoseDelirium

PCI Express / AGP selection flexibility is also one of the features that can?t be missed out in this Dual series product line. Being the Dual Series, 4CoreDual-VSTA is able to support AGP8X and PCI Express Graphics card simultaneously, supporting up to 4 monitors together at the same time.

Thats from the Pro-Clockers review... the way I read that both an agp and a pci-e 4x card will work at the same time.. for the 4 monitor support.. but that just can't be true

VIA says it can!

Featuring VIA's revolutionary Universal Graphics Interface (UGI), the VIA PT880 Ultra enables support for the latest generation of PCI Express Graphic cards as well as existing AGP 3.0 graphics cards, providing OEMs, SIs, and end-users much needed flexibility during the transition period. Furthermore, motherboards based on the VIA PT880 Ultra support VIA DualGFX Express, by running both AGP and PCI-Express graphics cards simultaneously, providing the ability to connect to as many as four separate displays.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/p4-series/pt880_ultra/




Your not supposed to run SLI with AGP but this guy has runned an AGP and PCI-e in SLI Mode.

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/articles/sli-using-pcie-agp-7600gs/g1.htm

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/articles/SLI_using_PCIe_and_AGP_Cards/g1.htm

Anything is possible it seems, I hope that Gary Key can look into this possibility during his review of this Motherboard.

 

[timzak]

Just got one of these with an E4300. Worked right away at 2.4 Ghz stock voltage. Using Crucial Ballistix DDR400 and 6800GS AGP video.

My only problem so far is I can't get DOS to load up. My DOS bootdisk starts to load, then pauses with a blinking cursor for a LONG time before the a: prompt appears. Then it won't let me change drive letters to c:. I use Drive Image for backups and it runs through DOS, so this is kind of a big deal. Does anyone have any tips? I checks for any obvious bios settings and didn't see any that might be related to this.

Thanks.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: timzak
Just got one of these with an E4300. Worked right away at 2.4 Ghz stock voltage. Using Crucial Ballistix DDR400 and 6800GS AGP video.

My only problem so far is I can't get DOS to load up. My DOS bootdisk starts to load, then pauses with a blinking cursor for a LONG time before the a: prompt appears. Then it won't let me change drive letters to c:. I use Drive Image for backups and it runs through DOS, so this is kind of a big deal. Does anyone have any tips? I checks for any obvious bios settings and didn't see any that might be related to this.

Thanks.

That sounds like a problem in detecting your HD.

 

[timzak]

It's the same hard drive, partitioned and formatted the same way as the previous system it was in. It's hard drive #2 (not the same as what I just installed the OS on). There is one 32 GB FAT32 partition (Drive Image requires FAT32) with the remainder being NTFS used for archiving. Since it's the only FAT32 partition on the system, it should be automatically detected as C: in DOS, but it's not. I'm not sure what's different about this mobo than the previous, but something's not right. The partition works normally from within Windows, just something's not right from DOS.

Any ideas from anyone?

 

[timzak]

Besides not being able to boot into DOS (my bootdisk floppy works fine on my wife's computer), I haven't been able to get the board to run fully stable at DDR400 with my Crucial Ballistix. Most everything works fine, but SuperPI errors out on the 8M test. If I drop the ram speed to DDR333, I can set the memory timings as tight as they go and it runs stable. But the second the memory hits 200 Mhz, SuperPI starts failing at 8M. Weird. So far I've gotten up to 290 FSB (memory @ DDR333 is running at 181Mhz with 2.0-2-2-5 1T timings). I tried 300 and the system froze at the BIOS startup screen. I haven't tried anything between 290 and 300 yet. Any tips on getting the system to run stable at DDR400?

 

[timzak]

One last update before I go to bed. If I turn on that memory compatibility setting (I forget what it's called at the moment), it always sets the memory to 133Mhz, no matter what (I have it set to DDR400). Since I can't get the ram to run stable at 200Mhz (DDR400), the best I've been able to get so far is set to DDR333, turn off the memory compatibility setting, and tighten the timings as much as possible (2.0-2-2-5 1T dual channel).

Still no luck with the dos bootdisk, I've tried bios 1.4 (came with that loaded) and 1.5 (the latest). I tried creating a new dos bootdisk, same problem. I tried creating a memtestx86 bootdisk and it loads up just fine. So it seems to be some issue with DOS? Weird. Gary, have you tried a dos bootdisk? Anyone else with this board try?

Thx,
Tim

 

[tno]

Tim,

You may want to check the ASRock 775Dual-VSTAASRock 775Dual-VSTA thread for more information about tweaking this board. The boards are close siblings who, as earlier postings have attested, are separated by just a sticker (same chipset, different names).

There are over 2000 posts in the tread so I'd consider searching through them for DOS problems. As far as memory problems, I'm quoting the below with lots of info on overclocking and memory timings.

Tno

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: Javvis
Per request ...the following are the Voltages on the Asrock 775 VSTA Board:

agp "high" 1.59v
agp "low" 1.54v
--------------------
DDR "high" 2.73v
DDR "norm"2.63v
DDR "low 2.53v
--------------------
DDR2 "high" 2.0v
DDR2 "norm" 1.9v
DDR2 "low" 1.8v


Now back to my previous post question: I've purchased several of these Asrock 775 VSTA boards & recently built a system as listed below:

1.) 3.0 ghz Cedar Mill.
2.) 2 sticks 256mb Geil 3500 DDR memory sticks .
3.) AGP Card.

I set the FSB to 233 & the memory to 200 ...& it booted up at 3500 mhz without any increase in processor (30 C) temp.

I noticed while using the newest version of Everest ...that my Memory was running at 217 mhz & the memory/FSB divider was 6/8. I've always thought that it's better to run 1:1 or possibly 1:2. (Flexibility option is turned off)

Could someone please explain this memory/FSB divider thing for this board in detail using my setup with DDR & also if I switched to DDR2. I would like to run at 1:1 ...how would I do this ? I've looked elsewhere & could only find minimal info regarding this.

I've got a new 6300 CD2 ...but, I think the 4300 or upcoming 4400 would work better on this board because these CPU's have lower FSB (200 vs. 266) & higher multiplier.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I have come across this explanation by Slipstreem in regards to ram dividers. I'm sure I have posted it here in this forum somewhere before, hope this helps.

Quote
Hi peeps!

I've noticed that quite a few people who are relatively new to overclocking seem to be having trouble setting their DDR memory up correctly on this motherboard.

The following may be helpful to someone...

You cannot lock the memory speed on this motherboard, but you can manually change the divider to bring the memory speed back down when you overclock.

The dividers aren't expressed as dividers in the BIOS. They are expressed as DDR speeds which can be a little confusing.

I'll try to explain:

At 200MHz FSB (quad-pumped 800MHz for an E4300), the motherboard will give the following memory speeds for its stated 'DDR' speeds when used with DDR memory...

'DDR400' = 1:1 = 200MHz = DDR400,
'DDR333' = 6:5 = 166.7MHz = DDR333,
'DDR266' = 3:2 = 133.3MHz = DDR266.

These dividers hold true until the we reach an FSB of 240MHz where a new set of dividers are invoked as shown below. Now, suppose that we take the FSB straight up to the level that most unmodified Dual-VSTA motherboards will reach. This seems to be around 290MHz. The dividers and memory speeds will then be as follows...

'DDR400' = 4:3 = 217.5MHz = DDR435,
'DDR333' = 8:5 = 181.25MHz = DDR362.5,
'DDR266' = 2:1 = 145MHz = DDR290.

These new dividers make perfect sense when you consider that at an FSB of 266MHz, the memory speeds are actually DDR400, DDR333 and DDR266 again. This gives the correct memory speeds for processors running at a quad-pumped speed of 1066MHz, ie, the E6300, etc.

So, we don't have precise control over the memory speed achieved for a given FSB, but we can predict what it will be and select the appropriate 'DDR' setting in the BIOS for a given FSB.

Good DDR memory with slackened timings should manage at 290MHz FSB on the new dividers. If it doesn't, then knock the setting in the BIOS down to the 'DDR' setting below the one that matches your memory's actual DDR speed and try tighter timings to compensate for the underclock.

I hope this makes sense.

Cheers, Slipstreem.

 

[timzak]

Thanks, Tno. The thing that caught my eye was:
DDR "high" 2.73v

My Crucial Ballistix DDR400 is spec'd to run at 2.8v, so I wonder if it's not getting enough juice to run at stock speeds, given the "high" setting I have it at is still below it's rated voltage. I've tried just about everything that's been suggested and can't get the system to run stable at DDR400 memory speeds.

I'll keep reading up on the 775Dual-VSTA thread. Thanks again.

Tim

Originally posted by: tno
Tim,

You may want to check the ASRock 775Dual-VSTAASRock 775Dual-VSTA thread for more information about tweaking this board. The boards are close siblings who, as earlier postings have attested, are separated by just a sticker (same chipset, different names).

There are over 2000 posts in the tread so I'd consider searching through them for DOS problems. As far as memory problems, I'm quoting the below with lots of info on overclocking and memory timings.

Tno

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: Javvis
Per request ...the following are the Voltages on the Asrock 775 VSTA Board:

agp "high" 1.59v
agp "low" 1.54v
--------------------
DDR "high" 2.73v
DDR "norm"2.63v
DDR "low 2.53v
--------------------
DDR2 "high" 2.0v
DDR2 "norm" 1.9v
DDR2 "low" 1.8v


Now back to my previous post question: I've purchased several of these Asrock 775 VSTA boards & recently built a system as listed below:

1.) 3.0 ghz Cedar Mill.
2.) 2 sticks 256mb Geil 3500 DDR memory sticks .
3.) AGP Card.

I set the FSB to 233 & the memory to 200 ...& it booted up at 3500 mhz without any increase in processor (30 C) temp.

I noticed while using the newest version of Everest ...that my Memory was running at 217 mhz & the memory/FSB divider was 6/8. I've always thought that it's better to run 1:1 or possibly 1:2. (Flexibility option is turned off)

Could someone please explain this memory/FSB divider thing for this board in detail using my setup with DDR & also if I switched to DDR2. I would like to run at 1:1 ...how would I do this ? I've looked elsewhere & could only find minimal info regarding this.

I've got a new 6300 CD2 ...but, I think the 4300 or upcoming 4400 would work better on this board because these CPU's have lower FSB (200 vs. 266) & higher multiplier.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I have come across this explanation by Slipstreem in regards to ram dividers. I'm sure I have posted it here in this forum somewhere before, hope this helps.

Quote
Hi peeps!

I've noticed that quite a few people who are relatively new to overclocking seem to be having trouble setting their DDR memory up correctly on this motherboard.

The following may be helpful to someone...

You cannot lock the memory speed on this motherboard, but you can manually change the divider to bring the memory speed back down when you overclock.

The dividers aren't expressed as dividers in the BIOS. They are expressed as DDR speeds which can be a little confusing.

I'll try to explain:

At 200MHz FSB (quad-pumped 800MHz for an E4300), the motherboard will give the following memory speeds for its stated 'DDR' speeds when used with DDR memory...

'DDR400' = 1:1 = 200MHz = DDR400,
'DDR333' = 6:5 = 166.7MHz = DDR333,
'DDR266' = 3:2 = 133.3MHz = DDR266.

These dividers hold true until the we reach an FSB of 240MHz where a new set of dividers are invoked as shown below. Now, suppose that we take the FSB straight up to the level that most unmodified Dual-VSTA motherboards will reach. This seems to be around 290MHz. The dividers and memory speeds will then be as follows...

'DDR400' = 4:3 = 217.5MHz = DDR435,
'DDR333' = 8:5 = 181.25MHz = DDR362.5,
'DDR266' = 2:1 = 145MHz = DDR290.

These new dividers make perfect sense when you consider that at an FSB of 266MHz, the memory speeds are actually DDR400, DDR333 and DDR266 again. This gives the correct memory speeds for processors running at a quad-pumped speed of 1066MHz, ie, the E6300, etc.

So, we don't have precise control over the memory speed achieved for a given FSB, but we can predict what it will be and select the appropriate 'DDR' setting in the BIOS for a given FSB.

Good DDR memory with slackened timings should manage at 290MHz FSB on the new dividers. If it doesn't, then knock the setting in the BIOS down to the 'DDR' setting below the one that matches your memory's actual DDR speed and try tighter timings to compensate for the underclock.

I hope this makes sense.

Cheers, Slipstreem.

 

[tno]

The other line to focus on is towards the bottom where they discuss the fact that the DDR selection is really more of a memory divider selection. The strange thing is that with a FSB of 200 and DDR400 selected then you should have a 1:1 memory running at . . . 200. Which is where you're not working. But when you o/c to the high of 290, setting DDR400 would o/c your memory, hence the errors, and setting it at DDR33 would give you 181, which is what your getting. So when o/c'd your system is running as it should. But at stock speeds it's failing. You may be right about the voltage issue.

Now, are you using a pin mod to acheive 2.4? That would mean you're not running a 200FSB, but rather a 266 FSB which again, if you are running it at DDR400 would mean it would try to o/c your memory beyond 400 and could explain your errors. How does it run when set at 1.8 (-pin mod)?

 

[timzak]

Tno,

No pin mod. I just set the FSB from 200 to 266 in the bios. I don't think you need a pin mod to do this? Unless there's something I don't know. My goal is to run at FSB 266 with DDR @ 400 (ie, 2.4Ghz). I have to go back and try 1.8Ghz again, it's been awhile since I tried, but I remember not being able to run @ DDR400 at 1.8 either. I do recall that when I first booted up with everything set to "auto" the mobo decided to run the memory at DDR333. As I said earlier, setting memory flexibility to "enable" just drops the memory speed, regardless of what you might manually set it to. So if you set memory to DDR400 and turn on flexibility, it just drops the memory to DDR266.

We'll see about 1.8Ghz. I'll try tonight after work.

Edit: Just realized I have Corsair XMS3200c2 (2x 512) in my wife's computer that I believe defaults at 2.6v. So I can test the voltage theory by trading ram with her. If it turns out well for me, she will gain speed too with the Ballistix in her system.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[tno]

Hope the Corsair works for you, especially since I'm hoping to pick one of these up myself. I plan on using DDR2 on the board though so I don't think I'll have that complication. From the slipstream post, fsb 200 or 266 SHOULD produce the DDR400 speed you're hoping for. Let us know how that works out.

Tno

 

[timzak]

Tno,

No luck w/the Corsair so far. I'm still trying. Here's what I've found out. At FSB200 (stock 1.8Ghz E4300), I can seem to get DDR400 working with very relaxed timings (2.5-3-3-8 2T), but it won't work at the memory's rated timings. When I say "seem" I mean dual Prime stable for about an hour before I stopped it. Normally, Prime fails within minutes. I don't get why neither the Corsair nor the Ballistix can run at DDR400 at their rated speeds. I guess I keep playing with the bios settings and if all else fails, settle for DDR333 speeds and crank up the FSB higher to try and make up some of the lost memory speed. Will report back if anything changes, and I'd appreciate any other input anyone else has. Would love it if someone with a similar setup (E4300, Crucial Ballistix or Corsair DDR400, AGP video) could report their bios settings if they get their stable at DDR266 or higher.

Thx.

 

[Mr Vain]

What program are you using to find your memory speed?

Try HWINFO32 some programs like CPU-z don't read the chipset properly.

http://www.hwinfo.com/

 

[timzak]

Originally posted by: Mr Vain
What program are you using to find your memory speed?

Try HWINFO32 some programs like CPU-z don't read the chipset properly.

http://www.hwinfo.com/

Mr Vain, I assume you are replying to me?

I've tried HWINFO32 and it always gives me the same readings as the latest CPU-Z.

 

[timzak]

Another update. It's become clear that flexibility mode just forces DDR266 speeds. You could get identical results by just manually setting memory speed to DDR266 (at least with an E4300 cpu).

The cpu runs like a champ up to 2.6Ghz (FSB 290). Temps hover around 35-37 C idle and 44-47 C under full load in a warm office with Intel HSF. Temps hardly vary at all between 1.8Ghz and 2.6Ghz. The Intel fan is very quiet--runs @ 2100 rpm at 100% speeds. I'm using Speedfan to control it and it runs mostly at 1400 rpm (cpu never gets warm enough to kick up to 100% fan unless I'm dual-primig).

The next thing I noticed is that DDR400 is more stable at 1:1 (1.8Ghz) than 4:3 (2.4Ghz) for me. To factor out the cpu overclock, I tested for stability with DDR266 speeds @ 2.4Ghz and found the system completely stable. That to me implies that my memory doesn't like running at 4:3 for some reason.

I can run 2.4Ghz @ DDR400 with loose timings seemingly stable in most apps, but it fails pretty quick under Orthos/Prime. I've tried every combination of bios settings I could find in the 775Dual-VSTA thread here and on VR-Zone, unless there's some combination I've missed. My next step is to make a spreadsheet with every combination of bios settings so I can test more methodically and thoroughly. But right now, it looks like I'll be forced to run my memory @ DDR333 if I want to overclock at all.

Disappointing, yes, but considering I'm upgrading from a mobile AthlonXP @ 2.4Ghz, it's still about 2x faster than my old rig in most situations. And it cost me only $250 for cpu/mobo (reused everything else from old system).

Tim

 

[timzak]

This is weird. All of my stability issues I was having before were with two instances of Prime95. I've since started running Orthos (the one that automatically tests both cores) and am getting fewer errors and better stability. I don't know if my system is breaking in slowly and getting more stable, or if I was either running Prime95 wrong, or there is some bug with P95. But I just completed a full night of Orthos @ 2.4Ghz and DDR400 with auto timings (2.0-2-2-8). I'll take it! BTW, I am working on a memory timing grid for this mobo, here's what I have so far:

CPU SPEED MEM MEM Mhz FSB/DRAM Ratio Auto Timings
1800 (200x9) DDR266 133 3:2 2.5-2-2-6
DDR333 167 6:5 2.5-2-2-7
DDR400 200 1:1 2.0-2-2-8
1900 (211x9) DDR266 141 3:2 2.5-2-2-6
DDR333 176 6:5 2.5-2-2-7
DDR400 211 1:1 2.0-2-2-8
2000 (222x9) DDR266 148 3:2 2.5-2-2-6
DDR333 185 6:5 2.5-2-2-7
DDR400 222 1:1 3-3-3-8*
2100 (233x9) DDR266 117 2:1 2.5-2-2-6
DDR333 146 8:5 2.5-2-2-7
DDR400 175 4:3 2.0-2-2-8
2200 (244x9) DDR266 122 2:1 2.5-2-2-6
DDR333 153 8:5 2.5-2-2-7
DDR400 183 4:3 2.0-2-2-8
2300 (256x9) DDR266
DDR333
DDR400
2400 (267x9) DDR266 133
DDR333 167
DDR400 200 2.0-2-2-8

Doesn't exactly copy and paste well from Excel, but hopefully it makes enough sense to be helpful to someone (is there a way to format this better in a forum post?). This is for an E4300 with 9x multiplier. I'm not sure if it would be different for different cpus...the auto timings are funny...why does it always choose CAS 2.5 for 133 and 167 Mhz, but CAS 2.0 for 200 Mhz?

BTW, I still cannot boot to a floppy. Asrock tech suggested my floppy disk was bad, then suggested I reflash bios. Neither have fixed the problem. Does anyone else have this mobo? Can you try booting with a floppy disk to dos and let me know if it works?
edit: I just got a "driverless" bootdisk to work. So now I'm wondering if maybe it's an issue with loading into upper memory...perhaps the mobo bios takes up key areas of upper memory. I'm waiting for a response from Asrock tech support.

 

[timzak]

For anyone who is interested, I discovered why I could not boot to DOS. When the parallel port is disabled in the bios, I cannot boot to my DOS floppy. When I ENable the parallel port, I can now boot to DOS! Weird. I already reported it to Asrock tech support, but just an fyi for anyone here who might have the same problem down the road.

Cheers.

 

[Tedtalker1]

Thanks for the postings timzak.Good job with the chart.I hope to be getting this board next month when the new CPUs come out and your work along with others is very much appreciated.

 

[lookin4dlz]

Any news on about the review date? Thanks.

Originally posted by: Gary Key

Originally posted by: Mr Vain

Originally posted by: Gary Key

Originally posted by: nyker96
Anyone who played with this board, does it overclock better than the original 775dual? Any data on this one?

I am getting slightly better overclocks, gone from around 300 to 315 stable.

Gary are we likely to see a review on this motherboard here at Anandtech soon?

Yes, and it will be with a Quad Core.

 

[Fercyful]

Hi There!!

I just rebuild my system.

Here 4CoreDual-VSTA + Core 2 Duo E6600 (please check my previous system below)
I keep of course the EVGA 7800GS AGP, RAM and hard drives...

I have a doubt that I hope to can explain well with my humble english...

My RAM is 1gb DDR1 (400) + 512MB DDR1 (333) both running in single channel at "333"
(for luck they actually works!!)


In BIOS if I set CPU "AUTO" then in Windows XP reports that my CPU is running at 2.3 (instead of the 2.4) In EVEREST I check and says this: 9x256 = 2356 Mhz can be that when I set "AUTO" the CPU actually "syncs" with my low end 333 RAM and that is the reason of the bad speed report under windows... also notice that Everest says about RAM DRAM:FSB ratio 5:8 and runs at 160 Mhz!!! (not the 166 Mhz (333) I check at setup option.

BUT if I put in BIOS "CPU, PCIE Async" (not doing overclock, just changing that setting) then in Windows all works well and I see finally 2.4 there! (9x266 Everest) and the RAM fixes also: under Everest 166 Mhz (333 DDR1) All normal!

At the BIOS always the CPU is detected well at 2400 MHZ (E6660) my CPU is ok and all was boxed... and the RAM also is detected well at 333...

please any help with this? Maybe the system need at least a DDR 400 to have the FSB in a right way but I can test that right now...

thanks a lot for any advice!

 

[mercanucaribe]

Slots: 1x PCI-Express Graphics slot; 1x AGP 8X slot; 4x PCI slots


1x??

 

[timzak]

Originally posted by: Fercyful
Hi There!!

I just rebuild my system.

Here 4CoreDual-VSTA + Core 2 Duo E6600 (please check my previous system below)
I keep of course the EVGA 7800GS AGP, RAM and hard drives...

I have a doubt that I hope to can explain well with my humble english...

My RAM is 1gb DDR1 (400) + 512MB DDR1 (333) both running in single channel at "333"
(for luck they actually works!!)


In BIOS if I set CPU "AUTO" then in Windows XP reports that my CPU is running at 2.3 (instead of the 2.4) In EVEREST I check and says this: 9x256 = 2356 Mhz can be that when I set "AUTO" the CPU actually "syncs" with my low end 333 RAM and that is the reason of the bad speed report under windows... also notice that Everest says about RAM DRAM:FSB ratio 5:8 and runs at 160 Mhz!!! (not the 166 Mhz (333) I check at setup option.

BUT if I put in BIOS "CPU, PCIE Async" (not doing overclock, just changing that setting) then in Windows all works well and I see finally 2.4 there! (9x266 Everest) and the RAM fixes also: under Everest 166 Mhz (333 DDR1) All normal!

At the BIOS always the CPU is detected well at 2400 MHZ (E6660) my CPU is ok and all was boxed... and the RAM also is detected well at 333...

please any help with this? Maybe the system need at least a DDR 400 to have the FSB in a right way but I can test that right now...

thanks a lot for any advice!

The 256 FSB when set to auto is either a bug or Asrock's way of guaranteeing stability. Your ram is at 160 because the FSB is slightly underclocked 8:5=1.6; 256/1.6=160; 266/1.6=166). I don't think you have anything to worry about. As long as you're able to run stable at 2.4Ghz at DDR333, all is well.

Do you actually need 1.5GB of ram? You are hurting performance by running at DDR333 just to gain another 512MB of ram. If you just use your 1GB stick and run at DDR400 you will gain significantly in performance. Of course, if you use memory intensive applications where 1.5GB is needed to avoid big hits to the pagefile, then 1.5GB @ DDR333 makes sense.