DDR3-2100 and AMD: How does it work?

[chucky2]

I haven't paid attention to the bus speeds and multipliers and whatnot for a long time. My brothers mobo is freaking out under game load (but fine when not under game load), so I'm going to take his mobo, CPU (same as mine), and RAM, and get him a new mobo and RAM, then give him my CPU; CPU is Phenom II X2 550.

The mobo I want to get him is: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 AM3+

It supports DDR3-2100.

So can I just plug the X2 550 in, (hopefully unlock it to a 4 core), plug some DDR3-2100 in, and that's it? Or will I have to adjust multipliers and whatnot?

Chuck

 

[Blain]

My brothers mobo is freaking out under game load (but fine when not under game load)

I've never witnessed a MB freak out.
Can you capture it on video before you replace it?

 

[exar333]

DDR3-2100 is a waste for most tasks. Stick with DDR-1600 and save some $$$ and get the same performance.

 

[chucky2]

I've never witnessed a MB freak out.
Can you capture it on video before you replace it?

Black screen, random reboots, sometimes with Hypertransport errors. But mostly only when the PC is under a real load (which for this PC is when gaming). For any normal 'surf the net' load, it's fine. Which means it'll be fine for my use, not so fine for my brother who games some.

P.S. I'd capture it on video but I'm scared of what's going on inside of the case, so I go all police brutality on it by hitting Reset.

DDR3-2100 is a waste for most tasks. Stick with DDR-1600 and save some $$$ and get the same performance.

The $$ difference is negligable between 1600, 1866, and 2100. What I'm wondering is, would the CPU run at stock speeds if I put 2100 memory in there, or, would I have to overclock something, maybe the CPU maybe not, to get the RAM to run at the 2100 speeds?

I guess what I'm asking is, is the RAM decoupled from the CPU, or does something tie them together?

Maybe w/o overclocking my CPU could only run 1333 RAM?

Chuck

 

[ElFenix]

ram sticks that i've come across usually have some failsafe default mode (SPD) and often you'll have to go into the BIOS to adjust to the rated specs. that's my experience with ddr2.

 

[chucky2]

Well, the board itself will support say DDR3-2100 memory. But reading about Phenom/Phenom II on AMD/Wiki, it just says AM3 supports up to DDR3-1333.

So does this mean if I buy memory higher than DDR3-1333, it is a waste, since it will default down to what the CPU will support? Or is it possible to up the memory speed somehow to get to 1600/1866/2100 without having to overclock the CPU?

I guess I need to go find an AM3 overlocking guide that was written at least with references to running DDR3-1600 memory.

Chuck

 

[greenhawk]

last time my computer (older one) did the unstable at stock it was the power supply dieing / getting old. Another time it was the fan on the CPU had died and I did not notice it in normal use

 

[chucky2]

I'm really hoping it's not the power supply, as I just put one in a couple of years ago when I toasted the last one (a 36A single rail Antec no less )

What's odd is that, normally, on a cold boot, you just need to reset the PC after you get into Windows and you're fine for the duration of use. It's almost like some capacitor or something needs to 'power up' before the machine is fully stable.