Ran CPU-Z Program. I do not understand the timings table

[mikelish]

Here is a screenshot of my current timing data in CPU-Z
Text

I have an Athlon XP 2700+
2x1GB of pqi memory (i cannot find info on suggested memory timings)
FIC k7mnf-64 mobo (not so great but is nForce2)

Could someone tell me if I have good settings for my memory timings? Should I change something in my bios to optimize performance?

 

[aka1nas]

Those aren't your timings. That is the SPD settings programmed into your individual DIMMs. The Memory tab has the current system timings.

What the SPD TAB is saying is that for the stick you currently have selected, it will try to run at 200Mhz@CAS 3 or at 166Mh@CAS 2.5. This is pretty typical for cheap PC3200.

 

[GeezerMan]

I was wondering that myself. In my case, I have what I originally thought of as cheap Ultra PC3200 1GB sticks of ram. I looked closer, and saw the chips were actually made by Aeneon, associated with Infineon. The same part number chips were used at one time in some nice expensive Ocz ram. Anyway, my SPD reads like his, but I can and do, run the ram at DDR480, 2.5-3-3-6 1T. It's stable too, passes Orthos and Memtest for 24 hours. I guess I got lucky, not all of the Ultra uses the same chips.

 

[Lemon law]

To Mikelish,

As aka 1nas says---your cpu-z biggie will be your memory tab---which should report at what speed the ram is running---and you need to look at the top column which is frequency.
If the frequency is reported around 133 MHz---your mobo is running your memory at pc2100---if around 166---then its running at PC2700---and if it reports 200 then you should leave things alone.---unless you want to overclock and then its a riskier game.

But if you are getting pc2700 or below---playing with bios settings and voltages may be required to get full memory speeds with no over clocking--and your mobo manual will help you understand how to do it---and if you don't have a manual you should be able to download one from the mobo's web site---but basically you need to take things off automatic settings, then select PC3200 speeds, and manually enter the 3-3-3-8 timings into your bios.---you also may need to select memory voltages and you can get recommended voltages at the PQI website.---its also possible you may want to update your bios.---and before I forget--you will have to select 1T or 2T--but chances are your ram is the slower 2T.

I also recommend you download a free copy of memtest86 before you start----to verify your ram is error free initially---and if extra settings are needed to get the full 200---then run it memtest86 again to verify you are still error free.

But going from pc2100 speeds to pc3200 speeds should gain a 52% memory throughput gain----going from pc2700 to pc3200 only gains about 18.5%. To verify this--a free download of everest 2.2 would also show this in the memory benchmark section.

 

[mikelish]

here's a couple more screen shots to show you what I have. the memory I ordered from newegg is listed as pc2700 on newegg's website but I think it's pc3200 anyways!

Text

 

[betasub]

That last screenshot clears up a few things: newegg's PC2700 will run at PC3200 speeds (DDR400) using slower timings (see SPD tab in CPU-z).

You are running your Athlon with a 166/333 FSB, and your memory in single-channel mode, so you won't gain much by running the memory at the overclocked speed unless you also run the processor with a matching 200/400 FSB. If you can't use the faster FSB, then at least run the memory in dual-channel mode.

 

[mikelish]

I didn't realize I was using single channel mode.

according to what i've read, single and dual channel don't make a huge difference, but I would like to use dual channel anyways.

i looked through my bios settings. i could not find anywhere to change from single channel to dual channel.

here is what I am using. it says Dual Channel and it's 2 sticks of matched ram.
Text

my motherboard is a FIC k7mnf-64 (nForce2). I hope it supports dual channel. there are only 2 memory slots so it's not possible for me to put the memory in the wrong slots.

 

[GeezerMan]

Dual channel is determined by what slots the ram is placed in, if the motherboard supports dual channel.

 

[mikelish]

"my motherboard is a FIC k7mnf-64 (nForce2). I hope it supports dual channel. there are only 2 memory slots so it's not possible for me to put the memory in the wrong slots."

 

[GeezerMan]

Socket A? I don't think they had dual channel socket A

EDIT: actually, I see mention of some boards supporting dual channel using google, but I don't see it listed under your board specs.

 

[GeezerMan]

Oh, I see this comment on the web. I don't know if it is true though

"This has been mentioned before but dual channel mode on a socket A system offers little or no benefit. This is because the max FSB (un-overclocked) on any socket A CPU is 200MHz/400FSB, which gives a CPU bandwidth of 3200MB/s. That 3200 should look familiar...PC3200 RAM running at 200MHz has a max bandwidth of 3200MB/s, so it's a perfect match. In dual channel mode, the theoretical RAM bandwidth jumps to 6400MB/s, but since the CPU limits the bandwidth to 3200MB/s, running dual mode does very little to boost performance."

 

[betasub]

mikelish, if you RAM is occupying the only two DIMM slots, then it's unlikely that the board supports dual-channel mode (it's a feature of the memory controller on higher-end SocketA boards, such as the popular Abit NF7 series). As GeezerMan quotes, the gain is minor because the FSB can't make best use of memory bandwidth beyond it's own rate: it's a similar gain to that which you're currently getting from running your memory at 400MHz with only a 333MHz FSB.