which ram best for nf7-s?

[adelphi]

2x 512mb pc2700 kingston valueram

or 1x256mb pc3200 crucial and 1x256mb pc3200 hyperx (different timing)

running win xp pro

is running exactly the same brand of ram w/ exact timings better or
running higher speed ram w/ different timing

 

[Soulkeeper]

preferably you want atleast to have the same brand installed
basically you want two sticks of the fastest mem you can afford for an nforce2 board

but getting old pc2700 prob isn't too bad an option if your not overclocking and choose to run it in dual channel mode

also you could just get one 512mb stick of the fast stuff (pc3500 or better) and add another stick at a later time to take advantage of the dual channel mode. you would prob get higher performance from mem running at 217mhz in single channel mode than mem running at 200 or 166 in dual chan mode


good luck

 

[rstarr]

I would go with matching sticks of ram. Mismatched timed ram will only run
at the lower spec'd ram timings (usually).

Are these your only choices for ram?

 

[myocardia]

I agree with Soulkeeper, just get one 512MB stick of PC3200 Corsair XMS or Kingston HyperX. Dual-channel gives almost no performance gains with an Athlon, like it does for a P4.

 

[rancherlee]

some of the older Kingston Valueram pc2700 had BH6 chips, I've got 2 sticks and both hit pc3200 speeds with 2.6V and agressive timings. If it has Winbond chips on it get it. Testing has shown that dualchannel mode only is good for 2-3% gain in memory tests.

 

[adelphi]

is dual channel mode automatically engaged when pair of identical speed ram are installed
or does it have to be engaged in the nf7-s bios?

edit: http://forums.amdmb.com/showthread.php?s=a1b1b30d4cd52ffccf231f3872adb865&threadid=298772
slot 1+3 or 2+3

edit: yep, dual mode auto engaged after i insert ram into slot 2-3, bootup seems ~1/3 faster

 

[Soulkeeper]

does it on it's own
you just gotta put them in the right slots

 

[adelphi]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-542&depa=0
DDRAM 256MB|32X64 PC3200B

4TC3 ?? timing

1x256mb pc2700 stick of this crucial ram is better than the 2x512mb kingston value ram pc2700 ??

running xp pro, burn in period over, ready to try a lil oc

 

[Zebo]

Best ram p/p right now is probably this:
http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushk...20104838a273fc0a8010205b7/Product/View/991090

I paid 130 @ newegg and it's memtest/prime stable @225Mhz @ 2.7V @ Spec cas.


I've heard some guys are getting kingston hyperx PC3000 moldues (KHX) from zipzoomfly with bh-5 chips which do 2-2-2-11 YMMV.

 

[myocardia]

My recommendation if money is tight, but you still want performance: OCZ link.

 

[adelphi]

okay i booted up as xp3200, running prime95 now (and getting ready for work)
what should i adjust next? increase fsb some more or tweak memory (please give suggestions on how)

and is voltage the last option when all else fails to get a stable overclock

CPU-Z Report

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU-Z version 1.21.


CPU(s)
Number of CPUs 1

Code Name Barton
Specification AMD Athlon(tm) XP 3200+
Family / Model / Stepping 6 A 0
Extended Family / Model 7 A
Package Socket A
Technology 0.13 µ
Supported Instructions Sets MMX, Extended MMX, 3DNow!, Extended 3DNow!, SSE
CPU Clock Speed 2194.2 MHz
Clock multiplier x 11.0
Front Side Bus Frequency 199.5 MHz
Bus Speed 398.9 MHz
L1 Data Cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size
L1 Instruction Cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size
L2 Cache 512 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size
L2 Speed 2194.2 MHz (Full)
L2 Location On Chip
L2 Data Prefetch Logic yes
L2 Bus Width 64 bits



Mainboard and chipset
Motherboard manufacturer http://www.abit.com.tw/
Motherboard model NF7-S/NF7 (nVidia-nForce2), 2.X
BIOS vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS revision 6.00 PG
BIOS release date 11/21/2003
Chipset nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 rev. C1
Southbridge nVidia nForce2 MCP-T rev. C1
Sensor chip Winbond W83627HF

AGP Status enabled, rev. 2.0
AGP Data Transfert Rate 4x
AGP Side Band Addressing supported, enabled
AGP Aperture Size 64 MBytes



Memory
DRAM Type DDR-SDRAM
DRAM Size 256 MBytes
DRAM Frequency 199.5 MHz
FSBRAM 1:1
CAS# Latency 3.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge 3 clocks
Cycle Time (TRAS) 8 clocks
# of memory modules 1
Module 0 Micron Technology DDR-SDRAM PC3200 - 256 MBytes



Software
Windows version Microsoft Windows XP Workstation Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)

 

[myocardia]

Yes, raising your vcore is pretty much the last step in getting a higher overclock. But if I were you, I would definitely raise my ram voltage (vdimm) to 2.8v, and change your ram latencies to 2.5-3-3-11, because it will significantly improve your overall system speed.