RAM operating frequency problem

[Zeratul]

Hello there,

I'm having a problem with my PC.

I have two RAM slots and only one bank in my motherboard

I have to set my PC's RAM frequency to 266 MHz. If i make it 333MHz, the pc becomes completely unstable and at an unpredicted instant, it produces the cute BSOD.

Currenlty, there's no problem. But i want to buy another RAM stick.
If i install this new one, will my pc be stable or not?????
Also, i want to know why my pc is unstable at ram freq.=333mhz?

Also, when i went to purchase a new ram stick and get an overview of the prices, they asked me whether i want DDR1 or DDR2 ? >>What are these? what is pc2700 or pc2100????

Please help me.

After using CPU-Z, here are my PC's data::

Name Intel Pentium 4

Code Name Northwood 
Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz 
Family / Model / Stepping F 2 7 
Extended Family / Model F 2 
Brand ID 9 
Package mPGA-478 
Core Stepping C1 
Technology 0.13 um 
Supported Instructions Sets MMX, SSE, SSE2 
CPU Clock Speed 2422.6 MHz 
Clock multiplier x 18.0 
Front Side Bus Frequency 134.6 MHz 
Bus Speed 538.4 MHz 
L1 Data Cache 8 KBytes, 4-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size 
L1 Trace Cache 12 Kuops, 8-way set associative 
L2 Cache 512 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size 
L2 Speed 2422.6 MHz (Full) 
L2 Location On Chip 
L2 Data Prefetch Logic yes 
L2 Bus Width 256 bits

Mainboard and chipset

Motherboard manufacturer MICRO-STAR INC. 
Motherboard model MS-6788, 20A 
BIOS vendor American Megatrends Inc. 
BIOS revision V5.4 on 07.00T 
BIOS release date 07/02/04 
Chipset Intel i865P/PE/G/i848P rev. A2 
Southbridge Intel 82801EB (ICH5) rev. 02 
Sensor chip Winbond W83627THF 
FSB Select 533 MHz 
Performance Mode enabled

Memory

DRAM Type DDR-SDRAM 
DRAM Size 256 MBytes 
DRAM Frequency 134.6 MHz 
FSB:DRAM 1:1 
CAS# Latency 2.5 clocks 
RAS# to CAS# 4 clocks 
RAS# Precharge 4 clocks 
Cycle Time (TRAS) 8 clocks 
# of memory modules 1 
Module 0 DDR PC2700 - 256 MBytes

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

DDR ram is double data rate, which means the ram frequencies are as follows.

DDR 400(pc3200)=400mhz and runs on an fsb(front side bus) speed of 200mhz.

DDR 333(pc2700)=333mhz and runs on an fsb(front side bus) speed of 166mhz.

DDR 266(pc2100)=266mhz and runs on an fsb(front side bus) speed of 133mhz.

In other words your DDR333(pc2700) ram(if that`s what it is), should be set to an fsb(front side bus) speed of 166mhz. Any higher than that and you`re overclocking the ram. This is very likely to cause stability issues.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

 

[Zeratul]

Thank you X 2

thanks howard for the welcome and thanks for the info.

but i still have a question.

after some googling, i found this:
http://www.overclockercafe.com/Articles/DDR_vs_DDR2/index.htm

in it, i found a comparison between ddr1 and ddr2.

Please correct me if i'm wrong: i think it would be better for me if i want good performance and stability if i buy ddr2 + good speed IF I LATER UPGRADE MY CPU, isn't it?

i feel that i'm wrong because i have some confusion (after looking at that comparison table) because they've written BUS FREQUENCY and DRAM FREQ.

it is to be noted that the DRAM FREQ. is the one i set in the bios for my current RAM stick.

so, which one should i buy? :suspiciou
also, the operating voltages, ddr1=2.5 while ddr2=1.8 , can this work on my MB?

why is ddr2 more expensive than ddr1 although their specs are interchangably good?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

The first thing to check, is whether your mobo supports ddr2 ram.

I suspect DDR2 is more expensive due to it being fairly new technology and the fact it gives better performance, but don`t quote me on that lol.

Regards Howard

 

[Zeratul]

okay, about supporting or not,
i went to intel site http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/848P/index.htm and found that my mobo supports ddr333 sdram

ddr1 and 2 can work on this mobo, isn't it?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

I don`t think your mobo supports DDR2. It certainly doesn`t say it does, so assume it doesn`t. Your mobo supports upto DDR400(pc3200) ram. See your mobo specs HERE.

Regards Howard