AMD system RAM speed question

I'm a little confused. I have three AMD systems in the house, 2 on Win7 and 1 on Vista. My own system is Phenom based, and the RAM clocks at either 800 MHz or 1066 MHz, just like it should. As reported by CPU-Z.

In my wife's machine (Asrock N-68, Athlon X2 4000) her DDR2 800 clocks at 740 MHz, and the Media Center Machine (Asus M2N-E, Athlon 3500+) clocks DDR2 667 RAM at 630 MHz. I'm not sure why this happens. CPU-Z reports the proper SPD of both sets of RAM, but it doesn't reach it's actual speed without pushing the FSB up a little, and thus OCing the CPU. I've confirmed the speed discrepancy with Everest and PC Wizard. The BIOS for both says that the RAM is running at it's rated speed

My system has an AMD chipset, but the others have an Nvidia chipset. Is it the chipset, or is there a quirk in the Athlon memory controller that I don't understand? It isn't a big performance hit, but it is weird. Anybody else ever see this happen?

Mellon Head said:

I'm a little confused. I have three AMD systems in the house, 2 on Win7 and 1 on Vista. My own system is Phenom based, and the RAM clocks at either 800 MHz or 1066 MHz, just like it should. As reported by CPU-Z.

In my wife's machine (Asrock N-68, Athlon X2 4000) her DDR2 800 clocks at 740 MHz, and the Media Center Machine (Asus M2N-E, Athlon 3500+) clocks DDR2 667 RAM at 630 MHz. I'm not sure why this happens. CPU-Z reports the proper SPD of both sets of RAM, but it doesn't reach it's actual speed without pushing the FSB up a little, and thus OCing the CPU. I've confirmed the speed discrepancy with Everest and PC Wizard. The BIOS for both says that the RAM is running at it's rated speed

My system has an AMD chipset, but the others have an Nvidia chipset. Is it the chipset, or is there a quirk in the Athlon memory controller that I don't understand? It isn't a big performance hit, but it is weird. Anybody else ever see this happen?

Did you try those memories - wife's and media center's - on your Phenom based pc?! Try it, but it sounds like Athlon memory controller "problem".

Let us know the results!

"PLEASE REP ANYONE WHO HELPS YOU"

Well, it seems to be an Athlon problem. In the media center PC I changes out the CPU. I took out the Athlon 3500 and put in an Athlon X2 5000, and now the memory runs at the proper speed. Really weird.

And the wife's memory runs at the proper speed in my Phenom machine, so I think you're right about the "problem." Her machine won't run at speed unless I overclock it. I don't get it, but okay...

Mellon Head said:

Well, it seems to be an Athlon problem. In the media center PC I changes out the CPU. I took out the Athlon 3500 and put in an Athlon X2 5000, and now the memory runs at the proper speed. Really weird.

And the wife's memory runs at the proper speed in my Phenom machine, so I think you're right about the "problem." Her machine won't run at speed unless I overclock it. I don't get it, but okay...

There's nothing weird...:) It's just a memory controller limitation. Are your doubts solved?!

"PLEASE REP ANYONE WHO HELPS YOU"

Yes they are. Thanks.

Mellon Head said:

Yes they are. Thanks.

It's good to "hear" that... Don't forget to mark this thread as "solved".

"PLEASE REP ANYONE WHO HELPS YOU"

Wallonn7 said:

Mellon Head said:

Yes they are. Thanks.

It's good to "hear" that... Don't forget to mark this thread as "solved".

"PLEASE REP ANYONE WHO HELPS YOU"

Well, I would, but I can't seem to find the option to do that anywhere.

Mellon Head said:

Wallonn7 said:

Mellon Head said:

Yes they are. Thanks.

It's good to "hear" that... Don't forget to mark this thread as "solved".

"PLEASE REP ANYONE WHO HELPS YOU"

Well, I would, but I can't seem to find the option to do that anywhere.

Just follow the arrow!!!

Cool. Thanks.