Memory Speeds Problems with CPU-Z

[glennc]

Hello to all,
With the help of the forums great members I've learned a lot about Dram and indicated speed and CPU-Z indication. I have 4 800 Mhz DDR2 chips for a total of 8GB.
CPU-Z shows each slot/module as a 400 MHz speed. The memory page of CPU-Z show the DRAM Frequency as 334 Mhz, which should be optimally 400 Mhz. Can any assist or explain if I set up something wrong or a reasoning for this discrepancy?
Thank
Slot 1


Slot 2


Slot 3


Slot 4


Memory Tab Description


Hope you can help. What did I do wrong?
Glenn

 

[bobkn]

I don't know if your Gigabyte board does it, but some Asus boards downclocked the memory when all four DIMMs lots were populated. That was done for stability.

The frequency, timings, and voltage for the RAM could still be set in the BIOS manually, to run it at its rated frequency. Sometimes, I've had to back off on the timing a little to get the rated frequency. It's like overclocking the RAM, even though it isn't actually being run at an elevated frequency.

If you adjust those setting, I recommend that you check the memory stability. The memory check at POST (power on self test) is inadequate; use the built-in Windows memory diagnostic, or a third-party tool like from:

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

(Memtest86+ has the advantage of being OS independent.)

 

[glennc]

I don't know if your Gigabyte board does it, but some Asus boards downclocked the memory when all four DIMMs lots were populated. That was done for stability.

The frequency, timings, and voltage for the RAM could still be set in the BIOS manually, to run it at its rated frequency. Sometimes, I've had to back off on the timing a little to get the rated frequency. It's like overclocking the RAM, even though it isn't actually being run at an elevated frequency.

If you adjust those setting, I recommend that you check the memory stability. The memory check at POST (power on self test) is inadequate; use the built-in Windows memory diagnostic, or a third-party tool like from:

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

(Memtest86+ has the advantage of being OS independent.)

Howdy,
I ran the Windows memory diagnostic, it rebooted and ran and didn't indicate anything. Didn't say anything was wrong, but it didn't say anything. For the life of me I can not figure out how to get memtes86+ to run. I download the zip, extract the iso, burn the iso to a DVD, insert the DVD and let it start and I get open explorer message. I open it and it shows a lot of files on the disk, but none that appear runnable. I really would like to get a good test and maybe see why the ram is running so slow. Thanks for any help!
Glenn

 

[essenbe]

I don't know what it is on a Gigabyte board, but there is a key for a 1 time boot menu. Tap that key when you see the logo and select the CD/DVD player. You have to do it quickly and you may see a screen to 'hit any key to boot from the CD'. If that does not work, you can always change the boot order in BIOS to CD/DVD 1st then Hard drive 2nd. You may also just try to change the timings a little. Try only changing tras to 18 and trc to 24 and see if that helps the frequency. However, if it does change, you will not notice any difference. Also, in BIOS make sure the dram voltage is correct.

 

[GeneO]

BTW, those first 4 screens do not tell you anything about what the RAM is running at, just the profiles for speeds it is capable of. Only the last screen shows you what it is running at. So there is no conflict. You appear to have a mix of a couple of slightly different kinds of RAM. It is capable of 400 MHz but your motherboard BIOS is running it at one of the 333 MHz profile. That may actually be optimal - the individual timings are better.

 

[glennc]

I don't know what it is on a Gigabyte board, but there is a key for a 1 time boot menu. Tap that key when you see the logo and select the CD/DVD player. You have to do it quickly and you may see a screen to 'hit any key to boot from the CD'. If that does not work, you can always change the boot order in BIOS to CD/DVD 1st then Hard drive 2nd. You may also just try to change the timings a little. Try only changing tras to 18 and trc to 24 and see if that helps the frequency. However, if it does change, you will not notice any difference. Also, in BIOS make sure the dram voltage is correct.

Hello essenbe,
Dear sir, may I inquire as to what your initial comment about the CD will do?
I can get to the BIOS, the thing is set for auto, which is the second item on the page. The rest of the page is set up with blanked out but very important sounding stuff. I turned the auto to manual and that page of stuff suddenly became fully available. To much stuff, haven't a clue, latencies and stuff like MTF. So I don't know what to change or why or to what. So without assistance I am going to leave it at auto. Thanks
Glenn

 

[glennc]

BTW, those first 4 screens do not tell you anything about what the RAM is running at, just the profiles for speeds it is capable of. Only the last screen shows you what it is running at. So there is no conflict. You appear to have a mix of a couple of slightly different kinds of RAM. It is capable of 400 MHz but your motherboard BIOS is running it at one of the 333 MHz profile. That may actually be optimal - the individual timings are better.

Hello Geneo,
That is what I thought, thanks for confirming. I just wanted any potential assisters to have the info that is shown. I guess I am going to have to go in and manually adjust the memory speed, whenever I figure out what all the options mean...
Appreciate your time
Glenn

 

[essenbe]

When you go into BIOS you should have a section called boot order or boot priorities. In that section you choose what drive or device to boot from first. You can set the CD/DVD drive to be the 1st boot device and your hard drive to be the second boot device. Put the CD you just created and it should boot from the CD. When it boots, you will usually see a message on the screen to push any key to boot from yhe CD. Push a ket and it will boot from the CD you just created. After you have done all the tests you want to run from the CD, you can go back and change it if you like.

 

[glennc]

When you go into BIOS you should have a section called boot order or boot priorities. In that section you choose what drive or device to boot from first. You can set the CD/DVD drive to be the 1st boot device and your hard drive to be the second boot device. Put the CD you just created and it should boot from the CD. When it boots, you will usually see a message on the screen to push any key to boot from yhe CD. Push a ket and it will boot from the CD you just created. After you have done all the tests you want to run from the CD, you can go back and change it if you like.

Oh my, can't believe I forgot that. Then it will run the memtest. Thanks you and duh!
I ran windows memory diagnostics 4 times and it indicates no problems. I believe the memory is fine. Now it is just a matter of changing the auto default setting to a higher speed and whatever else that distressing page implies. Also the BIOS has temperature warnings that are turned off, fans not running- turned off. Is this the normal state people run in. I am looking for performance. Also my old CPU was 3Ghz and the new one is 3.4 Ghz. Will changing that increase my performance?
Thank you kind sir!
Glenn

 

[essenbe]

Windows Memory Diagnostic test is not as comprehensive as Memtest86. Here is a tutorial on how to run memtest86. It will take several hours to run the test, it is best to do it overnight. In bios I always have temp warnings on and normally you set a target temp for the fans. That will make them speed up if the temp increases. And the fans should be running. Also, you should have a section in BIOS called Hardware monitor which will tell you voltages and temps. The main page is usually system information which tells you your CPU type and speed as well as your installed ram and the speed of the ram as well as other info. That page is normally for information purposes and does not allow for changes.

EDIT: Don't be concerned, many people are not familar with bios and don't go there often. It is quite common.

 

[Duzzy]

I've attached two screenshots, the first being what you need to change to force 800Mhz (CPU-Z 400Mhz) and the second to change the two timings essenbe suggested (post #4).

Due to the mixed RAM you may have problems. The two SR2G sticks have 3 JEDEC's and a EPP the other two only have three JEDEC's and the timings and voltages are different. I'm pretty sure this is why your RAM is running at 333Mhz because under that profile the timings and voltages are closer to the same.

Now forcing the RAM to 800Mhz may cause a problem with the auto timings so you may need to manually set the timings as well.

I think we need some overclocker's to have a look if you really want it running at 800Mhz (400Mhz). I mean if it was me I would remove the two SR2G sticks and make sure there running at 800Mhz (require save and exit) before writing down the timings in the right hand column. Next I would set the speed back to auto if it needed to be changed and then put all 4 sticks back in and then set to 800Mhz. Next set the voltage to 2V, overvoltage on two sticks, and set the timings to what you wrote down. Then most importantly test with MemTest.

The timings would be safe for the two 2G sticks and the voltage would be sufficent to run the SR2G sticks at a CAS# Latency of 5. But I wouldn't know if the 2G sticks could handle 2V for long.

You could also test at 1.8 volts as it may be the 4,4,15 that requires the extra voltage.

But this is just me, not a experienced overclocker.

 

[stormy13]

I seem to recall seeing a long time ago that when you populate all 4 slots with 4 sticks of DDR2 800 ram that it will downclock to 667 speeds, something to do with IMC (memory controller) limitations. Been looking around but can't find the reference at the moment.

You should be able to set it manually to 800 as Duzzy suggests above, but if you do get it there don't be surprised if it isn't stable. All things considering if things are stable with the ram at 667, I would just leave it there. That and as nice as it would be to get it running at its rated speed, unless all you run is memory benchmarks you likely won't even see a difference (1-2% maybe) with it at 800.

 

[glennc]

Windows Memory Diagnostic test is not as comprehensive as Memtest86. Here is a tutorial on how to run memtest86. It will take several hours to run the test, it is best to do it overnight. In bios I always have temp warnings on and normally you set a target temp for the fans. That will make them speed up if the temp increases. And the fans should be running. Also, you should have a section in BIOS called Hardware monitor which will tell you voltages and temps. The main page is usually system information which tells you your CPU type and speed as well as your installed ram and the speed of the ram as well as other info. That page is normally for information purposes and does not allow for changes.

EDIT: Don't be concerned, many people are not familar with bios and don't go there often. It is quite common.

Hello,
Memtest now works!! Thanks. I also took a shot at the BIOS. Found where I could bump the ram speed to 800MHz. I now realize that on the POST screen it was showing DDR 667!!!! Well it now shows DDR 800. I ran the index assessement test and the times are exactly the same as with it set at DDR 667. So I went back and set it to auto. Unless I missed something, it seems the increase gave me no more perfomance benefit, by itself. You can comment on any obvious mistakes. CPU-Z also showed 401 as the DDR Speed when it was changed over.
Cool!
Glenn

 

[glennc]

I've attached two screenshots, the first being what you need to change to force 800Mhz (CPU-Z 400Mhz) and the second to change the two timings essenbe suggested (post #4).

Due to the mixed RAM you may have problems. The two SR2G sticks have 3 JEDEC's and a EPP the other two only have three JEDEC's and the timings and voltages are different. I'm pretty sure this is why your RAM is running at 333Mhz because under that profile the timings and voltages are closer to the same.

Now forcing the RAM to 800Mhz may cause a problem with the auto timings so you may need to manually set the timings as well.

I think we need some overclocker's to have a look if you really want it running at 800Mhz (400Mhz). I mean if it was me I would remove the two SR2G sticks and make sure there running at 800Mhz (require save and exit) before writing down the timings in the right hand column. Next I would set the speed back to auto if it needed to be changed and then put all 4 sticks back in and then set to 800Mhz. Next set the voltage to 2V, overvoltage on two sticks, and set the timings to what you wrote down. Then most importantly test with MemTest.

The timings would be safe for the two 2G sticks and the voltage would be sufficent to run the SR2G sticks at a CAS# Latency of 5. But I wouldn't know if the 2G sticks could handle 2V for long.

You could also test at 1.8 volts as it may be the 4,4,15 that requires the extra voltage.



But this is just me, not a experienced overclocker.

Thanks for your informative assistance. As I noted in the reply to essenbe, I only changed the timing to 800 GHz and didn't notice any change in the index performance, so I reset it. Do to my limited knowledge, I don't expect to see a remarkable increase on tweaking the values closer to correct. So unless an overclocker will come on and let me know of a valid reason, I set it back to auto.
Appreciate your time
Glenn

 

[glennc]

I seem to recall seeing a long time ago that when you populate all 4 slots with 4 sticks of DDR2 800 ram that it will downclock to 667 speeds, something to do with IMC (memory controller) limitations. Been looking around but can't find the reference at the moment.

You should be able to set it manually to 800 as Duzzy suggests above, but if you do get it there don't be surprised if it isn't stable. All things considering if things are stable with the ram at 667, I would just leave it there. That and as nice as it would be to get it running at its rated speed, unless all you run is memory benchmarks you likely won't even see a difference (1-2% maybe) with it at 800.

From my limited test, described above and the results I am in agreement. I set it back to auto. Better safe than sorry! Thanks stormy13!
Glenn

 

[essenbe]

I believe I said in a previous post that you would notice no increase in performance. But, the link I gave on memtest86 says to run I think 7 passes. 7 passes will take 8-10 hours to run. The frequency of the ram is really not noticeable except in benchmarks. I have run 1333, 1600, 1866 and 2133 MHz ram and can tell no performance difference in actual usage, only in benchmarks.

 

[glennc]

I believe I said in a previous post that you would notice no increase in performance. But, the link I gave on memtest86 says to run I think 7 passes. 7 passes will take 8-10 hours to run. The frequency of the ram is really not noticeable except in benchmarks. I have run 1333, 1600, 1866 and 2133 MHz ram and can tell no performance difference in actual usage, only in benchmarks.

Yes Sir, that is why I changed it back. I ran memtest for a couple hours, didn't notice but it had a complete on it and it was running another. So I don't know how many passes it made. It sees it as DDR 667. Not a single error. Fingers crossed. Thanks essenbe, you have helped me understand and test. I feel much more relaxed {)!
So later I'll read about the test more and set it up to run all night. Do you trust those gadgets with the core temperatures on it?
This forum is great, and many thanks!
Glenn

 

[essenbe]

Yes, I trust those gadgets, but only as a close approximation. Don't expect them to be absolutely correct. I keep this gadget with temps from core temp always open on my desktop.