change memory speed within windows?

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smoke
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change memory speed within windows?

Post by smoke »

Is it at all possible to change the memory speed within windows? I just want to be clear that I am referring to memory speed, not the CPU front side bus speed. I have an asus socket A board (a7s8x-mx) that is not letting me run my RAM in sync with with my CPU's FSB, rather it is forcing it to run at its slowest setting of 100MHz (200 DDR). I am experiencing noticably lower gaming performance (this was supposed to be a slight upgrade) and I believe the lower speed out of sync memory speed to be the culprit.

Full Specs:
Athlon xp 1800 (palamino)
heatsink from a retail 2500 barton
a7s8x-mx rev 1.01, bios 1005
2x512MB pc3200 Corsair value select (cas 2.5)
80GB Seagate st380817as sata drive
bb ATI radeon 9600xt
Enermax 300 watt ps
Pioner dvd-1205 16x dvdrom
LG ced-8083b cdrw
win2k pro sp4


Edit: I guess what Im asking is, is there a program similar to CPU FSB that will let you change the frequency of memory? I dont really know if this is even possible though.
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Cthulhu8u
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Re: change memory speed within windows?

Post by Cthulhu8u »

smoke wrote:Edit: I guess what Im asking is, is there a program similar to CPU FSB that will let you change the frequency of memory? I dont really know if this is even possible though.
Not that I have ever heard of, it is only possible in the BIOS as far as I know. I would suspect you are having some major PC issues though if you can't run your memory properly. I am assuming you have set everything properly in your BIOS. If so, I suggest you clear the BIOS through the motherboard (usually a jumper on the motherboard, if not remove the BIOS battery for about a minute and reinsert). After clearing, set up your PC again and try it then.
Also, I don't see mention of your motherboard manufacturer, but you may want to visit their site and see if there are any FAQ's regarding your motherboard and problem.
ASUS P5A-B rev 1.04 (bios 1011 beta 02)
AMD K6-2+ 500
256 Mb RAM
3Dfx Voodoo 4 4500
Maxtor 6Gb HD
LG 52x CD-RW
SyQuest EZ 135 internal drive
D-Link DFE-530TX+ NIC
Generic PCI Soundcard
Lots of stickers...
smoke
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Post by smoke »

Thanks, clearing CMOS did the trick. I cant believe that in the 9 or so weeks Ive had this problem that I didnt think of that. I gained 10fps in cs source (increased from 48 to 58 ) now that im running 133/133 (fsb/mem) rather than 133/100. Im noticing the performance gains in other places too. FYI the board is an asus, and if you hover over the model number in the first post you will see it is a link.
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Cthulhu8u
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Post by Cthulhu8u »

smoke wrote:Im noticing the performance gains in other places too. FYI the board is an asus, and if you hover over the model number in the first post you will see it is a link.
D'oh, didn't even see that! The URL text is the same colour as the rest of the text for me...

...of course now that it works normally, you'll feel the urge to start overclocking it a bit to get more performance :twisted:
ASUS P5A-B rev 1.04 (bios 1011 beta 02)
AMD K6-2+ 500
256 Mb RAM
3Dfx Voodoo 4 4500
Maxtor 6Gb HD
LG 52x CD-RW
SyQuest EZ 135 internal drive
D-Link DFE-530TX+ NIC
Generic PCI Soundcard
Lots of stickers...
smoke
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Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:25 am

Post by smoke »

Cthulhu8u wrote: D'oh, didn't even see that! The URL text is the same colour as the rest of the text for me...

...of course now that it works normally, you'll feel the urge to start overclocking it a bit to get more performance :twisted:
I would love to, unfortunately I wont be able to. This board has no means of adjusting core voltage or the CPU multiplier. I was too caught up in the excitement of upgrading, and now I am stuck with a board I am not happy with. Aside from having no voltage/multiplier adjustments, the tiny northbridge heatsink used by Asus is just way too small to do its job. The northbridge heatsink is about a degree or two away from being too hot to touch, and I mean that in the most literal sense. The legendary Asus quality that I often read people droning on about did not make it into this board. The only thing this board has going for it is the two native S-ATA ports. I am pleased with the performance of the SIS chipset also.
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Don't know much about that sort of thing; but I am given to understand that it is fairly commonplace these days to not be able to change the multiplier. What you have to do if you want to OC is change the FSB. As for your too hot northbridge, stick a fan on it., (Like Mine); don't know what you can do about the core voltage though.

Edit: Having said that, I downloaded the manual for your board. Most of the settings are in the bios; and they are not all that well described. I don't know what is possible with that board. Wish I could help you; but I don't think I can.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
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Cthulhu8u
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Post by Cthulhu8u »

smoke wrote:I would love to, unfortunately I wont be able to. This board has no means of adjusting core voltage or the CPU multiplier. I was too caught up in the excitement of upgrading, and now I am stuck with a board I am not happy with. Aside from having no voltage/multiplier adjustments, the tiny northbridge heatsink used by Asus is just way too small to do its job. The northbridge heatsink is about a degree or two away from being too hot to touch, and I mean that in the most literal sense. The legendary Asus quality that I often read people droning on about did not make it into this board. The only thing this board has going for it is the two native S-ATA ports. I am pleased with the performance of the SIS chipset also.
You have a few solutions for some of your problems.
You can buy a better heatsink fan, I would recommend a Zalman
like one of these.... Replace your heatsink, but only if you notice it affecting your system in some way. Just because it's hot doesn't mean it's not working... Passive cooling (heatsinks) aren't a bad idea, since a fan can break down from dust and such if you don't take care to clean them out once in a while.

You could also upgrade from your Athlon XP 1800 to something faster, like a 2500. Also, you could try the FSB as Jim said. I would assume you have it set to 133 FSB on your motherboard. You could try 166, but no guarantees that this won't kill something so be wary!

Not trying to defend Asus, but it's not entirely their fault here. my Asus motherbaord (A7N8X Deluxe) has a great bios where you can tweak everything. Your motherboard is likely a lower-cost SiS jobbie, so it's meant to plug and play, not tweak. My board's chipset is from nVidia, so it includes all sorts of goodies like incremental tweaking for just about everything, whereas your SiS chipset is meant as a low-cost alternative, so the bios isn't as powerful. Also, Asus boards with a -MX (or almost any "-" after the name) is usually a lower cost or crippled version of something better. For example there are A7N8X "-" motherboards, but they lack the features of the deluxe.

Unfortunately people see Asus and just assume it will be everything they need. For the same amount of money you may have been able to pick up some other company's motherboard and it may have had better features (like tweaking). But you may also have traded the stability you are getting with your SiS for that performance. Next time, just research your pants off before buying anything and make sure it has everything you want in a motherboard.

Oh well, win some, lose some ;)
ASUS P5A-B rev 1.04 (bios 1011 beta 02)
AMD K6-2+ 500
256 Mb RAM
3Dfx Voodoo 4 4500
Maxtor 6Gb HD
LG 52x CD-RW
SyQuest EZ 135 internal drive
D-Link DFE-530TX+ NIC
Generic PCI Soundcard
Lots of stickers...
smoke
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Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:25 am

Post by smoke »

Cthulhu8u wrote: You have a few solutions for some of your problems.
You can buy a better heatsink fan, I would recommend a Zalman
like one of these.... Replace your heatsink, but only if you notice it affecting your system in some way. Just because it's hot doesn't mean it's not working... Passive cooling (heatsinks) aren't a bad idea, since a fan can break down from dust and such if you don't take care to clean them out once in a while.
I could do that, but I just dont want to throw money at a motherboard I hate. When it comes to computers I am a control freak, and I must have the option to manipulate voltages and multipliers. Im actually scouting around for a used K7S5A at the moment, and if I find one Ill ditch this asus like a hot potato. This may seem odd to some Im sure, but Ive had some hands on experience with a friends K7S5A rev 3.x and I was quite pleased. It worked well with win98se (98lite chubby + unofficial service pack), and the drivers appear to be light weight and mature. Ive been reading up on the honeyx BIOS and it has some decent OC options and supports mobile bartons.

Cthulhu8u wrote: You could also upgrade from your Athlon XP 1800 to something faster, like a 2500. Also, you could try the FSB as Jim said. I would assume you have it set to 133 FSB on your motherboard. You could try 166, but no guarantees that this won't kill something so be wary!
I actually did try that and it did POST, but windows failed to boot with a BSOD. If I only had the ability to adjust the CPU core voltage I am pretty confident that it would work.
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