Upgraded Ram: Reading DDR 333MHz, not DDR 400.

SpareTire

New Member
I upgraded my computer to 2.5 gigs of ram. I put in two 1 gig Ram chips and one 512 Meg ram chip. Everything starts up fine except that the computer reads DDR 333 and not 400. All of the chips are suppose to be DDR 400. Any clues?
 
One was mislabeled or the wrong number was ordered or processed. It sounds like the 512mb dimm is the wrong type and is seeing a backward clock of the other two unless the bios settings were changed? A mismatch of memory would be one thing to look at. You can't mix single sided dimms with dual sided which would generally prevent a system from starting up.
 
all of them are duel sided dimms. I used to have 1 gig of rame(2x512). I've decided to take upgrade to 2 gigs(2x1024) I decided to take the older ram and mix them with the newer ram. All three are DDR400, double sided. I don't see why it would be a problem.
 
It sounds like a mismatch more then anything perhaps memory timings themselves if you bought performance memory and mixed it up with value ram. The new pair of 1gb dimms is plenty adequate for the older system there anyways. Try running those alone to see how the system runs then. If you still see and fsb of 333 then the 1gb dimms are DDR333 if not mismatched somehow. Also verify the bios settings to make sure nothing was changed there.
 
I took the 512 meg dimm out. My computer froze, but it read DDR400. Could it be that the dimms have to be in a certain order? I'll be back to change the order.
 
It depends which slots you are putting them in? The user manual will indicate the A1-B1 or similar slots for enabling the dual channel mode on the board. The first dimm slot pointed to there has to be populated with a dimm. If you had the 512 in that slot and removed it from there any system would stall. On the same memory channel you will also want the same size dimms.

When mixing a 1gb dimm with a 512 you will want the 1gb in the first slot with the 512 on B1 or the first slot for the second channel to see the best results. For your board review the manual for the pair of 1gb dimms. If the system still stalls on you then the memory type isn't supported.
 
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