HELP on 1333Mhz runing on 400Mhz

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7 comments, last by hplus0603 15 years, 2 months ago
ok here I have a Problem I have evga 790i Ultra E8400 2gb 1333Mhz ram I was wondering how do i get my fsb to run at over 400mhz? I have 1333Mhz ram so shouldnt the fsb be running at 1333Mhz?? Im pretty new to this so please be patient
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at 1333mhz your running ddr3 memory. The way current memory scales isn't like a 1 to 1 comparison, the advertised speed is based on how many currents transfers can be made (ie bandwidth). So your FSB is actually running 667 mhz, with the memory operating at 133 mhz ... look at the DDR3 wiki for more info.
ok now that might be all good but it says its running at 400mhz. I find it wierd cause then shouldnt it be running at 667Mhz?? and what about all that other 667 mhz?? where does that speed go? Yes i have ddr3. But how come then my memory isnt 667 and is still 400?
What does your motherboard support? I would check the manual, since it may not support anything over 400, or it may be forced to run slower under certain conditions.
I was looking at the specs on your motherboard, and I'm not seeing 400mhz FSB listed, I see 800hmz as the lowest. What processor are you running in it?
Old Username: Talroth
If your signature on a web forum takes up more space than your average post, then you are doing things wrong.
If you have an Intel E8400, your "true" FSB should be at 333MHz default.
1333 is only the "rated FSB" (might want to google that. Has something to do with FSB working in so called "Quadruple Data Rate"-mode)

The speed of your RAM however is (almost) independent from your actual FSB and you should set it to 666MHz for it to work in 1333-mode. (As it's probably DDR-RAM)
There's some confusion, because various busses are double- or even quad-pumped. The memory is generally double-pumped, but ratings are given at multiplied speed -- 667 MHz bus double-pumped means it's "1333 MHz" memory.
Meanwhile, FSB is generally quad-pumped, but specified at the general rate. Thus, a 333 MHz FSB is running at 1333 MHz effective; a 400 MHz FSB is running at a 1600 MHz effective rate.
enum Bool { True, False, FileNotFound };
ok but if i want it to run 1333mhz then and its a e8400 then it should be running at 333? then why does it say 400mhz? also if I want it to run at 1333Mhz rated then I should put the clock speed of the 400 mhz to 666? will i need to change voltages or anything and isnt this overclocking ?
I think there are three possible sources of confusion.

First, we don't know whether the BIOS is showing double-pumped or quad-pumped frequencies. My guess is that it's showing 400 Mhz, meaning 800 MHz (which means you need to set it up to 667 go get to 1333). However, it may be already overclocking your CPU to 1600, and showing 400, which means you'd need to lower it to 333.
If there is a 667 option on the FSB, chances are that it's showing the double-pumped value, and it ought to be at 667.

It's quite often the case that early motherboard BIOS-es don't detect memory or CPUs correctly, and end up defaulting to lower frequencies. Thus, you have to check your motherboard BIOS for updates. It may be that the motherboard will do a better job of detection after upgrading. If you're already have the highest available BIOS, and it still shows 400, then check what kind of CPU it's detecting. It may be that you don't have the CPU you think you have, perhaps?

Finally, when it comes to RAM, a bunch of manufacturers will put somewhat marginal chips "rated" for x MHz into a DIMM, but because they are marginal, they will put a SPD PROM on the DIMM that actually detects the memory at a lower rate. For example, you may think you got 1066 MHz RAM, but SPD declares it at 800 MHz. For people who don't check, this will run just fine, and very stable, and the performance loss is only visible if you go looking for it. To actually get to the rated speed, you often have to override the auto-detect in the BIOS. And, given that the chips are marginal (may only work with certain chipsets, on certain motherboards, or whatnot) you may or may not get it to work. If not, that's what the (8 weeks without memory, you pay shipping) lifetime warranty is for. Less than 1% of customers actually make use of that warranty, as far as I know.

Is the whole PC hardware industry shoddy? Pretty much, yes. If you take the time to test all the corner cases, and figure out what's needed to make the system run stable (chipset + CPU + RAM + graphics + drivers + Windows + whatnot) you will ship a year after everyone else, and cost twice as much, and thus you'll go out of business in a hurry. Someone else will ship something shoddier than you, much sooner, much cheaper, and let the customers sort it out. Because, let's face it, we all buy on price and checklist features, and not much else.

enum Bool { True, False, FileNotFound };

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