EggXpert

Hello,

 

One of the tech guys at my office suggested I use a program called CPU-Z to check details about all of my hardware. While using this program, I noticed my PC2-8500 is being recognized as PC2-6400. I didn't know beforehand that a stick of DDR needs to be paired with another stick in order to work at full speed. So can anyone confirm that this is the reason why my RAM isn't being recognized correctly? Are there any other possibilities as to why a single-stick of 8500 reads as 6400?

 

Specs:

Processor: AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition 2.5GHz

Motherboard: MSI K9A2 CF-F V2 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX

Memory: Mushkin 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 1066 PC2 8500

Usually, with high performance RAM, you need to go into the BIOS and set the speed manually to the manufacturer's specs.

Yeah, about that.

You need 2 sticks because technically each sticl reads at half speed and you need two sticks at the same speed to get "full" DDR data rates.

Also, ANYTHING above 800 MHz (PC2-6400) @ 5-5-5-15 timings 1.8Volts is technically an OVERCLOCK (Beyond JEDEC standards) setting, and not guaranteed. So if your motherboard / system does not support overclocking then you just bought fast ram U can't use and wasted money.

Luckily, your motherboard does, so check the motherboard manual,a nd go into your BIOS and try to adjust the advanced memory settings.

But since it's an OVERCLOCK setting (for the motherboard) your mileage may vary.

(the second i saw this thread i knew cagg was going to say that.)

well technically the mobo shouldve automatically set the ram speed to ddr2 1066 because of the use of AM2+ mobo and CPU, but i know that board isnt the best. the mobo shouldve detected the ddr2 1066 ram and set the divider on the CPU accordingly.

"Should have but didn't", eh? Guess that's cuz anything out of JEDEC spec is just "potential" not "guaranteed" :D

Still erring on the side of caution

-CAGG

lol, wow you guy are hillarious anywaz, dont feel as if something if wrong! I dropped 200 on my motherboard and it didnt detect my ddr2 1066 until i set it myself in the bios... So some board do some dont no biggie just change it reboot and should be a no issue unless you reset the bios to defualt settings..

Hey thanks for the help. I just ordered a second stick identical to what I have now, so that I can fix the single-channel mode to dual-channel mode. Aside from that, I'll be sure to go into BIOS and set it properly. I always err on the side of caution with BIOS settings and am not a huge fan of overclocking. But the fact is that the board is advertised to handle this type of memory, so I'm all for juicing it up in this way. Thanks again.