IT's ALIVE!!! A8V Deluxe with 2G w/4 Modules (CMX512-3200C2PT)

IT's ALIVE!!! A8V Deluxe with 2G w/4 Modules (CMX512-3200C2PT)

First off a big Thank You to RAM GUY and Wired.

Apologies on the other post, I do indeed have different revisions, but

I guess I turned out to be one of the Lucky ones!

They are working together just fine!

I'm posting this information specifically for those people with the A8V Deluxe,

as I had difficulty finding the CORRECT settings for the BIOS. I did however, find many,many, many, incorrect settings.

These are for stock speeds with no overclocking.

I the following TWINX Memory.

1 Pair of CMX512-3200C2PT XMS3203 V4.2

1 Pair of CMX512-3200C2PT XMS3203 V5.1

Purchased at different times.

My problem was that I was unable to get the system to boot,

with all 4 sticks installed as two dual channel pairs, at DDR400 speed.

Each stick is rated for 2-3-3-6 DDR400.

My problem turned out primarily to be two settings in BIOS that were

not immediately clear to me after reading through the support forums,

Primarily due to the fact that most post that I found had settings for 2 modules, not 4.

The two settings were CAS Latency of 2.5 for AMD and the 2T options.

My specs:

AMD Athlon 3500 2.2Ghz

AsuS AV8 Motherboard Rev 1.0

BIOS 1008.+

Memory modules listed above.

If you put all four sticks in with your system set to AUTO configure, it will default to a lower FSB speed.

The following settings BIOS settings work for me.

(1G 2 Modules of Dual Channel CMX512-3200C2PT XMS3202v4.2 installed in BLUE DIMM slots)

+ Advanced:

++ CPU Configuration

+++ Memory COnfiguration

++++ Memory Configuration

+++++ Memcloc Mode [Limit]

+++++ Memclock to CPU Ration [2:1 (DDR 400)]

+++++ DRAM Over 4G Remapping [Disabled]

+++++ Bank Interleaving [Enabled]

+++++ Node Interleaving [AUTO]

+++++ Bust Length [4 Beats]

+++++ CAS Latency (CL) [2.5]

+++++ TRC [Auto]

+++++ TRFC[Auto]

+++++ TRCD[3 CLK]

+++++ TWR [Auto]

+++++ TRWT[Auto]

+++++ TRAS[6 CLK]

+++++ TRP [3 CLK]

+++++ TWCL[Auto]

+++++ AsyncLat [Auto]

+++++ Read Preamble Setting [Auto]

+++++ 2T Command [Disabled]

+ Advanced

++ System Frequency/Voltage Configuration

++ AI Overclocking [Manual]

++ CPU FSB Frequency [200 Mhz]

++ CPU speed/Voltage Setting [Manual or Auto]

++ CPU Multiplier [11.0]

++ CPU Voltage [1.5V]

++ DDR Voltage [2.7V]

++ AGP Voltage [1.5V]

++ V-Link Voltage [2.5V]

SiSoft Sandra gave me a rating for memory bandwidth of

5681 MB/s 89% Efficency for the ABOVE configurations.

NEXT, Installing the other 2 DIMMS.

(2G - 4 Modules Total,

2 Modules of Dual Channel CMX512-3200C2PT XMS3202v4.2

installed in BLUE DIMM Slots &

2 Modules of Dual Channel CMX512-3200C2PT XMS3202v5.1

installed in the BLACK DIMM Slots)

It was required for me to change the Following BIOS setting to get my system to Boot.

2T Command [AUTO or Enabled]

All other options stayed the same.

After the changes, now with 2G of memory.

SiSoft Sandra gave me a memory bandwidth rating of

4577 MB/s with 72% efficiency with the ABOVE Settings.

In contrast with the Memclock Mode set to [AUTO]

SiSoft sandra gave me a memory bandwidth rating of

3538 MB/S and efficiency of 156%

I Hope it helps some people to have the BIOS settings for the A8V and this memory configurations.

Perhaps I'm daft, but it took me two days to get this worked out. It was my first experience dealing

with memory timings.

Memtest86+ v1.40 Shows

Memory 2047M 2099MB/s

Settings: RAM 200MHZ(DDR400) / CAS 2.5-3-3-6 / Dual Channel / 128 Bits

I ran Memtest84+ v1.4 for about 8 hours overnight, with my case cover on,

and everything set up as I normally use it.

I had 24 errors, after 97 passes, and all the errors were on Test 5

I strongly believe these errors are temperature related and I will probably be able to get

zero errors with a small fan mounted to blow directly on the DIMMS, as there is very little space

between the heat spreaders, and the chips get extremely hot, and the errors only started after

a few hours of testing.

I would like to know if a little extra cooling doesn't help with these errors, then I should

change my time settings to 3-4-4-8 as you stated in a reply to my less detailed previous post.

I would also like to know if it is typical to see the reduction in bandwidth and efficiency when having all 4

slots populated, and if all of the above information looks correct, and I have my system configured at

its optimum settings.

Thanks again for all your help guys. This will be the first place I look from now on!

I would also like to know if it is typical to see the reduction in bandwidth and efficiency when having all 4 slots populated.

Yes, as the memory controller is working more because of more sticks.

FYI

I have TWINX1024-3200C2 v.1.2 and Twinx1024-3200C2PT v.5.1. in A8V Deluxe Rev 2.0 with 1009 BIOS and FX55.

When I used my settings (close to defaults) for my older TWINX v.1.2 (in A1 & B1 slots) I got Sandra efficiency about 73% at 400Mhz. When I set memory timings to Kosmos (posted below) values I was very happy because I got 90% efficiency at 400Mhz.

Then, I installed my second TWINX (in A2 & B2) in hope of duplicating Kosmos results. Made the recommended BIOS change for 2T Command and run Sandra to see how well four sticks will run at 400Mhz; But they defaulted back to 333MHz with about 70% efficency for 333MHz.

RAM GUY tells me that I need to have the same version of the TWINXes to have all four sticks run at 400MHz. ASUS has not officially responded to my e-mails and as far as I am concerned they only require C2 raiting on memory. So, if there is someone who will discover a "magic" set up I will be interested to know.

PS. I am surprized that my older TWINX has better SPD rating than my new TWINX for 400MHz - Old 2.5-3-3-8 and new 3-3-3-8.

PSS. RAM GUY or other Corsair expert if you are reading this post till this point I have one question: How many passes on MEM86+ test should I test my memory before I can conclude that memory is good? I am assuming, if I run one test without errors then I should be o.k. (some post reported to run 7 or even ninety-seven!!! tests). Any comments???

PS. I am surprized that my older TWINX has better SPD rating than my new TWINX for 400MHz - Old 2.5-3-3-8 and new 3-3-3-8.

 

PSS. RAM GUY or other Corsair expert if you are reading this post till this point I have one question: How many passes on MEM86+ test should I test my memory before I can conclude that memory is good? I am assuming, if I run one test without errors then I should be o.k. (some post reported to run 7 or even ninety-seven!!! tests). Any comments???

Re: PS.

Ignore the SPD, all C2s are meant to have the timings set manually to 2 (or 2.5)-3-3-6

Re: PSS.

4 rounds are fine.

WantToKnow you may have mis-read my post. I also get around 7!% with all four sticks installed. That is normal with the memory controller having to deal with all four dimm slots.

What you may have read is when the system was set to [AUTO] with four sticks it gave a 156% eff, but LOOK AT THE BANDWIDTH it's WAY down. That is the reason for the high eff rate.

More bandwidth is better then eff, when you set it to AUTO is is not running your memory at the rated speed, it's running it and the lower 333.

Kosmos, What I am after is running 4 sticks at 400Mhz not at 333MHz. So far, I was only able to run four sticks at 333 MHz and with ~3800 MB/s (I believe that the theoretical bandwidth for 333 MHz is smaller than for 400 MHz; this is why I get 70% efficiency with ~3800MB/s). Your score of 4577MB/s for 4 sticks is a lot better score than mine of ~3800 MB/s.

Wired, Thanks for your response!!!

Well 2 things that pop out to me, that might get you up to the DDR400 range. As they have posted on the board before it is best to have the same revision on ALL 4 STICKS. If you do not then there are no promises that it they will all work together. THAT being said, I was one of the lucky ones, and you have the same motherboard so should be ok for you.

If you have set your BIOS settings as I have posted above for 4 sticks. Then the one thing that JUMPS out to me on your post is when you said the system 'defaulted' to 333. If you want to try and run all four sticks at this speed make sure and have the Memclock mode set to [limit], and the Memclock to CPU ration set to [2:1(DDR 400)].

I also believe I have the newer revision v5.1 in slots A1 and B!, and the older revisions in Slots A2 and B2, but I'm not toally sure, you may try swapping the pairs, just keep the same revisions together. For example

v5.1 pair go in A1 and B1

v1.2 pair go in B2 and A2

or

V5.1 pair go in B2 and A2

v1.2 pair go in A1 and B1

I do notice you have the FX55 processor, which I only have the Athalon 64, not an FX. I think switching those pairs and making sure you've got memclock on limit ddr400 should get you running though.

Hope that helps. I don't know much about this stuff, I just happen to have the same setup as you, so though I could help people with that post, as I was confused by all the BIOS settings.

I don't have any stability problems with those settings, but if you do you shoudl set stuff to 3 - 3 - 3 - 8 as they have said on here.

One more thing, during my adventures. I couldn't get my system to boot a couple of times, and followed the directions to reset BIOS, by removing battery, and moving the CLR Jumper. This is a paint, because you have to reset ALL your bios settings each time. What I figured out is, just power off the system and pull one a pair of sticks out, A1&B1 or A2&B2, and then reboot, and you will be able to get back into BIOS without having to clear the whole thing.

Another EDIT...

I checked your post again and see that you have a revision of 1.2, that is a pretty old one, mine are much closer together, so that may be what's slowing you down also. You may not be able to get DDR400 for all four sticks.

If you download and use CPUZ program you can see that two of your memory slots are running at those lower speeds anyway. : )

They all run at the same speed and timings. You're seeing the programmed timings in the SPD with CPU-Z.

They all run at the same speed and timings. You're seeing the programmed timings in the SPD with CPU-Z.

Oh, I understand now. I'll edit the other reply. Thank you.

Kosmos, Thanks for your help. Someday I will try to have my v.5.1 sticks in A1&B1 slots and the older v.1.2 in A2&B2 slots and see will I be able to reach 400MHz using 4 sticks (FYI- with 4 sticks and memory set in BIOS to limit and 2:1(DDR400) my system still defaulted to 333MHz). Currently, I have my older sticks in A8V computer and the newer in my older computer (I consider my older sticks (v1.2) to be faster than newer sticks (v.5.1) - I base this on CPU-Z SPD description - old sticks are rated at CAS 2.5 for 400 and new at 3.0 for 400Mhz. Maybe Ramguy or Wired can comment on this???

I decided to give up on four sticks and use two sticks because I can get almost +50% higher memory score in Sandra with two sticks at 400 MHz than with four running at 333MHz. Also, from this post I find out that with four sticks I will experience a deterioration due to the controller issues.

I am using Pinnacle Studio and I think that this program is memory hog. So I thought more memory should help. At this point, I am thinking that with two sticks at 400MHz and 90% (~5800MB/s) I will be better off than with four sticks at 333MHz with 70% efficiency (~3800MB/s). Any remarks/comments are welcome here..

Now the grapes... As a customer I am very unhappy that I need to care about the revisions matching. ASUS, in my opinion, is in fault here since they are not telling us that we have to match revisions. The only ASUS requirement is to have C2 rating. I have not seen a place that sells memory and provides revision information to buyers; It is like me trying to have good tasting eggs for breakfast and the only way of making this happen is to buy a dozen eggs which are from the same hen. Try asking in a grocery store for a dozen eggs from the same hen...

I consider my older sticks (v1.2) to be faster than newer sticks (v.5.1) - I base this on CPU-Z SPD description - old sticks are rated at CAS 2.5 for 400 and new at 3.0 for 400Mhz. Maybe Ramguy or Wired can comment on this???

Not really. CPU-Z is just reading the SPD label. I can slap a Superman symbol on my chest, but that doesn't make me bullet proof right? Ok, well MAYBE if it's made of kevlar... :)

I am using Pinnacle Studio and I think that this program is memory hog. So I thought more memory should help. At this point, I am thinking that with two sticks at 400MHz and 90% (~5800MB/s) I will be better off than with four sticks at 333MHz with 70% efficiency (~3800MB/s). Any remarks/comments are welcome here..

sounds right to me, although I'm not 100% sure how that program uses the memory exactly. Is that a video editing program? If so, confirm this and I'll poke our resident video editor into this thread, he can probably shine some more light on that topic.

Now the grapes... As a customer I am very unhappy that I need to care about the revisions matching. ASUS, in my opinion, is in fault here since they are not telling us that we have to match revisions. The only ASUS requirement is to have C2 rating. I have not seen a place that sells memory and provides revision information to buyers; It is like me trying to have good tasting eggs for breakfast and the only way of making this happen is to buy a dozen eggs which are from the same hen. Try asking in a grocery store for a dozen eggs from the same hen...

Well it's not Asus' fault or problem. It's just that the ICs may not like to play with each other. Technically it's the memory controller that doesn't like playing with different ICs, and that's located on the A64 CPU itself.

Well, I may be wrong here, but I think it depends on what you need.

For example for an person wanting to over clock the system, the two sticks would be the better choice over having another Gig of ram and over all slower performance. That extra gig would rally cripple any sort of overclock you might want to do.

Also two sticks would be better if you want a program to just run ballz out as fast as it can, but how the program uses your memory is the big question on this one, and that sort of information is not easy for the average person to come by.

Now in a situation where you need lots of information resting in ram for quick access like textures for games, the extra gig would be the better choice a the sacrifice of a little speed on the part of the memory.

Again I may be wrong, but RAM running at ANY speed is ALWAYS going to be faster than access to a hard drive even the fastest hard drives. So you might consider how much that program of yours is accessing your hard drive when it's got 1 GIG of ram at its disposal, as compared to how much it accesses your hard drive with 2 gigs of ram at it's disposal and make your decision based on THAT and not on benchmarks.

As far as my A8V Deluxe motherboard, I am not sure how it can default to a lower speed when you have both the memory and the cpu speed manually set. If it was a speed that wouldn't work, mine simply would not post/boot. I have the early revision 1.0 motherboard, so maybe that is something that is working differently. I've read some mention about the 'locks' not working on the revision 1.0 boards, but I've no idea what that is, and I think it only pertains to people who want to overclock. I think it might have also been fixed with the updated bios, which 1.009 is now official and not Beta any longer.

Perhaps you are reading the SPD Label information as Wired mentioned. I also thought that was a benchmark reading, but it's just label information programmed into the memory chips that Sandra is reading, not any sort of performance reading.

The #1 reason for adding RAM is so the computer will need to access information on the hard drive less often. The hard drive is THE slowest part in the computer, so if you can reduce the time your computer is using that, then you are speeding up your system, without anything actually running faster.

I am curios what the video editor that Wired mentioned has to say.

Oh one other thing about the motherboard. Make sure that if you are using RAID on that motherboard that you are using the VIA controller, because it's faster than the Promise controller and uses the CPU less. I had RAID 0 set up on the promise controller and had a average disk throughput of 111MB/S (Can't remember what the CPU usage was). I saved an image of my array using Acronis True Image 8.0 onto a spare hard drive I have, then moved the SATA connectors to the VIA raid controller. Re-Created the RAID 0 Array and put the image back onto the array and tested it. My throughput went up to an average of 125MB/s and the CPU usage went down to 18%. It's not a huge difference, but every little bit helps, and it takes a whole lot of load off the CPU as well as reducing the traffic on the FSB.

I am not an expert in all this computer stuff. So, if you see something which needs to be corrected please do.

I am not sure what the SPD is. To my knowledge it is some information embeded in the memory that tells the computer what settings can be used when operating the memory. I can set a more agressive timings for my memory than the SPD values. So, I am happy with Corsair product - I learned to disregard the SPD values.

My BIOS is set to 2:1 (400DDR) but CPU-Z showed 162 MHz (324DDR MHz) with four sticks. If I pull out two sticks without changing the BIOS CPU-Z will show 200 MHz (400 DDR). I do not have problem with booting up either with two or four sticks.

I still belive that the ASUS should at least mentioned in their manual that all memory used must be the same revision (I am assuming here that the other memory manufacturers have similar problems as I do with four sticks not working at 400MHz). Before I bough second TWINX I asked ASUS support person will I be able to run four Corsair sticks at 400MHz. His response was yes. Then, when they were only running at 324MHz he suggested to change CAS value. When I told him that I changed the CAS to all possible values without increase in frequency - never heard from him again.

I have RAID 0 running on VIA controler. I though it would be a better choise than Promise. However, according to ASUS support both VIA and Promise controllers are equivalent at lease this is my interpretation of his e-mail. For now, I turned Promise controller off in BIOS. I will turn it back when I add a dedicated SATA drive for the Pinnacle stuff.

As far as more memory is concerned I am trying to answer the question what will I get with TWINX2048-3200C2 (assuming the two sticks will run at 400 MHz) when running Pinnacle Studio 9 over my four sticks (two TWINX1024s) runing at 333MHz? Pinnacle Studio 9 can capture video, edit video, and make movies. I had my share of crashing with this software. Also, I know there are other similar video programs in the same price range, any suggestions?. I would appreciate any comments and/or recommendation from the resident video editor.

Kosmos,

right, 2 sticks are better than 4 for OC'ing. 1.009 went final? SWEET.

Wantoknow,

TwinX2048 @ 400 Mhz vs. TwinX1024 @ 333 Mhz?

TWINX2048-3200C2 for sure, as it's the same amount of memory, but faster.

Just PM'd video guy, who IIRC just got an A8V himself.

Yes! 100.9 is Final now, I don't know if anything changed between the Beta Version and the Final Version. I can't say as I notice any difference. I usually don't notice any difference in firmwares unless they are to fix a specific issue. But I always keep eveything updated just to be safe, and only do the Beta stuff, again when have issues to fix.

As far as the memory thing, I agree, go with the TWINX2048-3200C2 sticks if you want to buy more memory. My post was more for the people like me that were stuck with 2 pairs and different revisions and didn't want to buy new stuff.

Corsair can't say that you have to have the same revisions on any package, just as ASUS can't either. It would be false, since this is just a vey specific instance of a issue that comes up with specific platform etc.. It's impossible for the manufacture of any hardware to really know for sure how every single other piece of hardware both past and future will work. I mean these older revision DIMMS that you have, were possible made even before the asus motherboard was manufactured, and almost for sure before the CPU.

As far as the reading of 162 MHz (324DDR MHz) with four sticks. THAT has me very confused, I do not understand how that can be happening, unless you do not have these settings in your BIOS under the CPU/Frequency.

+ Advanced

IF you have the AI Overclock set to [Auto], then, yes it will undeclock your system, but if you have set to manual as I have it below and the other settings are identicle. You system would just not boot, or if it did would not be stable.

Although with THAT low of a setting from your computer, I doubt your are going to get all four sticks running as well as I did.

As far as not being an expert, there are very few people that can claim to be an expert, and even those people are only experts in a very narrow field. The wider your vision on issues, the less of an expert you become, becaues its all the various permutations of platforms that really monkeys things up. You seem like a guy that liks to learn, as I am. The best I can hope to do is learn MY particular system as well as possible. Each time you add something new, you get to learn all over how your system will work with that part.

One thing I'll say, something I have said to myself before, but often pick up those impulse buys, and regret it. Research EVERYTHING before you buy it, forums and boards like this can save you days of agony and loads of cash.

And good idea on turning off that promise controller since you are not using it. Makes boot up that much faster. Once you get another drive for it, I highly recommend Acronis True Image 8.0 I keep a partition on my raid array for Windows and installed programs 60G, and back up an image of that once a week. It's saved me countless hours of pain having a good image to go back to. If you have ever been unfortunate enough to have any experience with Norton ghost, you will LOVE Acronis True Image. Norton Ghost is such a pain!

++ System Frequency/Voltage Configuration

++ AI Overclocking [Manual]

++ CPU FSB Frequency [200 Mhz]

++ CPU speed/Voltage Setting [Manual or Auto]

++ CPU Multiplier [11.0]

++ CPU Voltage [1.5V]

++ DDR Voltage [2.7V]

++ AGP Voltage [1.5V]

++ V-Link Voltage [2.5V]

P.S. I've attached some System Information files, CPU-Z etc.. in case you wanted to take a look. I forgot to save my Sanda Memory benchmark, but I can send that later if you wold like.

cpuz.txt

DxDiag.txt

MSINFO.txt

Now the grapes... As a customer I am very unhappy that I need to care about the revisions matching. ASUS, in my opinion, is in fault here since they are not telling us that we have to match revisions. The only ASUS requirement is to have C2 rating. I have not seen a place that sells memory and provides revision information to buyers; It is like me trying to have good tasting eggs for breakfast and the only way of making this happen is to buy a dozen eggs which are from the same hen. Try asking in a grocery store for a dozen eggs from the same hen...

One thing to keep in mind here is that it is virtually impossible for ASUS to keep up with how every RAM company revises its modules. The same goes for a RAM company keeping up with how MOBO revisions go. It simply cannot be done considering the speed at which things change these days.

And, the online documentation for this MOBO and the manual (page 2-11 & 2-12 in mine) both state several times to use only identical sticks of RAM. Now, that is not as specific as I would like it to be, especially when I was new to computer building. But, if ASUS started attempting to dictate that people shop for certain revisions, it would cause nitemares for them, RAM companies, and the vendors. Again, it simply cannot be done.

And, I'm not busting anyone's chops here. It is an expensive mistake and I have made similiar in the past.

As to the video related items above, I have done a great deal of testing in the past. Comparing stock to OCed with video editing/encoding (AVID) and other programs (Photoshop and DVD authoring) more RAM bandwidth does not matter for speed. Only an increase in CPU speed will make rendering/encoding faster. More RAM bandwidth does not affect it.

I have tested this with 1gb and 2gb of RAM. My computers under heavy loads do nothing any faster/better with 2gb of RAM. And, I can OC a bit farther with 1gb or more specifically, 2 sticks instead of 4 sticks. So, if you discover you "NEED" 2gb of RAM, the 2048mb kit with 2 sticks is the best option.

Also, my wife has done the real world work with the machines. I have seen her running AVID in the background and editing pix with Photoshop simultaneously. She did not have any circumstances where she ran out of RAM. Also, my paging file for XP is on a physically seperate disk from the OS. The system she uses daily is a P4C800 E-Deluxe, 2.4c at 3.3ghz, TwinX 1024 kit of PC4400. I have run that same machine at 3.0ghz with 4 x 512mb of PC4000. Based on our needs and results, the 2 x 512mb(2 sticks instead of 4) at 3.3ghz is the better setup.

I have only had 1/2 of a cup of coffee. So, if I strayed here, I'm still asleep.

Mike.

A8V 1.009 changes:

Support new CPUs. Please refer to our website at: http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx

Fix boot sequence issue

Fix aperture size setup defaults to 128MB when using Matrox VGA Card

Specmike, I do not expect either motherboard or memory company to keep up with each other. What I expect from them to be as specific as possible to warn customer about possible problems. Based on my question and ASUS response I was not made aware of the revision issue (I could not asked about the revision issue since I was not aware of it):

......My memory question to ASUS support:

1.) I would like to add two 512 MB each Corsair TwinX memory sticks 2XCMX512-3200C2 to the motherboard. This would give me a total of 2GB of memory with my two original twinx memory sticks already in slots A1 and B1. Do you see any problems with having four sticks? Will I see any degradation in performance? (There are some issues with a total of 4GB.)

ASUS response:

Sir, #! When your want to insert 4 ddr 400 mhz memory , your memory may automatically decrease ddr 333mhz, It is a protective function when system cannot boot up or any instable symptoms due to memory itself. Please enter BIOS setting and manually adjust memory frequency to 200MHz.

PS , i suggest you choose same size and model memory to use......

No word about revision - unless it is expected that average Joe would assume that model means model and revision.

Bottomline, if you build something new be prepared for surprizes because even original manufacturer might not warn you about pitifalls.

I like ASUS boards and I will probably buy another one. What I wish from ASUS is better information since this is their product.

Kosmos, Yes I have all the setting the way you outlined and I will boot up O.K. and memory will run at ~333MHzDDR when checked by CPU-Z.

I do not know what is Acronis True Image. Brief description, what it is used for etc. would be helpful.

Wired, Thanks for asking video guy (I have no idea what "IIRC" is). I am interested in his comments.

I'm the video guy that Wired referred to. And, IIRC is If I Recall Correctly.

No word about revision - unless it is expected that average Joe would assume that model means model and revision.

And, I have made almost the exact same mistake in the past. That is what I meant above when I said ASUS should be more specific. But, if they ever once mention "revision" many people would inundate Corsair or Newegg etc requesting specific revisions etc. The bad part about learning in the self build computer arena is, you often have to spend/lose some $$$ to do it :[pouts:

Good luck, Mike.

I am not an expert in all this computer stuff. So, if you see something which needs to be corrected please do.

 

I am not sure what the SPD is. To my knowledge it is some information embeded in the memory that tells the computer what settings can be used when operating the memory. I can set a more agressive timings for my memory than the SPD values. So, I am happy with Corsair product - I learned to disregard the SPD values.

 

My BIOS is set to 2:1 (400DDR) but CPU-Z showed 162 MHz (324DDR MHz) with four sticks. If I pull out two sticks without changing the BIOS CPU-Z will show 200 MHz (400 DDR). I do not have problem with booting up either with two or four sticks.

 

I still belive that the ASUS should at least mentioned in their manual that all memory used must be the same revision (I am assuming here that the other memory manufacturers have similar problems as I do with four sticks not working at 400MHz). Before I bough second TWINX I asked ASUS support person will I be able to run four Corsair sticks at 400MHz. His response was yes. Then, when they were only running at 324MHz he suggested to change CAS value. When I told him that I changed the CAS to all possible values without increase in frequency - never heard from him again.

 

I have RAID 0 running on VIA controler. I though it would be a better choise than Promise. However, according to ASUS support both VIA and Promise controllers are equivalent at lease this is my interpretation of his e-mail. For now, I turned Promise controller off in BIOS. I will turn it back when I add a dedicated SATA drive for the Pinnacle stuff.

 

As far as more memory is concerned I am trying to answer the question what will I get with TWINX2048-3200C2 (assuming the two sticks will run at 400 MHz) when running Pinnacle Studio 9 over my four sticks (two TWINX1024s) runing at 333MHz? Pinnacle Studio 9 can capture video, edit video, and make movies. I had my share of crashing with this software. Also, I know there are other similar video programs in the same price range, any suggestions?. I would appreciate any comments and/or recommendation from the resident video editor.

VIA says that their integrated RAID controller is faster because it is in the South Bridge (http://www.viaarena.com). As to if that is really true or not, I don't know. I have dual raptors on the Via and dual 160GBs SATAs WD on the Promise (all RAID 0). I want to do games and video editing.

VIA says that their integrated RAID controller is faster because it is in the South Bridge (http://www.viaarena.com). As to if that is really true or not, I don't know. I have dual raptors on the Via and dual 160GBs SATAs WD on the Promise (all RAID 0). I want to do games and video editing.

I can vouch for the VIA being faster, although I wouldn't venture as far as to say that it's noticible by a human.

The main reason switched my raptors to the VIA controller is.

#1 Curiosity to see if it really was faster as claimed.

#2 I was bored.

#3 I it uses the processor less and reduces the traffic on the front side bus, because it doesn't use it. The Promise contoller must use the FSB.

So use the via if you want to. If you already have everything set up and working, I wouldn't bother going to the trouble to move it.

You can not simply move your raid array to the new controller and have it work. (bummer) Promise and VIA configure the array differently, so they are not cross compatable. I had to save an image of the array on a spare disk drive I had, then move the connectors and re-establish the array on the via controller, format and then put the image back on.

Took about 2 to 3 hours. 90% of that time was saving the disk image and then copying it back onto the array. 140G array is alot of disk surface to format, even at raid speeds.

From what I have read and seen in benchmarks RAID 0 doesn't even offer THAT much of an improvement in many cases.

I got hooked on RAID 0 about 4 years ago with my old windows 98 computer. I did a RAID 0 on that thing and it madea HUGE difference in performance.

Now on my new system I have the 10,000 RPM raptors in RAID 0 and another SATA drive, and dont' see any real difference between the two in most cases. For the price difference, I would say no they are not worth it considering you don't have any data protection with that set up. I won't give them up though, I like them, and at the time money wasn't a problem so I went ahead and got them.

If you want soemthing smoking fast though I would speend the extra money on a faster processor or faster ram, then on faster hardrives.

NOTE: You will also notice from the above post by the video editor that raw processing power is THE main concern you want to have when dealing with video editing/encoding. Games are a different beast I believe.

As far as the 'faster' raid controller, they are talking about 'throughput' mostly, and as the editor also said, he didn't notice any real difference in throughput variations on his projects. When doing that sort of thing, its how to get from point A to point B fastest. And CPU speed is the key there. Computations. With 3D games, it's more like having the information the GPU needs on hand as quickly as possible without having to access the hardrive.

You can't really compare Frames Per Second in a game to video encoding speed.

NOTE: You will also notice from the above post by the video editor that raw processing power is THE main concern you want to have when dealing with video editing/encoding.

Good info and, I agree 100% with this. I have tested it many times.

Mike.