A7N8X-E Deluxe, buying (faster) Ram. Question regarding CAS

[zeepster]

(Want to read just the question skip the 1st paragraph.)

I haven't updated my computer since a few years and i want to get the fastest performance possible out of this system.
At the moment i have 512 Kingston DDR400 (KVR400X64C3A/512) memory installed. I actually have two of these identical sticks but could never get the A7N8X-E Deluxe stable running two sticks so i took one out. (After extensive memtest sessions i found that both sticks by themself have no errors, but when both are installed then it's memory error after another..)


I plan to get a 1gb memory module to replace the installed Kingston 512MB and i'm having doubts which one to get:

-1GB Kingston DDR400 PC3200 p/n KVR400X64C3A/1G (costs €60,=)
-Corsair 1GB DDR SDRAM PC3200 CL2.0 XMS (costs €110,=)

The main difference is CAS latency it seems. I'll be using the PC mainly for digital audio, perhaps some gaming. What is the best memory to get? Is CAS2 faster in the A7N8X-E than CAS3? Please enlighten me.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Specs: A7N8X-E Deluxe, bios 1013E-Uber_SATA_4283. Two Maxtor sata Diamondmax 10's; 200 gb / 7200rpm / 16MB and 160 gb / 7200rpm / 8MB, Antec NEO power 480 W, Saphire 9800pro 128MB and i'm running XP sp2.

[Blakhart]

Hi
I would sort out the two-sticks-of-ram error deal first. Is it the memory or is it a setting in bios such as cas, tras, or other that's keeping the two sticks from running together? Sometimes if you increase the mem voltage slightly, such as from 2.6 to 2.7v mem sometimes stops displaying errors.

If you can run in dual channel, meaning you have at least two sticks of mem installed in the first and second dimms, dual-channel-ness helps memory latency all by itself, as in memory controller and general system performance, over say cas, tras, and so on. Not that you don't want reduced cas and tras and so on. The reduced latency is great for audio work. Sometimes it works out better if the mem is populated in dimm1 and dimm3 as opposed to dimm1 and dimm2 as suggested in the manuals for most nforce1 and 2 systems. I would much rather have 6/2/2/2 timings (if 6/2/2/2 worked best) at a 200fsb than 12/4/4/3 timings at say a fsb of 250. I'll take reduced cas/tras over increased fsb any day. I use memtest alone for testing anything related to memory, and adjust cas/tras for best bandwidth that doesn't error out over at least a full 8 tests.

This is my favorite guide for memory timings, read it carefully: http://www.mushkin.com/doc/support/papers/latency.asp

Now what I would do is to see if you can find a 1g stick that's the same spec as the two 512s you have, same make and chips and so on, then I would place the two 512s in the last two dimm as it comprises of the second channel slots. Then place the 1g in the first slot wich comprises the first mem channel. If that works, you have greatly added memory capacity and reduced latency, the system should respond very well to this.

Some thoughts for you.

[zeepster]

Thanks for your thoughts. Both 512's by themself work fine. If i run memtest on each of them individually the test shows no errors, and thats running memtest for 6 to 8 hours straight.
I think i tried everything i could find back then. Flashed bios, reset to defaults, tried the 512's in dual-channel and single channel mode, without luck. It seems my motherboard just doesn't want more than one bank of memeory installed. So that's why i was thinking of just putting 1gb tray in there. It's been stable with just 512 for the last year, the other 512 i put in an older pc and it works fine there.

I'll read that article and hopefully come out wiser. If i have to go with one stick of 1gb ram only, the CAS2 would be better than CAS3 right?

[Blakhart]

Yes, cas2, if enabled without errors, is "better" than cas3. The article will tell you why. Now, if the 512s had a lifetime warranty I would see if I could return them for some that would work in the nforce. Or just use them in another sys as you have.