Adding more RAM to a DFI Mobo

[Mark68]

I have a DFI LANParty UT NF4 Ultra-D Motherboard and 2GB (2x1GB) of RAM installed in the first and third physical slots on the motherboard (as per dual channel instructions).

My question is: Can I add another 2GB (2x1GB) of Kingston DDR PC3200 (KVR400X64C3AK2/2G) RAM in the second and fourth physical slots and still maintain the Dual Channel functionality of the already installed 2GB (2x1GB) OCZ DDR PC3200 (OCZ4001024PF) RAM?

[vargis14]

I don't see why not. But the main thing is going to be what operating system u are using 32 bit or 64 bit. I remember my nforce 3 150 board was unable to run windows 7. If you run a 32 bit version of xp or win 7 you will not be able to utilize all 4 gb of memory only a little over 3 gb. You need a 64 bit windows os to use all 4 gb, also I would make sure whatever memory you buy can run at the same timings as your current memory just to be safe I am a bit rusty on old 939 pin boards specially considering I owned a 940 pin fx-53 on a asus sk8n.....a friend of mine is using a dfi board with a fx 55 still I can ask him how much memory he is using.

[JustAnEngineer]

Can I add another 2GB (2x1GB) of Kingston DDR PC3200 (KVR400X64C3AK2/2G) RAM in the second and fourth physical slots?

Yes, that should work fine. 4x1 GiB of PC3200 is the maximum memory that can be installed on that motherboard.

[Mark68]

I don't see why not. But the main thing is going to be what operating system u are using 32 bit or 64 bit. I remember my nforce 3 150 board was unable to run windows 7. If you run a 32 bit version of xp or win 7 you will not be able to utilize all 4 gb of memory only a little over 3 gb. You need a 64 bit windows os to use all 4 gb, also I would make sure whatever memory you buy can run at the same timings as your current memory just to be safe I am a bit rusty on old 939 pin boards specially considering I owned a 940 pin fx-53 on a asus sk8n.....a friend of mine is using a dfi board with a fx 55 still I can ask him how much memory he is using.

I'm running Win7 Ultimate 32 bit. I know I won't get use of all 4GB, but I need to improve on just the 2GB I am using. I've seen people say they get anywhere from 3 - 4GB, depending on build, so I'm thinking I'll get the higher end of that as I have an installed GPU and don't use onboard video that takes some of the RAM. I might reformat and install the 64 bit version later.

As for the timings, I know the OCZ is CL3-3-3-8, and after some 15 minutes of searching, I believe the KVR is CL3-3-3-8 as well. I picked up the KVR in a local ad for $20.

I would love to have the FX60 in this machine, but it is hard to find and ridiculously priced IMHO. So I settled for an Opteron 175 as it's final upgrade.

Thanks for the response, I'm not a big time RAM geek, so I wasn't sure if what I wanted to do was going to interfere with the dual channel stuff.

[Mark68]

Can I add another 2GB (2x1GB) of Kingston DDR PC3200 (KVR400X64C3AK2/2G) RAM in the second and fourth physical slots?

Yes, that should work fine. 4x1 GiB of PC3200 is the maximum memory that can be installed on that motherboard.

Thanks,

I knew the max for the mobo was 4GB, I just wasn't sure how/if it would all work together.

[thegst]

I owned this board and ran it with a very high OC. With 4 sticks step cmd rate down to 2t.

[Mark68]

I owned this board and ran it with a very high OC. With 4 sticks step cmd rate down to 2t.

I have nothing OC'd. I'm a big ole coward. I've no idea what a "step cmd rate of 2t" is either. I know I could OC everything in this PC, I just don't know much about it and am not convinced I'd gain anything I'd notice to validate shortening the life of my parts.

[thegst]

If you're running that board, you need to know something about basic BIOS settings. That is not a board for an amateur - it exposes a lot of settings that if set wrong can be detrimental to stability.

"DRAM Configuration: CPC: Disable" = 2T command rate. I understand you are not overclocking. It is a factor of the A64 not being able to handle 4 sticks of memory at 1T command rate; remember, the memory controller is on the CPU.

[vargis14]

Absolutely drop the command rate to 2T as everyone else said.

As for overclocking My friend has the same board with a fx57...not the fx55 like i thought but that motherboard is a great overclocking board....DFI was the boards to get back in the day.
I know that chip runs at 2.2ghz you should be able to get 2.6 easy sometimes 2.8 with that motherboard .....do not be afraid they don't run that hot overclocked and there are plenty of guides and youtube videos showing you how to do it. Just follow instructions
Since you are trying to get the most out of that old system. Here is one example of overclocking to 2.7ghz
http://www.overclock.net/t/310696/overc ... d-pix-4-27

And no you do not have to lap your heatsink

[Mark68]

If you're running that board, you need to know something about basic BIOS settings. That is not a board for an amateur - it exposes a lot of settings that if set wrong can be detrimental to stability.

"DRAM Configuration: CPC: Disable" = 2T command rate. I understand you are not overclocking. It is a factor of the A64 not being able to handle 4 sticks of memory at 1T command rate; remember, the memory controller is on the CPU.

I've added the 2 sticks of RAM and it seems to be fine. Windows see's 4GB installed, but only 3.25 usable. I was thinking I'd get a little more, but that'll do. The system wasn't struggling with only the 2GB anyways, I just wanted to improve it a little.

But I'll definitely have a look in the BIOS and set the command rate to 2T. Thanks for the info, although I may not fully understand it, I certainly do appreciate it.

[Mark68]

Absolutely drop the command rate to 2T as everyone else said.

As for overclocking My friend has the same board with a fx57...not the fx55 like i thought but that motherboard is a great overclocking board....DFI was the boards to get back in the day.
I know that chip runs at 2.2ghz you should be able to get 2.6 easy sometimes 2.8 with that motherboard .....do not be afraid they don't run that hot overclocked and there are plenty of guides and youtube videos showing you how to do it. Just follow instructions
Since you are trying to get the most out of that old system. Here is one example of overclocking to 2.7ghz
http://www.overclock.net/t/310696/overc ... d-pix-4-27

And no you do not have to lap your heatsink

Not that I know what lapping a heatsink is anyways ........ LOL

When my brother gave me this board, he said it was the be all and end all of OC'ing. It had an AMD Athlon 64 3000 (1.8GHz) in it at the time. I grabbed a 3700 (2.21GHz) SanDiego core from eBay for $20 cause that was probably one of the most OC'able CPU's and the price was a fraction of the FX's and decent Dual Core's. I never did OC it because I'm a big chicken. So after a year or two of that, I just grabbed the Opteron 175 for the Dual Core. Never really noticed much of a difference though. But then I upgraded to Win7 from Vista when I installed the Opteron, so maybe that is why.

Now that I really want a new PC with SSD drive and Big Quad Core CPU with crap loads of RAM and USB 3.0, I might just OC this thing and see what happens. Thanks for the assurances, and all the advice.

[Mark68]

OK ....... Went into the BIOS and CMD was set to auto. To force 1T I would have to select enable. Switched from auto to disable to ensure it stays in 2T.

I did notice my RAM is set to 200 MHZ, is this right? I don't remember what it may have been set to prior to installing new RAM, but I just assumed it would have been 400 MHz.

Here's a few snaps of CPU-Z:

[JustAnEngineer]

PC3200 memory runs at 200 MHz. It's "Dual Data Rate 400" meaning that it is double-pumped to send two data bits per cycle. 2 x 200 MHz = "DDR 400".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_SDRAM

[Mark68]

PC3200 memory runs at 200 MHz. It's "Dual Data Rate 400" meaning that it is double-pumped to send two data bits per cycle. 2 x 200 MHz = "DDR 400".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_SDRAM

OK, I get that. Thank you.

To me it seems like the Kingston RAM is dragging the OCZ RAM down. I say this because I really have no clue, but I see the timings in the first pic are not what I would have thought they should be. It shows a lower MHz, and CL3-3-3-7. In the third pic it shows two sets of values for the KVR, is there something I must do to set it to use the 200 MHz CL3-3-3-8 instead of the 166 MHz CL2.5-3-3-7? Or is this all just normal and I should quit worrying about every little detail?

[Captain Ned]

If you're mixing and matching RAM sticks, everything runs at the timings of the slowest stick in the bunch.

[Mark68]

If you're mixing and matching RAM sticks, everything runs at the timings of the slowest stick in the bunch.

I knew that, but what I don't know, is why the KVR RAM is running so slow. Specs say it is DDR400 CL3-3-3-8, yet it appears to be running at 166 (or less) instead of 200 MHz. What is forcing it down? Was I better off without it? Would installing the 64 bit Win7 correct this?

[vargis14]

What i see from your screenshot is that CPUz is showing what speeds your ram is able to run at. It is probably running at the speed you set in the bios.
Back in 2005 DFI had the best 939pin boards for overclocking with so many options in the bios your head will spin. Now i am not telling you this to scare you, i tell you this because you have a lot of potential power you can unlock from that 2.2GHZ 11x200 dual core cpu.

It uses a multiplier of 11 with 200 bus/ht speed. I have read that motherboard hitting 300 base clock... But you would be better off trying for 250 x 10.5 or 11 2625mhz or 2750mhz. Those are just a tiny amount of examples of the multiplier combinations that board is capable of.

Like i said google a DFI nforce4 ultra-D overclocking with a opteron 175 denmark cpu, and find one of that many online guides/ videos on the net and try to follow the instructions and see what you can get. A extra 400-500mhz can improve performance in games a lot specifically if your cpu is bottlenecking your gpu.

[Mark68]

What i see from your screenshot is that CPUz is showing what speeds your ram is able to run at.

That would be the third screenshot, but in the first one it shows my ram running at 157.9 MHz CL3-3-3-7. I'm sure the OCZ is capable of running at lower speeds, yet it isn't listed in CPU-Z.

It is probably running at the speed you set in the bios.

You wouldn't happen to know where I set that? I saw an area where I could set it to run between 200 - 550, but it was already set to 200. Maybe CPU-Z is mistaken, I'll try another program to verify.

Back in 2005 DFI had the best 939pin boards for overclocking with so many options in the bios your head will spin. Now i am not telling you this to scare you, i tell you this because you have a lot of potential power you can unlock from that 2.2GHZ 11x200 dual core cpu.
It uses a multiplier of 11 with 200 bus/ht speed. I have read that motherboard hitting 300 base clock... But you would be better off trying for 250 x 10.5 or 11 2625mhz or 2750mhz. Those are just a tiny amount of examples of the multiplier combinations that board is capable of.

Most of what I see in the BIOS is set to AUTO, and I have not had any issues with this board at all until just now when adding RAM (not a real issue as the PC runs smooth as normal). I don't think this board likes 4 sticks RAM.

Once I get this RAM thing figured out, I'll look at OC'ing the PC.

Like i said google a DFI nforce4 ultra-D overclocking with a opteron 175 denmark cpu, and find one of that many online guides/ videos on the net and try to follow the instructions and see what you can get. A extra 400-500mhz can improve performance in games a lot specifically if your cpu is bottlenecking your gpu.

My GPU is an eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS. I don't play the games others do. The most demanding game I play is Nascar Racing Season 2002. And I will admit, there are times during a game when the video struggles.