DDR memory question

[SirPoonga]

Alright, I had a 400Mhz PC3200 512 meg stick in my computer.  I picked up a 1gig and put it in.  Now when the system boots up it says Memory Clock Speed: DDR 333.  If I put each stick in individually it will  display 400.  Why is it going down to 333 when two sticks are in?

[SteveJ34]

Is the 1gb stick only rated to 333?

[TMS]

Assuming both sticks are 400 your problem is a chipset limitation. One stick will run at 400, but as you add sticks you lose speed.  This is very common with Northbridge chipsets. Most newer boards will accomidate two sticks before you start losing speed.  How old is your board, Is it dual channel, and how many slots does it have?

[xar256]

You could try updating the bios on your mainboard...see if that helps too.

Xar256

[SirPoonga]

Yes, both are PC3200 400mhz chips.
I have an abit KV-80 motherboard with an amd 64 3200+ on it.
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=238

[Hoopz]

When you have both sticks in, boot to your BIOS and check to see what it has under FSB speed and your DRAM bus speed. 

Did you buy the second stick at a later time?  Same manufacturer?

When you have one stick in, was it in slot 0/1 (nearest the CPU) or slot 2/3? 

If your BIOS is up to date and your settings are correct, you may have to clear your CMOS memory.

[SirPoonga]

Did you buy the second stick at a later time?  Same manufacturer?

Bought it later, same manufacture

When you have one stick in, was it in slot 0/1 (nearest the CPU) or slot 2/3? 

first slot (they are labelled dimm 1 and 2)

]
If your BIOS is up to date and your settings are correct, you may have to clear your CMOS memory.

Everything is up to date.

[TMS]

That board only has two slots so I am assuming that since you are using mis-matched,(1 512 and 1 1gb)sticks you are getting the slowdown. I would contact abit first and ask them if there is something you can do about it. I have a feeling they will tell you to use identical sticks to achieve maximum performance. Otherwise I would rather run 1gb @ 400 then 1.5 @ 333

[SirPoonga]

It's not a dual channel mobo where matched stick would make a difference.
I was talking to the IT guy here at work, he said that's normal for a non-dual channel motherboard.

I only want the 1gig in it anyways as the 512 will eventually go into a new arcade computer.

[MnMCaputo]

Is the memory sticks you have single sided or double sided?  Apparently that makes a difference with the 64 chips, with some mobos, if you have 2 sticks of double sided ram, since the ram speed controller is now a function of the cpu and no longer of the mobo/fsb, the ram speed will drop to 333 because the cpu cant handle 4 sides of 400.  It sucks because that happened to me.   One more thought, with some people, it helps to take your HT multiplier off auto and set it at x4, see if that works