Did my computer memory do that?

Alright we are going to roll up our sleeves and get a little dirty. Computer memory: without it the computer will not run, with it the computer might go haywire. It can cause enough problems with your computer you want to pull your hair out. Here is my take on memory and a little bit of what I know. I do not have the hours in a day to write about all I know so I will hit the highlights and hope some of it sticks.This is not for the weak of heart and I am not bashing on people, just offering my insight to the subject. If this helps you please let me know.

If you are building a new computer and it is acting weird and will not boot up right, you get a great idea from a forum post and pull one of the memory modules out and the system boots up fine, the memory module you pulled out must be bad right. Not so fast there speedy, the odds you pulled out the bad module on the first try in 1 in 999,999 or 1 in 4. There can be lots of reasons why a new system build could go haywire. First thing you need to do is test the memory with memtest and if the memory passes then you can rule it out. I have heard all the horror stories about what people thought were memory issues and it winds up being something else. First thing you always do before loading Windows whatever on a new computer is test the memory so there isn’t any data corruption. So let’s dig a little deeper to see what could cause the before mentioned problem. You take out one module and the system boots. Shut the system down and take out the module currently in there and install the one you took out. If the system boots fine with that one then you have a possible power supply issue or another component is the culprit. Do not be so quick to point the ugly finger at memory. Forums are a great place to gather information and possible fixes for computer issues but they should never be taken as 100% true or accurate. What worked for one person may not work for you.

Someone decides to buy super fast DDR2 1066MHz memory for his computer because his/her buddy said get the fastest stuff out there. This person installs the new memory and low and behold the memory does not run at 1066MHz, it is running at 800MHz. Rats, the memory is not running at its rated speed so it must be bad right? Well you should have checked what processor you have and verified it has a front side bus speed equal to the memory. If the processor has a FSB (Front Side Bus) speed of 800MHz, your memory will run at 800MHz unless you can unlink the memory or you put the memory in a ratio. I won’t go into ratios that would be a whole new post. Please, before you buy memory for your computer, make sure to find out the FBS of the processor and if there are any limitations for the motherboard.

I hear this all the time; I read on a forum that running the memory at command rate 1T versus 2T is faster. What?? Right, one timing will change how fast memory works? No it won’t, changing one value in the BIOS because someone said that will make the memory faster, is full of it. I have heard arguments on both sides and basically 1T versus 2T make almost no difference at all. If running 1T makes the system unstable then run 2T. The command rate is not where the speed is, having a lower CAS latency takes precedence over command rate. I ran tests with both configurations and I cannot see an advantage.

I read on a forum that there were two people who had the same motherboard and bought the same memory, person A was able to over clock their memory 200MHz faster than person B. So person B thought they had bad memory and exchanged the memory for a new pair that did the same thing. What is wrong? This is pretty easy to explain, if two of the exact same motherboards came off the assembly line they will not act the same. There is no way you can have an exact twin when it comes to electronics. They can be close but there will be always be something different. This could be considered a weak explanation but I do not work for a manufacturer so I do not have the inside scoop.

All I ask is that you spend some time reading the right articles about memory and over clocking before visiting forums to get misguided information.

Well I guess that is it for this post, if you have any constructive criticism let me have.

Until next time,

Kineo