memory for P4B533-V

[martn10]

I'm buying asus p4b533-v and i'm not sure which memory i should go with? Is PC2700 ok, should i get PC3000 instead, or even PC3200?

Also, which brand would you recommend.

Thanks

 

[Jola]

There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether the P4B533-V can do meaningful memory overclocks. Many people have been having difficulties.

Until this is resolved you may be safer buying a P4B533-E, which seems to easily do 200MHz DDR O/C. In this case, of course, you buy the best memory that you can get.

 

[martn10]

I heard a lot of good about this board.
Anyway, if i decide to get p4b533-v, which memory should i get?
Thanks

 

[Jola]

It also depends on how much you want to spend. But as a minimum, get decent PC2700 DDR memory. This runs at 166.5 MHz.

If you use a FSB = 133, and a memory ratio of 4:5, then you run PC2700 memory at specification. This is probably the minimum that any enthusiast will want to do.

Of course, you may want to run the FSB at, say, 150MHz. This means that if you still use the 4:5 ratio, that your memory will be running at 187.5MHz. For this you will need something like Corsair XMS3000.

If you have a "B" processor and are even more adventurous (eg FSB=165), then get Corsair XMS3200. If you have the money, get Corsair XMS3200C2.

But just be warned that some users think that there are problems with the P4B533-V and Corsair memory. I will test this in the next day or two and will be able to give you feedback at that time. For the present, I just don't know, but think that the problem only applies if you use two sticks.

But two sticks of anything can be a problem when you O/C. If you need more than 256Mb, try to get a single 512Mb (It still consists of two banks of 256Mb on the stick, but you are less likely to have problems). If you need more than 512Mb you may have a problem.

Kingston or Mushkin memory is also good. Rather something a little too good than not quite good enough.

 

[martn10]

I'm prepared to pay more for good memory. Actually, i'd like to pick the best to get maximum out of it.

For the cpu, I'm getting P4 2.26 B and 1024 or 512 Mb Ram. I guess i can go with 512 Mb for now if it's easier to overclock.

How about Samsung, is it a good option as well?

I appreciate if you can share your impression about Corsair. It may be the one to get for this mobo.

Many thanks for help

 

[Jola]

martn10, am going to pick up the P4B533-V in an hour or two. Will test it this evening with the Corsair XMS3000C2 (512Mb) and will let you know what transpires. I know that guys with the P4B533-E take it up to 200MHz, but I haven't seen definitive statements on this for the P4B533-V.

Of course, for the V you only have a 4:5 multiplier above 132Mhz FSB, whereas you can get 3:4 with the E. But this is not my main concern.

I will be happy with FSB=146, and memory at 182.5MHz. If I am lucky, maybe I can do better. My XMS has supposedly been tested to 185MHz.

As far as I have heard the Samsung memory is good. Some posters have referred to "original" Samsung being better than others, but I am not sure what they mean by this.

Edit: Apparently there is a Revision "C" Samsung which is more overclockable than the newer Revision "D".

 

[mike9390]

Original Samsung means Samsung chips on Samsung's own PCB(Printed Circuit Board). You can get it at Newegg.com or other places but Newegg has the real stuff. Corsair also uses Samsung chips but with their on PCB. Samsung uses a quality PCB and people have reported having better results with Samsung Original in the past. But that was with the older CTL series, the newer DTL series has had mixed results. I have the DTL series and can do 160/400 or 150/400 at 2.8v with 2.5/3/3/6 timings. Samsung now has PC3200 C3 out but I haven't heard any feedback from it. Corsair has a new series, PC3200 C2. I haven't heard any reports about it yet either. You might want to check around and see what the new DDR is like before you make your final decision.

Mike

 

[Strafe]

I have a P4B533-V and Corsair XMS512-3000C2 and the highest settings I can get the memory to is 2-2-3-5 running at 333MHz DDR. I was playing around last night and even at 340MHz I was getting errors in Memtest86. I have some 3200C2 on the way but I have a bad feeling about this board.

 

[BeefcakeVA]

I put together my P4B533-V system this weekend, paired with a stick of Corsair XMS CMX512-3200C2. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the setup. Running my 1.6A at 2.543 (159FSB) at around 1.7v vcore and it is Prime stable. vDIMM is set on auto (2.5v) and my XMS 3200C2 is running via SPD at 2-3-3-7 (rated specs) at nearly DDR400 with the 4:5 multiplier. Realize also that this board does not currently support a 3:4 multiplier so if you want to go past DDR400 you'll have to pickup the P4B533 or -E version and hope for the best. This memory/mobo combo was fine for me, however, as I wanted to hit around 160FSB with my 1.6A and thus have CAS2 DDR400.

Very important though... right now there seems to be some sort of CMOS incompatibility with this board and running 2 sticks of XMS memory, so if you want to purchase the board plan on picking up a single 512MB stick instead of 2 smaller sticks.

This is a really solid board and I'm, as usual, very happy with the Asus quality and ease of use. But with the above problem and the lack of a 3:4 divider I think the jury is still out on whether or not this is a really solid o'cer board.

 

[Jola]

Strafe, I am getting a P4B533-V tomorrow, and have the same memory as you. But no way am I going to be happy with what you are getting. Maybe I should just cancel before I take delivery.

But then if you look at Beefcake's results, just after yours, that seems to be fine. I would be happy with FSB=150 and memory at 187.5MHz.

So what do I do now????

But according to RAM Guy at Corsair support, using XMS3000C2:

"... that module should do 2-3-3-6-T1 at 187.5MHz or 2-2-2-5-T1 at 166MHz easily on that board (I just tested it at both settings)."

Strafe, have you tried other things, or have you run into a brick wall? What BIOS are you using? PCI/AGP lock? Voltage on memory? Hope that I am not insulting you, I see that you have been around for a while (lots of posts!). But I am worried about this.

 

[martn10]

Thanks for clearing things up.

I'm not happy about this "one stick" problem. Is there another brand for memory you could recommend, where i can use 2 sticks of RAM with good results in terms of performance and overclocking? Or i can only overclock with one stick?

Thanks again for helping. It takes a lot of effort to pick right parts. Hopefully i'll order everything this week.

 

[Strafe]

Well some good news, I guess. I set the memory to 2-3-3-6 at a 148 FSB 4:5 divider so the memory would be running at the 185MHz it is spec'd at. Ran one pass of memtest86 and it passed with flying colors. Thats good I guess but It's also spec'd at 2-2-2 at 166MHZ, thats where I can only do 2-2-3-5 and no higher than 166MHz. Why others aren't having the same prob, I don't know - makes me crazy. I should also mention that I am now in windows at that speed so my 2.26 is at 2.5, stock cooling , idle temps at least are the same.

 

[Jola]

martn10, I have received my P4B533-V (with LAN & Audio), and will be leaving for home soon to test this.

Looks fine, except that it was pre-opened and the S/PDIF board is missing. Not too worried about that, will make sure that I get a replacement S/PDIF, just hope that it's not a poor performing return.

Don't know what your time zone is, but I should be in a position to post some results late this evening European time (ie late afternoon US time).

Let's hope for the best.

 

[martn10]

Good luck on your new purchase, Jola. Hope everything works well.

I have a few final questions before i start ordering.

1. If i use memory other than Corsair, can i put 2 sticks and get good overclocking results?
If not, what when i need more than 512 Mb Ram, which i will definitely need sooner or later, which i still want to overclock?

2. Would i need more fans if i want to overclock? For cpu, or memory... If so, what would you recommend?
This is the case i'm planning to get, just to give an idea about cooling system i'll have:
Case
I think there are 3 fans included, form what i understand.

That's all what bothers me (for now). Apparently i don't have experience with overclocking and that's where those questions come from.
I want to finally order everything so i'm making sure i get everything right.

Enjoy your new motherboard. Let us know how everything goes.

 

[Jola]

I'm back. It looks as if my fears were unfounded.

I am running stable at FSB=140 (1.8A) @ 2.52GHz, memory (512Mb XMS 3000C2 v1.1) at 4:5 (ie 175MHz), settings 2-3-3-6. CPU Voltage 1.60, Memory Voltage 2.65. Standard cooling. P4B533-V.

Haven't had time to upgrade BIOS, am using version 2. Maybe an upgrade will also help, will see.

It looks as if my 1.8A is now the bottleneck, doesn't like going over FSB=140, even with higher voltage. Maybe better cooling would work, but I will leave it at this (knew I should have bought a 2.26B!!!). Will wait for P4 prices to drop, then get one.

Get memory errors if change settings to 2-2-2-5 or anything tighter than 2-3-3-6. In spite of that believe that memory will run somewhat faster at 2.5-3-3-6 but is constrained by CPU ability and 4:5 memory ratio.

So I need a 2.26B and Asus to fix their BIOS to give 3:4 memory ratio above FSB=132Mhz (fat chance!)

martn10, as I understand it the two stick problem is a BIOS problem by ASUS, and one can only assume that this will go away as new BIOS's are released. I don't think that buying a different brand of memory will necessarily help. Other brands may be more cost-effective than Corsair, and work just as well, but I can't advise you on that.

Something else - I did some tests, and it is quite clear that the memory performance drops dramatically if you use the onboard graphics. This is because it shares the main system memory, so it is better to use an external graphics card.

I don't know what you want to achieve, but if memory performance is important get a 2.26B CPU (for the extra bang on the FSB speed) and get 512Mb Corsair XMS3200C2. Then you should really be able to fly.

With my setup above I have two fans in the case (+ one on the CPU and one in the PSU). This appears to be adequate for what I am doing now, but I may stick a fan on the Northbridge heatsink as well.

Thanks, guys!

 

[martn10]

Glad to hear everything works fine. When you get new cpu, your system will fly. There's price drop around September 1st. It's supposed to be quite big, so you may go even for 2.53, depending on your wallet and needs.

I'm sorry to admit i've never overclocked before. I will though, after i get everything ready. I don't thing it's that hard.

I guess i'll get XMS3200C2. After all, if something goes wrong, i know who i can blame for that.
I'm ordering everything tonight. Wow, i'm so excited. I should start assembling everything early next week.

I'm getting GeForce4 Ti4600 so i'll get rid of onboard graphics and audio as well. Thanks for the info.

I read on tomshardware about some bios improvements for this motherboard. I'm not sure what it excactly help with, i can find out if you want.

Last thing, is every memory OEM, or i should look for retail box? Well, i really don't know, it's a serious question. Newegg has it listed as OEM only.

Thanks

PS
First, i'd like to get my system running. Then, i'll start overclocking. I'll be happy with anything at first.

 

[Jola]

Hi martn10, just an update.

I have had memory errors and have had to change my memory settings to 2.5-3-3-6. It is now stable, but I am not really happy with that, as cheap PC2700 should have given me that performance. May have wasted extra USD100 on memory!

Unfortunately, I don't live in the US, so it is difficult to return the memory for exchange.

I don't think that you have the same risk, so go ahead. The good Samsung from Newegg should be OK, and I haven't seen negative reports about the XMS3200C2 either. Memory is usually OEM - it is rare to find nice boxed retail packages. Companies like Compaq and IBM used to do this, but it was expensive and I don't think that they sold a lot.

Maybe a BIOS upgrade would help me, will now try this.

Will see if I can find someone to take my 1.8A off me - it is not a bad chip, stable at 2.5GHz, I am just too ambitious.

Good luck with your exercise. I am essentially happy, just need to fine tune now.

 

[managerman1985]

Hello,

I some issues this past weekend....Bought a stick of Corsair XMS3200 memory....wanted to try to get my system up to 440DDR!

Machine Specs:

P4 2.26 @ 3.06 Ghz! FSB 177mhz! Mem Ratio 1:1
WD 80GB Special edition
Visiontek ti4600
512 Samsung PC2700 @ DDR354

I started with a clean install of Windows XP

All worked great, XP installed in record time, set the divider to 4:5 and BAM! Sandra showed memory benchmark scores around 3450/3400....all was good.....system was stable....but...

Then I ran 3Dmark2001se and was getting low scores...checked and found out that the AGP was running in PCI mode!

Read up on this, and all advice was to install Intel Chipset drivers......As soon as I did this the machine would hang on a black screen right before going into windows.....

I battled with it all weekend and could not get it to work.....

I concluded that maybe the memory was a problem, but everything worked great, Prime95, etc....all except some sort of conflict between the intel chipset drivers and the video card/agp bus....

Does anyone have any thoughts on this...Was so close to DDR 440....!

Matt

 

[Jola]

Why don't you try to get your computer stable without Windows, ie using memtest86 or other to just boot into floppy and test memory (also at 220MHz until you are sure that it is stable. At least you then know that your hardware is more or less OK.

Then try Windows - if you can't get that stable you may have to re-install.

But before re-installing try a few things- if you have the Intel applications accelerator installed, remove it. If you don't have, try to install it and see what happens. Etc.

 

[martn10]

Thanks for all your help.

When you buy parts, don't they have any warranty policy? I understand you're not in US, can't you return it though, if it's faulty?
I guess buying parts from US would be expensive. Did you try going to Corsair's website? Maybe they have dealers close from you?
Sorry to hear your memory doesn't work as you expected. Well, at least works at all. Maybe with BIOS upgrade you'll get better performance.

I found on Asus forum a thread about this motherboard, maybe you'll find it helpful:

P4B533-V

Thanks again

I just checked Corsairs website. I see a reseller from your country. Maybe that's what you used. There could be more though, Just wonder.

 

[Jola]

Hi martn10. the problem is not really that I can't return it, it's the logistic and costs involved.

There is no local distributor for Corsair that I'm aware of, I ordered from the US.

The freight to get it here was USD25 (DHL quoted USD100), and I had to pay USD50 in local duties. Now to send it back would be probably USD15 to the US, at least USD25 to get it back here and probably another USD50 in duties. The customs guys here are like the Gestapo, to try and explain to them that I have already paid the duties wouldn't work (or be worth months of effort!).


But I would still do it if I thought that there was a high likelyhood of the problem being solved. However, looking at the houseofhelp Corsair support site it appears that my problem is quite common, especially with the P4B533-V, but also with other motherboards. So I may spend a lot of money and end up in a worse or similar position.

The memory basically works, just not at CL2 as specified by Corsair, but the Sandra Score is about 2650 and is better than RDRAM PC800 CL2 on an 850 motherboard. So I should just be happy. The machine has now been running memory benchmarks and Prime95 for 24 hours, as well as 3DMark stable. I guess that I have pretty much achieved my objectives, no use flogging a dead horse.

Now I just have to start using the thing. My main uses will be digital photography, digital video and a couple of games. I also have a 11 year old son who will probably try to hijack the computer (he has my old 1.1GHz P3 with a new GEForce4 MX, but no doubt he will think that the P4 is more exciting).

So WinXP Pro's security will be severely tested - at least it is an educational process for him!

 

[martn10]

I found a reseller on Corsair website in your country.

Corsair

You can click on international distributor link. On reseller list there's one, i think on your country.

It's address is www.cyberdyne.co.za

It might be useful when you want to buy more.

I didn't order mine yet. Soon i will, though.

There's someone sneaking on your computer, heh. I guess sophisticated security would come handy here.


Thanks a lot for your help, it saved me lots of trouble. I don't know much about photo editing, but i have a friend who's good at photoshop and animation. Well, i can give you some reviews about games i played (quite a lot) if you're planning to buy some.

Good luck on your system, enjoy !

 

[Jola]

Hi martn10, I checked up on the supplier that you mentioned, and they do have Corsair on the price list. At much the same price that I paid with the shipping and customs, but it certainly would have been easier to return to them. And maybe I can pick up some Corsair PC150 CL2 for my old CUSL2.

They also stock other gadgets that I did not think were available here, like fancy heatsinks, Arctic Silver, etc. And, they are very close to where I live (less than 1 mile away). Will certainly pay them a visit, thanks.

But I don't know how I missed them on the Corsair site, unless they are a late addition. I last looked two months ago before I ordered the Corsair from the US.

Unfortunately I don't think that they will help with the present problem as I didn't buy from them.

 

[martn10]

Hey, you can save on shipping when buyng from them. You can even save on gasoline since you can walk there.

Now i have another problem (sigh).

I decided to go with P4B533 or P4B533-E as you recommended earlier. I'm not sure what is the difference between them. I think -E has raid. Would it be a problem if i don't want to use it?

Which one would you recommend?

Thanks

 

[klc314]

Just a note on the P4B533-E, though I haven't tried this. I found this when I was researching what board to buy, which led me here. by the way. This is text I copied and save, and am waiting to try. Sorry if it's old news, I'm new here.

The following information is for users who are not aware that the P4B533-E can
actually support DDR333 through a few modifications.
The P4B533-E supports DDR266, this is how to adjust their boards to support
DDR333.

The CPU system clock and memory bandwidth of Intel?s 845G chipset supporting
DDR333 can take on the following ratio. Through the BIOS you will see that the
System clock:Memory ratio can be

100:100 (1:1)
100:133 (3:4)
133:100 (4:3)
133:133 (1:1)
133:166 (4:5)

The 845E chipset, which does not support DDR333, does not have the 133:166
ratio option. If you adjust the jumpers to ?convince? the 854E chipset that it
is supporting a 100MHz CPU, but in reality you are using a 133MHz CPU then you
can choose the 100:133 ratio. And then adjust the CPU system clock to 133MHz,
allowing your CPU to run normally at 133MHz while the memory is 354MHz (177MHz
x 2), most DIMM should be able to handle it. By doing so, the 845E chipset can
support DDR333 without having to overclock too much.

These are the simple instructions:

1. Put 133MHz CPU and DDR333 module onto the P4B533-E motherboard
2. Start system and enter BIOS and adjust DDR Voltage. We recommend 2.9V,
especially when your memory module is not all that stable, because the next
step is increase memory bandwidth to 354MHz.
3. Turn off your system. Set the sixth dipswitch 1 to ON. This is how you can
?convince? the 845E chipset that it is supporting a 100MHz CPU, because this
step can stabilize system clock to Memory ratio at 3:4.
4. Restart your computer. Enter BIOS to check on CPU and memory bandwidth. At
this moment, the CPU should be running at 133MHz and memory should be at 177MHz
(133 x 4=DDR354).