PC3200 memory says its running at 101mhz, this isnt right?

[StealthElephant]

The memory tab of CPUZ says my frequency is 101mhz.

On bootup its displaying "DDR 200", I swear to god yesterday it was saying "DDR 400".

It's corsair dual pack 2x512 PC3200

Soltek S754 K8AN2E-GR mobo
3400+ AMD 64
eVGA 6800 GT

This is running on windows 98 SE right now

I thought it should be reading 200mhz. Is something wrong? The reason I'm wondering is that world of warcraft keeps locking up. Somethings wrong, I'm trying to eliminate variables.

 

[ZYFER]

first thing to do is check the bios to ensure the settings are accurate, if you feel like you need to, reset to defaults.

 

[StealthElephant]

which settings should I be looking at exactly? The "DRAM Setting" area of bios is all set to auto, I didn't change anything in there. Anything more specific I could look for?

Thanks

 

[rivan]

I'll second that - I wouldn't expect CPUz to be 100% correct.

Your motherboard will likely display the memory speed at startup - just restart the machine and see what it says during POST.

After that, I'd take a closer look at WoW - have any interface mods installed? Try a fresh install of WoW, then perhaps a reinstall of video drivers. Using '98 SE, while hardly optimal, probably isn't hurting anything - if WoW says it's compatible with it.

Failing that, I'd actually try a different *version* of video drivers - it's quite likely that current drivers aren't as well tested with '98 as they could be.

There are other things, but those will get you a good start.

If you can describe the crashes you're having, that might help as well, if nothing you see here fixes it. Hard lockup? WoW crashes to desktop? Hard lockup with looping sound? See lots of graphics artefacts before the crash? Etc... all the details you can muster.

 

[brikis98]

if you're overclocking and used a mem divider, obviously the RAM would be running slower.

however, if all of your memory settings are on "auto" in the bios its possible that on occasion, your mobo will not configure the RAM quite right. it's happened to me before, although for me, it's usually the mobo setting wierd timings for my RAM.

so, yeah, go into BIOS and configure things manually to the proper settings.

 

[StealthElephant]

All stock speeds.

Thats the thing, at post startup yesterday where it would go:

Processor Information: Genuine AMD 64 3400+
Memory Information: DDR 400

But now it says DDR 200 on the boot screen. It's like the memory clocked itself down for no reason. I have no way to control the memory speed. The "Maximum DRAM Frequency" option locks the BIOs up when I try and get into it.

This is only the second day the comps been running. I did a fresh format (new seagate IDE 80gb drive) I installed WOW , it loads the game fine. But it's when it logs into the actual game where it has problems (for anyone familiar with wow, you log in, select character, then it loads you into the town/area your char is in, that is when I have problems)

It either just locks up 1/2 the time when it loads into the playing area or it is just extremely laggy/choppy for 30 seconds until it finally locks up. It just locks up, I have to hit reset button, CTR+ALT+DEL does nothing when it locks. If I go into a small room in the game it runs smooth. I'm guessing since the room is small and there less load.

I'm just not sure how to pinpoint exactly what is not working.

 

[brikis98]

try booting your comp with just one of the sticks, and see if it runs at DDR 400. even try running WOW and see if it crashes. then try the other one. if one of the sticks is defective, this is a decent way to tell.

you could also run memtest and see if there is a problem.

 

[StealthElephant]

I'll give that a try when I get home from work.

The computer is detecting both sticks, now if one of them is defective causing the ram to clock down to 100mhz would this be a big enough memory bottleneck to cause the computer to lock up and run extremely choppy/laggy in wow? It makes sense, the computer runs wow smoothly in small enclosed rooms, but when I move outside where there is alot more to be generated it gets laggy and choppy.

 

[brikis98]

well, i'd say the rest of your hardware is definitely up to par to run WOW smoothly. moreover, if the RAM is defective enough to cause a down clock, it could cause other problems too. the important thing to see is if one stick causes crashes while the other doesn't, which would be sure proof.

 

[ZYFER]

also please note, if you have more then 512 of Ram in Windows 98, it can cause instability issues, There is a Unofficial service pack which fixes this issue here: http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html

Microsoft it seems never released one.

 

[StealthElephant]

Originally posted by: ZYFER
also please note, if you have more then 512 of Ram in Windows 98, it can cause instability issues, There is a Unofficial service pack which fixes this issue here: http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html

Microsoft it seems never released one.

that did the trick, wow runs perfectly with all video settings maxed, and CPUZ is now reading 200mhz freq in the SPD tab.

thanks everyone for all the replies