[noobsaibot21]

Hi geeks,

I have just bought myself some new RAM for my PC but it doesn't seem to be making any difference to the PC's speed & efficency. I have used CPU-Z to check what's happening and here is what it's telling me:

CPU-Z 1.42 report file

Processor(s)

Number of processors 1
Number of cores 1 per processor
Number of threads 1 (max 1) per processor
Name Intel Pentium 4 506
Code Name Prescott
Specification Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 2.66GHz
Package Socket 775 LGA
Family/Model/Stepping F.4.1
Extended Family/Model F.4
Core Stepping E0
Technology 90 nm
Core Speed 2666.7 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 20.0 x 133.3 MHz
Rated Bus speed 533.3 MHz
Stock frequency 2666 MHz
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, EM64T
L1 Data cache (per processor) 16 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
Trace cache (per processor) 12 Kuops, 8-way set associative
L2 cache (per processor) 1024 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size

Chipset & Memory

Northbridge Intel i915P/i915G rev. B1
Southbridge Intel 82801FB (ICH6) rev. 03
Memory Type DDR
Memory Size 1024 MBytes
Memory Frequency 133.3 MHz (1:1)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 2.5 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRCD) 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 3 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 6 clocks

System

System Manufacturer MSI
System Name MS-7133
System S/N To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Mainboard Vendor MSI
Mainboard Model MS-7133
BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Version V2.0B0
BIOS Date 03/01/2005

Memory SPD

Module 1 DDR, PC3200 (200 MHz), 1024 MBytes, GEIL

Software

Windows Version Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX Version 9.0c

As you can see the FSB is only 133Mhz but my new, 1GB RAM (and even my old 512Mb which is not in the PC anymore), can do 400Mhz. Is there any way i can get more out of my PC? The reason i ask is because i got my son a copy of Trackmania United and the PC i have easily meets the minimum spec. The game loads fine and plays fine on a bare track but, if any buildings come into view, it crawls. Anyone have any suggestions? If you need any more system specs i can supply them.

Many thanks,
Noobsaibot21

PS: Can't reply'til tomorrow so happy new year all.

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If you are having this problem with a game, it is most likely due to a poor graphics card (or even worse: onboard graphics). Could you let us know what graphics card or onboard graphics adapter you currently have and what graphics expansion slot your motherboard has? (It would be either PCI, AGP, or PCI-Express)

Anyways, for your actual question, your RAM may be running below rated speed because that's the maximum that your motherboard will allow. If this is not the case, you may be able to change this in the BIOS, but this is unlikely if you bought a computer from a major company (Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.) since they usually lock most BIOS features. However, as I said, this is probably not what is causing the slowdown in games.

[stettybet0]

If you are having this problem with a game, it is most likely due to a poor graphics card (or even worse: onboard graphics). Could you let us know what graphics card or onboard graphics adapter you currently have and what graphics expansion slot your motherboard has? (It would be either PCI, AGP, or PCI-Express)

Anyways, for your actual question, your RAM may be running below rated speed because that's the maximum that your motherboard will allow. If this is not the case, you may be able to change this in the BIOS, but this is unlikely if you bought a computer from a major company (Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.) since they usually lock most BIOS features. However, as I said, this is probably not what is causing the slowdown in games.

[noobsaibot21]

Hi,

Ta for the quick reply. Don't have a graphics card, only onboard video card. Despite this, i can run Half Life 2 no problems (?). I got the game going okay when i reduced a few details like shadows etc...

As for the RAM, I built the PC myself. It's an MSI 915 Socket 775 motherboard with integrated graphics. Is there any way i can increase the speed of the FSB. It is set at 133Mhz but my ram is DDR 400. Will this need to be done through BIOS?