I Just Can't Figure...

[Bonsai Bill]

Hello again, I've been trying to upgade an older system rather than go out and buy a brand new one and I've ran ito a few problems.
For almost two years I ran this system AMD 2500+, GeForce 6600n, 300W PSU, 40GB HD, 768MB DDR400 RAM on a Gigabyte GA-7VT600(-L).
I started having trouble getting the thing to start in the morning so I went out and got a 400W PSU.
After that I purchased a BFG 7800GS OC AGP 256MB vid card and installed that.
Then I installed a SDA3300DKV4E
I then bought two sticks Kingston KVR400X64C3A/1G and installed them and thats when things got kind of strange. I went into the BIOS and saw everything was running at the right speeds ( CPU Host Frenquency 200 Mhz, DRAM Clock 200-DDR 400) and it was, so I thought all was well. The machine did seem to move SLOWER rather than faster wich kind of caught me by suprise.
I play alot of online games and before this I had no problems, but now I keep getting the BSOD about paged pool memory issues.
Sometimes the machine just does a hard freeze with the screen frozen on the frame of the game I was playing and the only way out is to push the restart button. I can't ALT-TAB out, and I can't Crtl-Alt-Delete, it's just froze solid.
I thought maybe my old HD was going so I went out and got a new Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, 8MB Cache, IDE, it is alot quieter but didn't help the memory errors or speed issues.
I have done numerous memory test overnight and they always come up with no errors. I've read zillions of articles on Page File size, memory timings, PCI latency, and the effects of over heating ( no, my machine is not hot).
The only way I've figured to NOT get these errors is to run the RAM at 166-DDR 333.
The machine still seems slower than before, but it doesn't freeze up or get the BSOD.
I guess my question to you fine folks is, why would it run slower with more RAM, and why can't I run the RAM at DDR 400?

[D.8080]

What is the revision of your board? 1 or 2?

All the stuff you upgraded are good upgrades, I guess that the bios doesn't really support Sempron with 400 mhz fsb (as cpu supported from gigabyte doesn't show sempron 3300 400 in compatibility tests - which isn't always updated though so take this for what it is).

Defective ram sticks, or mislabeled 333 stick instead of 400, try for a swap. If you have a friend with 400 mhz ddr try to have one and test it, if the problem vanishes that was it, or try one stick at a time and see if it freezes.


Let's see. Bye

[Bonsai Bill]

Hi, the board is REV 1.
I forgot to add before I flashed the BIOS on both the MOBO and vid card to no avail. Funny thing is the newest update I could find is from 12/21/05 and thats from the GByte site!
From what I understand the 3300 is a rebranded 3200 that is suppose to run cooler.
I've even gone as far as putting all the old stuff back in (RAM sticks, vid card, and 2800 CPU) and still the same result. And that makes me think that it might be a MOBO issue because it's about the only thing I haven't replaced. I even did a format-reinstall of XP thinking I maybe had some corupted files. No luck with that either.
I will try and swap with someone and see what happens.
Maybe it's time to buy a whole new system....even though I've become quite attached to this little guy

[Wizzard1]

The 3300+ is a Sempron, with a Celeron-based rating system. It's identical to an Athlon XP 3200+, not cooler or faster or anything. It's got a locked multi, as well, unlike the 3200+.

PS If you're looking for a system, I'd kill for that AGP card Mmmmmm it could help pimp my XPm 3000+@ 2.6Ghz

[Bonsai Bill]

[Cobracon]

Yup, that video card is a major AGP device. Some say the best AGP card ever made..............

[Bonsai Bill]

Could you be so kind as to explain " Celeron-based rating system" to a Simple Simon, such as myself