MSI U230 Replacement RAM - SPD Help

I want to put 2 x 2GB sticks of RAM in my U230, it currently has 1 x 2GB PC2-6400, but don't know whether to use PC2-6400 or PC2-5300.

With the single 2GB stick, CPU-Z reports JEDEC 1 at 266 MHz, JEDEC 2 at 333 MHz, JEDEC 3 at 400 MHz, the max bandwidth as PC2-6400 (400 MHz), and CL6. Does this mean I've got 800 MHz RAM capped at 400 MHz?

If the RAM is capped, would I be better off getting PC2-5300 | CL5 | DDR2-667 RAM instead of the Crucial recommended PC2-6400 | CL6 | DDR2-800?

I'm struggling to get my head around the myriad of 6400 and 5300 information on the net.

 

Why not post a screenshot of the panel so we can see what it says exactly (memory and SPD tabs would be great).

 

I don't have any software on this netbook to paste the screenshots into and then save them.

 

A screenshot of your CPU-Z findings should work fine. All you do is make sure CPU-Z is the active window, and press Alt + Print Screen. This will take a screenshot of just the window. Then paste that into Paint, save it, and put the screen shot up in your post here. Or just press the Print Screen key and you'll get a shot of everything in view.

By the way: 800 (MT/s) is the data rate of the memory. The memory clock speed is 200MHz, and the IO bus clock is 400MHz.

 

I forgot about MS Paint. Will try that tomorrow.

 

Here are the two CPU-Z tabs based on the currently installed 2GB single stick RAM:



Edit: I should add that this is with ECO mode disabled and the device set to high performance when on mains power.

 

What does your BIOS say? It should show the DRAM Frequency (and it should be set to auto detect, but if the frequency in BIOS doesn't reflect what you have installed, then change it from "Auto" to whatever frequency it should be). Although Auto is usually fine, I've had to manually adjust the BIOS setting; an old ASRock board saw my DDR 400 as 333MHz when on auto.

These software applications are usually accurate, but you might run into compatibility problems. You can try using Speccy, HIWInfo, SIW, etc. also to cross reference the system specs with CPU-Z and your BIOS.

 

The only memory information the BIOS contains is the total MB of each stick, where applicable, and that's it. It's a very sparse BIOS compared to others I've seen.

 

You currently have one stick of DDR2 running at 320mhz CL6, which is roughly PC2-5300, so you can match to that when looking.

 

^
Yep. I'm not sure where you saw that it was PC6400. Either BIOS did not detect it correctly (I've had to change the DRAM frequency settings in BIOS for my old machine, as Auto saw my DDR400 as DDR333), or the stick is in fact PC5300. If there's a manufacturer's sticker on the modules that says otherwise, then they could be mislabeled.

 

Could you post up the motherboard and CPU page to and I could maybe dig a bit deeper into what is going on here.

EDIT: Here is the low down on what's going on.

The memory controller in the MV-40 supports DDR2-5300 max. The memory divider means its not quite running 333mhz, which means it mismatches with the SPD table leading to the ram running at the higher latencies.

It is capable of running dual channel, a pair of 5300 modules would likely give you the best performance as the timings would match up, 6400 ram is always going to clock down and the speed may be read wrong giving you higher latencies.

 

It's in the CPUz screenshot, in the second pic under the SPD tab. Max bandwidth = PC-6400. Also under JEDEC#3 it shows the spd entry for 400mhz opperation.


EDIT: Didn't see post by Meaker just then, looks like he found the solution.

 

I finally got round to buying a matched pair of 2GB sticks for my U230, but when I insert them both the netbook will not boot up. If I insert them one at a time into each slot it boots up fine, put them both in together and nothing but a power light.

Any ideas what the problem might be?