Duel killed my FSB was it RAM or board?

I tried to run two 512mb Buffalo 3700 (BH-5) sticks in my NF7-S board and no matter what timings it wouldn't work. I took one out and now I am stable at 220 FSB @ 2,2,2,11. I tried the other stick alone and it wasn't as stable as this one with slack timings. Before I go through the long RMA process for the other RAM stick: is it the RAM or do you think it was the duel channel that was doing it?

Well, if the second stick doesn't perform as well by itelf as the first does, how would you blame dual channel operation? If the second stick is clearly not as good as the first and you are as far below the advertised clock speed as you are I'd get another stick.

BTW, this is the prime reason you should always buy memory for dual channel machines at the same time from the same vendor. Ram varies lot to lot, and matching each other well is vital in dual channel machines.

I did buy these at the same time but they are not duel matched. Alot of people say that is just a "selling gimick" but this has proven that wrong to me. Off to RMA again....

Ahh, I see. I'd definately RMA the poorer one. That is one nice thing about the PC3700 moniker they apply to this ram, it's easy to RMA it if you choose as it has essentially no chance at running 466MHz in dual channel on an Intel board.

I think of it as really good PC3200 ram, as any 5ns chip ought be thought of. It is capable of 430-450MHz at 2-2-2-5 with 2.85V, and more with the 3-3.1V it takes to optimize any BH5 ram. Worst case is 400MHz at the very tightest timings with any an all productive bios optimzations enabled.

I do think Kingston HyperX 3000 is more consistant, and maybe a touch better overall. But the economy of the Buffalo makes it a no brainer for a lot of users. Sorry you didn't get two perfect sticks, but this can happen with any ram and is likely just one slightly less-talented chip on one stick rather than any particular quality issue.

The four PC3700 Buffalo sticks I have tried have been very consistant and are working very well. Even the 3200 CH5 I tried was pretty darn good for CH5. But since you see a clear difference between the two sticks you have I would pay the priority mail to swap the poorer one out.