Confused how pc3500+ can run on pc3200 boards

[Lefty24]

Well I don't see how on some motherboards say it supports DDR400, DDR333, DDR200 and people have PC4200 running on it. So could someone tell me how this is...thanks

[whitelight]

people just overclock their motherboards to support these higher fsb speeds.

[Jognt]

The highest FSB of current CPU's is 200mhz, or DDR400 or PC3200, so motherboard manufacturers advertise their boards as supporting these types of memory, the only way to raise the FSB (or need faster memory) is when you overclock, so every board supports the faster type (maybe not all, but all i know do) but they are not advertised to do so :)


edit: no point in saying a board can run DDR533 when there arent any CPU's running at that speed :p so they dont say it :) but the boards do support it :)

[NinjaZX6R]

Just what Jognt said....

However, some motherboards DO support faster memory than their FSB runs at. There is really no point in running your memory faster than your front side bus speed though. Although most do not "officially support" the higher memory, it is easy to run the memory at that speed.

-Collin-

[Inceptor]

From what I read in the RAM guide your FSB limits your RAM to it's own speed for a 1:1. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though...

I've been reading about OCing for almost a year now but I'm still too much of a sissy to try it yet. I'm working myself up to it but RAM is still the one area where my knowledge is lacking. So after lurking for quite a while I joined just in case anything goes horribly wrong I can at least ask here. I'm still pretty sure it just limits the speed of DDR until you OC the FSB.

[Jognt]

Just what Jognt said....

However, some motherboards DO support faster memory than their FSB runs at. There is really no point in running your memory faster than your front side bus speed though. Although most do not "officially support" the higher memory, it is easy to run the memory at that speed.

-Collin-

ehh, i thought they all supported higher speed RAM, but that the manufacturers just didnt advertise that?

inceptor, some motherboards have RAM dividers that allow the user to run the RAM faster than the FSB

[I.M.O.G.]

Most basically, a stick of RAM will run at any speed you set it to. The only thing that makes a stick of DDR400 operate faster than DDR266 is that it has the ability to run correctly when set to a higher FSB (basically).

RAM is classified by the speed and voltage with which it passed testing at - this becomes the RAM's rating. However, it can be run at any speed below that without any problem (basically). If you pass more voltage through the RAM, you will likely be able to run the RAM at a higher frequency than it was rated for.

Motherboards simply "support" what is popular and currently on the market.

Good question, and welcome to the forums. :)

[NinjaZX6R]

ehh, i thought they all supported higher speed RAM, but that the manufacturers just didnt advertise that?

inceptor, some motherboards have RAM dividers that allow the user to run the RAM faster than the FSB

It depends on your definition of support. If your motherboard will run any fsb speed, then you could say supports any stick of ram there is.

My definition of "support" is that the bios recognizes the speed of the ram, and then leaves it at that speed. My motherboard supports nothing higher than pc3200, but I can run it at pc4000 speeds easily. This doesn't mean it officially supports pc4000.

-Collin-