What would my best settings be with these two sticks of ram?

[TUK101]

I have two sticks of PNY PC-133 ram. I was wondering what would be my best choice for the settings on it in the bios? I have set the timing down from the default 10ns. settings to 8ns. I also have a "fast" and "turbo" setting as well. What does fast and turbo mean as opposed to the 8ns setting? I have a Soyo SY-7VCA mobo. Can i go any faster than 8ns with this quality of ram? What settings should I try? I will try the best that I can to answer any questions that you might have about my system.

[Jon]

I have a SY-7VCA as well with 256MB of generic PC133 in it overclocked to 150MHz. I use the Turbo settings on it as it will lower some values that you don't have the option of changing manually. You should have no stability issues in using Turbo. Your memory is probably at least 7.5ns.

If it's high quality memory (being PNY it's good commercial grade) you can try setting your CAS level to 2 for better perfromance. If you have stability issues there or lock up before getting into Windows then you better leave it at 3. Typically, when it comes to memory settings you want the lowest value possible for best performance. Other settings such as CAS to RAS Delay and the Precharges can be played with. Once again, try to use lower settings and if instability occurs, just use a higher setting. If you're not overclocked you don't have to worry about damaging anything by changing these settings so feel free to play around.

[TUK101]

Originally posted by Jon
I have a SY-7VCA as well with 256MB of generic PC133 in it overclocked to 150MHz. I use the Turbo settings on it as it will lower some values that you don't have the option of changing manually. You should have no stability issues in using Turbo. Your memory is probably at least 7.5ns.

If it's high quality memory (being PNY it's good commercial grade) you can try setting your CAS level to 2 for better perfromance. If you have stability issues there or lock up before getting into Windows then you better leave it at 3. Typically, when it comes to memory settings you want the lowest value possible for best performance. Other settings such as CAS to RAS Delay and the Precharges can be played with. Once again, try to use lower settings and if instability occurs, just use a higher setting. If you're not overclocked you don't have to worry about damaging anything by changing these settings so feel free to play around. I am OC'ed. Celeron 800@1066. What could I damage by playing with these settings?

[Jon]

Nah, about the only way you can damage memory is to over-volt it. Yours is at 133MHz so you you're in spec and the processor is only overclocked.
If lower settings don't work, don't panic...just reboot or hit reset, go back into the BIOS and change one setting at a time. Can be time consuming but you might be in for a nice surprise.

Also make sure bank interleave is at 4-Way in there...that's a definate boost all by itself.

[TUK101]

:D Yes!! I tried the turbo mode, left the cas at 3 and just got done running the SiSoft Sandra burn in and passed it with flying colors. LOL "your computer is running at higher than spec." I love seeing that on the tips screen. That tip you gave was a definate improvement. Thanks a lot, cause I was getting very dissapointing benchmarks on my memory before, and now the benchmarks at at spec. and better. Plus my 3DMark 2001 scores went up a few points as well. Not a lot, but like 15 pts. which is better than nothing.:p

[Jon]

Great! Glad to hear and I know exactly what you mean...it's what makes this 'art' so much fun...