Memory Question

Hi folks, I have a question regarding more memory. I added two 512 sticks of Corsair xms memory to my system. It already has two 1 gig sticks in it running dual channel. So I added the two the two 512 sticks to slots 2&4. The computer booted and ran fine BUT the fsb slowed down to 333. It did the same thing when I added 2 more 1 gig sticks (4 gigs in all). I know I don't really need this much memory but I am a bit miffed as to why it would slow my sytems fsb down from 400 to 333. I am running an Asus Nforce 4 sli mainboard with a 939 pin 4800 x2 cpu and dual gfx cards. Would I have to perhaps change that in the bios settings. thanks

ps Windows XP Pro

Some motherboards change the fsb with added memory. What's the model number of your Asus?

A8N-SLI Deluxe Nforce 4 chipset.

I downloaded your manual but couldn't find anything in there to reference the change in FSB. The memory you bought, was it the same vendor and CAS latency is the same?

Yes I bought it from Newegg and it is identical as the memory that is in it. I bought a dual channel set 1gigx2, that worked but the fsb went to 333 so I used it in my other computer and bought another dual channel set 512x2 and still have the same issue. I though 4 gigs might be over kill. Any how I wanted just a tad more memory as I plan to set the system up to dual boot XP and Vista and was thinking Vista would do better with more ram although it seems to run fine with 2 gigs on my laptop and second desktop. maybe I am wasting my time but still can't figure out why it has issues running more than 2 gigs.

Do you have Asus's Cool n Quiet enabled?

No I do not have it enabled. Thanks

Well, then I'm not sure I can help anymore. I've exhausted what knowledge, I have that could be the cause. Maybe someone else has an idea what's going on.

Btw, I'm running dual boot XP and Vista Ultimate, and I'm only running 2gb. So far no issues with only two.

That mobo did have a list of ram that was approved for the 400 when it was used. Sad to say it, but that list is now missing. Good old ASUS. :(
And remember there being a list, just what was in it, I do not recollect.

How did you set your dual boot up. Did you have XP installed 1st or Vista. I found a decent website that seems to explain it quite well, but I have not tried it yet. Also are you running your dual boot on one hd or two? I tried it right after i built this new system with Vista installed 1st but I messed up the bootloader and the attempt was a no go. So I reformated the hd and installed XP Pro. I want to run both. I am not real concerned at this point with not being able to run more than 2 gigs as it runs Vista and XP very well. I am however wanting to dual boot. Thanks for your replies photolady.

I use Corsair memory in all my builds except a couple of Crucial builds and Kingston. i have never had problems with any of them. Maybe i will reinstall the 2 512 sticks i have and dig around in the bios to see if I can force it to run at the proper speeds. Thanks train

I am running two hdds, one for XP (which I already had installed) and one for Vista. I just cleared out my second harddrive, booted up with the Vista in my dvdrw drive, and installed Vista. This all happened a few months ago and I can't remember if I disconnected my xp drive or not before the install. I don't believe I did, I just paid attention to what drive I wanted Vista installed on.

If you're using only one drive, you'll need a separate partition to install Vista.

Corsair was on the list I believe, helped a couple folks with that board, but only one part number though. :(

If you have the Vista bootloader, then yes the XP hdd was attached.

Should you be using the BIOS, then you had it disconnected.

I reckon I have the bootloader cause I'm not going through the BIOS to get to either hdd.

You get something like a pop up where you chose the OS you want. Yep that is a basic bootloader.

Yep, that's what I do......