Athlon XP 2600+ 333

Hello,
Just upgraded my system with a new asus m/b (A7V8X-X) 2600+ pro 512 ddr ram. But i can only get the system to run at 1.67 GHz. when i use bios to change the settings higher i get a warning saying somthing about , system memory must be set at 333 or higher. how would i go about changing the memory settings so i can run the cpu alot faster?

Thanks.
(newbi)

333MHz is the front side bus speed of your motherboard

Your CPU can operate at either 166MHz FSB or 333MHz FSB.

I've used plenty of Asus MBs and it should default to 333.

So, the problem may really be your DDR. Not all DDR is created equal.

Your motherboard supports DDR400, and I would get DDR400.

Here are some types:
PC1600 - DDR200 MHz (100x2)
PC2100 - DDR266 MHz (133x2)
PC2700 - DDR333 MHz (166x2)
PC3000 - DDR366 MHz (183x2)
PC3200 - DDR400 MHz (200x2)
PC3500 - DDR433 MHz (216x2)

The above I copied from this Exhaustive, technical, but informative article

I would guess that you did buy DDR, but an older/slower type, and it cannot support the bus speed.

Ahhh i see.
Well the ram im useing is the
PC2100 - DDR266 MHz (133x2)
type.
so the only way i am able to run my system at the speed it should is to buy new ram?

Well, that is the only way if you want to run a 1:1 memory ratio (which is desirable). You can probably go into bios and change to a 5:4 or 3:2 divider, which allows the cpu to run faster than the ram, but at a performance disadvantage.
Give it a try.

I have had a look for the memory ratio or anything that resebles it in the bios but i can not find it.

I changed some settings on the cpu menu to the max as follows

CPU Frequency Multiple: 22.5x
CPU External Frequency: 145/36
Memory Frequency: 362 (this options i didnt not change due to when i max it i get a warning that i need DDR400 modules)

After i changed them i booted up and when i got to windows (windows xp) it informed me of new hardware, graphics card and something about pci. But i allready install the the drivers and software for thses when i set the system up.

Any further help would be great.
Thanks

I am very suprised it booted at all with those settings, and can only guess that you either forgot to save the changes, or it somehow reset itself. You're trying to run the cpu at 3.7Ghz!

Try going to the memory frequency and setting it manually at 266, with the normal 12.5 multiplier.

I looked at the manual, and it doesn't look like you can change the memory divider. If thats the case, you're going to need faster ram to run at full speed.

Ok i guess im going have to buy new ram =( Thanks anyway peeps