DDR2 SO-DIMM RAM wrong Cas Latency

[kenny732]

Hi!,

Some time ago one of my old laptops (Let's call it laptop 1) broke which had 1x 2GB DDR2-667 with 5-5-5-15 timings. I had another, faster laptop (laptop 2) around with only 1GB DDR2 with unknown timings. So I thought it would be a good upgrade to switch the ram. Guess I was wrong.
Apparently by CPU-Z the 2GB ram which I put in laptop 2 runs now at 4-4-4-12 Timings while still keeping DDR2-667. Although I don't have any stability issues so far, I have been recommended to not keep it like this because it could result in hardware failure.
I tried several things already:
Look for options in the bios to change it - No such options
Flash a new SPD to the ram with Thaiphoon burner - Didn't work
Change the FSB - It's locked
tried various programs like SPDtool, setfsb - Laptop freezes
I have a third, MUCH older laptop which I think supports the 2GB ram for flashing purposes etc. But I won't keep it in there, I want it in laptop 2.
I threw out the 1GB ram and laptop 1 some time ago so reversing back is not an option.

Do any of you know something I could do to change the Latency to 5-5-5-15? I'll try anything -AT MY OWN RISK- from flashing to dangerous programs and if I break it then I guess I'll buy new ram.

On a side note, do hard faults/sec have anything to do with all of this? I see a lot of them now, spikes of about 100/sec.

Here are some specs if it could help:

Manufacturer: Hyundai Electronics
Part Number: HYMP125S4CP8-Y5
PC2-5300
Clock Frequency: 333mhz (3,000 ns)
Read Latency: 3T, 4T, 5T

Thanks for any help in advance!

[Transfusion]

Hardware Failure? Your RAM is rated to run at 4T, even 3T, so I don't see why its an issue.... in fact you benefit because the RAM latencies are lower... and hardware failure will not result even if you are overclocking and play with the RAM timings-the worst that can happen is data corruption. Plus, a BIOS reset will always return hardware settings to default.
Can you fire up CPU-Z and check your SPDs? If one of them displays 4-4-4-12 then I wouldn't worry anymore.
If you want to be absolutely sure of your computer's stability you might want to run IntelBurnTest/Orthos.

Hard faults/sec is nothing to worry about, nothing is going faulty, this is what it is:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/windows-platform/articles/52249.aspx

First of all, a "hard fault" was previously called a "page fault" in earlier versions of Windows. Perhaps page faults were more easily understood from the name, too. A hard fault happens when the address in memory of part of a program is no longer in main memory, but has been instead swapped out to the paging file, making the system go looking for it on the hard disk.

Basically if you are out of RAM, then the system will cache it to the hard disk, and programs will run more sluggishly. You can solve sluggishness while multitasking by adding more RAM...

[steerty]

Hi!

Thanks for your reply.
Well the problem is, if it was set at 4T timings, then the memory frequency should drop to DDR2-533... And 3T timings to DDR2-400.
So actually it runs at the max frequency while having 4T timings, which should be 5T timings.
Anything I could do about this?
Will it help any if i post some screenshots?


About the hard faults,
I never run out of ram. In fact I even turned of pagefile and I never pass 1.5gb in use.
Any other thing I could do about it then?

[Transfusion]

It would help if you posted screenshots, indeed.
I really don't think its a problem at all, honestly, if you are really paranoid about the stability about your system you might want to run MemTest86+ for 5 loops/IntelBurnTest on Maximum from a cold boot. If you pass both tests you are good to go.


If you are still intent on flashing your RAM SPDs, here you go:
http://www.techpowerup.com/spdtool/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/408349-how-flash-ram-spd-when-seems-read-only.html

[nixie]

I agree with Transfusion in using Memtest86 for a couple loops. Its a great utility to point out memory issues and it has detected issues before with pairs of ram that should work together and dont play well etc as well as stress the Ram to point out instability issues where say it passed 2 times and failed on the 3rd test loop.

I added faster 400Mhz Ram into a Compaq system that stated 333Mhz Maximum a while back and was concerned I was going to cook something since it was reporting at 400Mhz FSB even though the motherboard was rated for only 333Mhz. Ran a bunch of Memtest86 cycles, and checked for hotspots and all passed and was cool running. I ended up getting 3 more years of use out of this system before I had the need for speed and upgraded to a dual-core with new motherboard and modern DDR2 Ram vs single-core Athlon XP 2800+ 2.08Ghz