Dragon KT400 (Black) FSB & Memory Questions

[wctyler]

I recently built myself a new PC. I purchased the KT400 because it could run a 333 FSB Proc, and had RAID, which I wanted to try out as well.

I've got it up and running with a XP 2600+ 333FSB proc, 2 WD 20gig (7200rpm) drives in RAID 0, and a stick of Corsair 512mb PC2700 memory.

It works fine, but I'm somewhat confused. I was thinking that the FSB and the memory needed to run at the same speed (333mhz), which is why I bought PC2700. But the board supports 400mhz memory, but only a 333FSB. It also says that the memory speed can be set independantly.

So, it looks to me like I could run my 2600/333fsb with memory running at 400mhz. Is this correct? Will I see any difference, or will the bottleneck be the proc FSB? Also, I keep hearing about dual channel DDR needing two sticks to run right...... is that something I need to worry about? Should I buy a couple sticks of PC3200 (400mhz) 512mb?

Thanks,
-Will

[tony_j15]

The kt400 does not support dual channel DDR, only the nforce2 boards do. Memory runs at an independant speed from cpu fsb. So, yes, you can run DDR400 with 333fsb cpu. Some people report better bench results runnning asyncronous(memory and ram same speed like you). Others get better results with the faster memory, but these people are often running nforce boards.

[wctyler]

So there probably isn't any point in changing my memory then? That's good. I'd rather just buy more of the same and have more overall.

Since I'm running a PC2700 512 stick..... can I mix in some PC3200 sticks, with the bus still at 333, or will that cause problems?

[joker_927]

I had/have the eXACT same setup as you. The Soyo Kt400 is VERY picky about letting you choose your memory's speed. If you read the manual, it says that a memory speed greater than the FSB would be pointless and cuse unneeded overhead. Thus, the mobo sets your memory speed for you. If you are running a 333fsb and your ram is a 333mhz, it should be rock solid. I have a 2400+ running at 333fsb and PC3200 memory. It won't let the memory go faster than 333mhz. I increases the FSB to 197mhz (the highest I could get it, and the motherbaord still won't let the memory goto 400mhz UNTIL the pci divider is set to 6. (the highest possible.) This is a great motherboard, but I think the overclocking options got a little messed. I want to be able to do WHATEVER i want, even if that includes blowing the sucker up.

Stick with the 2700 ram and your syncronous FSB.