HP L2000 and pc3200 RAM

I just swapped memory from a Z2000 to the L2000. It's all the same (just like a Compaq V2000, except the V2000 memory is $10 cheaper a stick - go figure.)

DDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR333 • 2.5V • 128Meg x 64

Works like a charm

 

I installed two dimms in my v2000z which is identical to L2000 and both are running at 160MHz (159.2 to be exact). The one i installed is a Nanya 256MB Pc2700 DIMM and it is one of the compatible memory sticks listed at ati web site for 200M chipset.

 

One thing I think I could help some here would be RAM speed, I read a lot of people are running into RAM speed problem. I can explain why the RAM speed is clocked only a 160Mhz or 163Mhz despite setting to 166Mhz. And yes, my ram defaults into 133Mhz at startup, and I have to use A64 Tweaker to turn it to 166Mhz and turn 1T timings on. (BTW, 1T will offer additional performance for those who wonder about it especially for 3D)

With Athlon 64, RAM speed is all relative to CPU speed. Default bus speed (HTT) is 200Mhz, and you have a multiplier. In my case, I have a 1800Mhz CPU, so my multiplier is 9. To run DDR400, you would have to use 1:1, which mean, the RAM divider is at 9, to calculate ram speed you use 1800/9 = 200Mhz which is your ram speed. And when you run your RAM slower than HTT, then you would have to use a higher divider.

For example in my case, my next divider would be 10, at stock cpu speed, my ram would be running at 1800/10 = 180Mhz (DDR360), and the next divider up would be 11, 1800/11 = 163.63. (Turion ML-34 and MT-34 would follow the same)

On the other hand, if you are running a Turion ML-37 or a Sempron 3300+. Your ram speed would be slightly different but generally the same.

Default Speed: 2000Mhz
Default HTT: 200Mhz
Default Multi: 10X
First Divider: 11X RAM = (2000/11 = 181.8Mhz)
Second Divider: 12X RAM = (2000/12 = 166.66Mhz)

Or if you have the 1.6Ghz version of the Turion, then it's the following.
Default Speed: 1600Mhz
Default HTT: 200Mhz
Default Multi: 8X
First Divider: 9X RAM = (2000/9 = 177.78Mhz)
Second Divider: 10X RAM = (2000/10 = 160.Mhz)
So this would explain why some are seeing their RAM speed at 166Mhz, 163Mhz and 160Mhz. Hope it's useful for some people.

And here's something I use on my desktop system. From what I find, using DOS Memtest, you can reach stable level generally easier than when you're in XP. Once you're inside windows, you should also run the Windows Memtest for a few loops just to make sure.
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

Once I get my DDR400 in tonight, I'll try to see if they could run at 200Mhz. One thing I do notice. Once the notebook goes into hibernation, the ram speed will default back to 133Mhz when I check it in A64 Tweaker. I'll play around with it, and post any results I get. Most of my A64 understandings should apply to the mobile platform too.