RAM Trouble

[Sarcyn]

Hello,

I bought myself 512 RAM a few weeks ago (i only had 512 atm) and put it in the empty RAM-slot beside my two 256's. It all worked great when I rebooted and no error messages or anything. It all looked find and dandy until I played a few hours of WoW. The comp started rebooting very frequently and at first I thought it was a problem with my graphic card. I later took away the new 512 RAM and it all worked like a charm again. It is the right type of RAM, and I wonder if there is maybe who knows a way to solve this problem and keep the extra 512?

Thanks in advance,

Sarcyn

[DanTheBanjoman]

First, do you have the correct type of ram? ie PC3200 (400Mhz) for a P4/800Mhz or whatever cpu you have.
If you do check the module with memtest86 (google). Then test the module without the 2×256, perhaps they don't like eachother, who knows.

good luck

[dzeee]

Check what type of RAM your 2x 256's are then make sure your 512 is the exact same kind.
I use Everest home edition to get all the system info about my pc & that will tell you what kind of ram the 256's are.

never used memtest though so dont know about that one.

As far as I know, when you have 2x256 chips in running dual channel and you want to add more you have to get another 2x256 because 1x512 wont work. I bought 2x256 instead 1x512 and I have no problems. I think thats your problem, try and borrow some 256mb ram chips and try them out with your current config to see if your problem goes away.

[DanTheBanjoman]

dual channel will be disabled when you use 3 modules yes, though you can mix different sizes. I use 2× 256 + 2×512 myself. If I'd remove any module it would work though in single channel mode.

[geeman74]

what os you using if its not 2000 or xp thats your problem

Originally Posted by geeman74

what os you using if its not 2000 or xp thats your problem

HUH?

Originally Posted by ADV4NCED

As far as I know, when you have 2x256 chips in running dual channel and you want to add more you have to get another 2x256 because 1x512 wont work. I bought 2x256 instead 1x512 and I have no problems. I think thats your problem, try and borrow some 256mb ram chips and try them out with your current config to see if your problem goes away.

Again, HUH? This would depend entirely on your motherboard I wud think as setup for dual and single channel differs from mobo to mobo. However mixing modules of different sizes (but same make) is quite alright as Dan said.

To thread starter, have you memtested your modules? IF you have and you pass the tests without errors, have you updated your mobo's BIOS lately?

[Sarcyn]

Thanks for all the replies!

I haven't run a memtest and I will try it out for sure!
As for dual-channel RAM, I only have three RAM-slots on my mobo so anything but a mix is impossible without me buying another 512 RAM (like the one I purchased).

About my motherboard, I really haven't messed with it at all since I got it. Flashing it etc. always seemed too risky if I don't have a good reason to do so.
I will post the results on memtest and the other stuff you suggested.

/Sarcyn

[DanTheBanjoman]

Actually windows 98 crashes when you have 512MB+
Though if he's running Windows 98 (or ME for that matter) I would highly recommend to upgrade to 2K/XP/2K3.

Just run memtest86 and if it finds any errors test the modules in various combinations so you know if it's a combination problem or if a module is defective.

[Sarcyn]

Originally Posted by geeman74

what os you using if its not 2000 or xp thats your problem

I use XP Home Edition

I just tried Everest Home Edition and it says, when I use the new 512 mem, that its a PC2700.
My motherboard supports PC1600 and PC 2100.
Should it even be working IF its the wrong sort of mem, cause I could swear I bought the right one and maybe Everest is displaying something wrong?

I'll check what it says about the old 256's.

You mean your mobo only supports RAM up to PC2100? Right..i think what we need here is more info.

What kind of mobo do u have? What mem do you have? (both the 512 and 256 modules - please list brand, rating and part number if possible?)

[obso1337]

Originally Posted by geeman74

what os you using if its not 2000 or xp thats your problem

^^^WTF DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HIS PROBLEM^^^

ok this is totally useless. make sure the ram is of the same speed, the first system i built i mixed up ram, like PC2100 and PC1500, had same problem as you until i got another 2100, then it worked fine, thats the issue. you CAN take a samsung PC3500 and a kingston PC3500 and use the two without a problem, if you use the same timming it will be just fine.i recomend you throw out your old ram and get some PC3500 or higher, and dont sacrafice dual channel and add ram when your above or equaling 512, 512 is still allot, i would rather me have 512 dual channel than 1 gig all mixed and ghettoed up.

[Sarcyn]

Well, thanks all for posting!

I fixed the problem by switching the RAM's in different slots. Now its working with not restarts etc.
I had:

256/256/512, in that order and it caused problems. I then switched to: 512/256/256 and it works like a charm. Dunno why that is or why it matters which slots they're in, so if anyone knows I would be grateful to know

/Sarcyn

May just be a specific requirement of your motherboard.

[dzeee]

Originally Posted by Sarcyn

Well, thanks all for posting!

I fixed the problem by switching the RAM's in different slots. Now its working with not restarts etc.
I had:

256/256/512, in that order and it caused problems. I then switched to: 512/256/256 and it works like a charm. Dunno why that is or why it matters which slots they're in, so if anyone knows I would be grateful to know

/Sarcyn

Extremely bizarre