mem question

I've just purchased a 512MB Dimm to upgrade my memory to 1GB but the system
keeps falling over.
it would hardly boot at first but then I switched the slots and everything
seemed fine for a while but now it keeps crashing in games or other
intensive applications. the ram was tested before I got it and was fine but
now in my epox 8KRA2+ mobo it wont work along side my other Ram. the first
stick was Kingston value 3200 and now I've added a stick of infineon 3200
CL3 (whatever that means).
are they too incompatible or is there a way around this issue.

Robin

rjag wrote:
> I've just purchased a 512MB Dimm to upgrade my memory to 1GB but the
> system keeps falling over.
> it would hardly boot at first but then I switched the slots and
> everything seemed fine for a while but now it keeps crashing in games
> or other intensive applications. the ram was tested before I got it
> and was fine

How was it "tested"? Many shops "test" the RAM by seeing if a computer will
POST with the RAM, which doesn't really prove anything (except that the RAM
isn't COMPLETELY useless).

> but now in my epox 8KRA2+ mobo it wont work along side
> my other Ram. the first stick was Kingston value 3200 and now I've
> added a stick of infineon 3200 CL3 (whatever that means).
> are they too incompatible or is there a way around this issue.

First step would be to run each stick individually with memtest86 and see if
one of them is faulty. If the Infineon fails any memtest86 test, then send
it back (make sure that the BIOS is set to "by SPD" for RAM timings though).
So far, I've never come across two sticks that worked fine individually, but
wouldn't work together (provided they were configured correctly). That said,
I think there are sticks out there that for some reason don't like slow
timings, so if you stick one of those in with a slow stick, you could have
problems. The easiest way to see is if your BIOS shows the settings it uses
when you use each stick individually. The settings that it uses when you
have both sticks in should in most cases (the main exception being tRAS) be
the maximum of the two. So say the Kingston RAM had CAS=2.5 and the Infineon
has CAS=3.0, then it should have CAS=3.0 when you have both sticks in.

--
Michael Brown
www.emboss.co.nz : OOS/RSI software and more
Add michael@ to emboss.co.nz ---+--- My inbox is always open

I tried all the benchmarks and they seem perfect with the separate sticks.
the infineon is currently running without a hitch but put both into the
computer and it seems run a while and then fall over. would it be a
software issue should the games etc have been set up using 1 GB.

Robin

rjag wrote:
> I tried all the benchmarks and they seem perfect with the separate sticks.
> the infineon is currently running without a hitch but put both into the
> computer and it seems run a while and then fall over. would it be a
> software issue should the games etc have been set up using 1 GB.
>
> Robin
>

This may sound silly, but ... depending on your mobo (cuz, sorry, I'm
not familiar with it), it does matter which slots you use to put your
ram into (ie. for dual channel setup). Did you check your manual for
which slots to use (some people don't even look at their mobo's manual)?

g'luck

--
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I haven't checked the manual but I remember there's something about slot 3
(whichever one that is) and certain memory modules.
there are three slots but its an 8KRA2+ EPOX based on the KT600 chipset.
this is the only hassle that I've had since I bought it over a year ago.
I'm thinking of installing the DDR Dimm in the last slot and trying that to
see if it'll work OK.

Robin

System = XP2500+ (208FSB = 3200+), volcano9 cooler on an EPOX 8KRA2+ mobo,
512 MB CAS3 memory (both DIMMS are)and a Leadtek 6800 128MB VGA card.

Robin

rjag wrote:
> I tried all the benchmarks and they seem perfect with the separate
> sticks. the infineon is currently running without a hitch but put
> both into the computer and it seems run a while and then fall over. would
> it be a software issue should the games etc have been set up
> using 1 GB.

Benchmarks are a so-so method of memory testing. Memtest86 is a lot better
and will tell you if you have a problem, whereas benchmarks have a
reasonable chance of running fine most of the time. I doubt it'd be a
software issue unless you're running 9x.

Assuming that both sticks run happily by themselves, go into the BIOS and
see what the memory timings are when running each stick individually, and
when you have both sticks in. Post 'em here if you're not sure what they all
mean. Also, try setting the FSB back to 200 to make sure it's not a PCI/AGP
issue.

And definately use memtest86. It's designed for detecting errors, benchmarks
are not.

--
Michael Brown
www.emboss.co.nz : OOS/RSI software and more
Add michael@ to emboss.co.nz ---+--- My inbox is always open

Do you know who I'm replying to?
Do you know what I'm talking about?

No, you don't.

Why?

Because, like you, I didn't quote any of the previous message I'm
replying to. Now I wonder....:-)

--
Abit KT7-Raid (KT133) Tbred B core CPU @2400MHz (24x100FSB)
http://mysite.verizon.net/res0exft/cpu.htm

rjag wrote:
> I haven't checked the manual but I remember there's something about slot 3
> (whichever one that is) and certain memory modules.
> there are three slots but its an 8KRA2+ EPOX based on the KT600 chipset.
> this is the only hassle that I've had since I bought it over a year ago.
> I'm thinking of installing the DDR Dimm in the last slot and trying that to
> see if it'll work OK.
>
> Robin
>
> System = XP2500+ (208FSB = 3200+), volcano9 cooler on an EPOX 8KRA2+ mobo,
> 512 MB CAS3 memory (both DIMMS are)and a Leadtek 6800 128MB VGA card.
>
> Robin
>
>

It appears that you would use dimm1 for a single stick ... dimm1 & dimm2
for 2-sticks.
Copy of the manual (if you don't have one)...
http://www.epox.nl/english/products/...oard/8kra2.htm

G'luck
--
Convert & Proud Adopter of ...
Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 & my new favorite Browser ... FireFox 1.0
get on board at http://www.mozilla.org//