Problems with added ram, XP and P4C800E deluxe

Has anyone tried adding second gigabyte to this motherboard. I am
using XP SP3. This PC is now quite stable with 1 G ram, but when put
in second gig, all sorts of problems start to appear. Like problems
with Firefox browser, random bluescreens, problems after standby and
so on. This is now second configuration I tried with same results.
Memtest seems to be ok. And I'm using the machine now, so it almost
works. I don't think any drivers are needed, but something else is
wrong here.

Have you seen this? Comments?

LM wrote:
> Has anyone tried adding second gigabyte to this motherboard. I am
> using XP SP3. This PC is now quite stable with 1 G ram, but when put
> in second gig, all sorts of problems start to appear. Like problems
> with Firefox browser, random bluescreens, problems after standby and
> so on. This is now second configuration I tried with same results.
> Memtest seems to be ok. And I'm using the machine now, so it almost
> works. I don't think any drivers are needed, but something else is
> wrong here.
>
> Have you seen this? Comments?
>

Get a copy of memtest86+ ( http://www.memtest.org/ ).

Try testing the sticks one at a time first, and
do a couple complete test passes. That will
give you a quick answer, if one of the sticks
is bad.

Memtest86+ is available for floppy diskette or CDROM.
For the CD, you use a tool that knows how to burn
an ISO9660 file to the CD. (Nero knows how to read
a ISO9660 and make a bootable CD from it. Don't just
copy the file straight onto the CD.)

I've used 2x512MB and 4x512MB on mine, without
a problem. The extra loading of four sticks, is
only an issue if you're overclocking the memory.
The chipset should easily be able to run 4x512MB
at DDR400 without a problem. But you cannot get
to an overclock like DDR500 with four sticks. So
the extra bus load prevents overclocking to the
same degree, as you can with two sticks. The record
for the P4C800-E is somewhere around DDR600 with
a lightly loaded bus.

You can experiment with extra Vdimm voltage. The
JEDEC committee thinks 2.6V is enough for DDR400
memory operation. I've used 2.65V or 2.7V on some
boards here without a problem. Not all RAM is rated
for high voltage. The record holder is stuff like
the older Winbond memory chips, and some people
ran those at 3.3V or more. But more conventional
memory, like some Micron chips, might die if you
try something like that. 2.7V should be enough
to aid stability a bit.

Only use as much voltage as is needed to get
stability and error free operation. If you see
only a small number of random errors without
Vdimm boosting, then chances are good a little more
voltage will fix it. If you're getting hundreds of
thousands of errors, then the stick is likely
busted. Similarly, if the same location gives errors
every time, that could be a bad chip. I've had
one stick of memory here, where a single bit
was stuck at one value and could not be
changed.

When all your testing is finished, then you can
try booting an OS. I usually run a bootable Linux
CD for a while first, before I go back to Windows.
Linux is my favorite way to test hardware, but I
don't use it as a daily OS. The Linux CD cannot be
corrupted by bad memory, whereas your Windows
boot drive can be corrupted.

Paul

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:20:33 -0800 (PST), LM <> wrote:

> Has anyone tried adding second gigabyte to this motherboard. I am
> using XP SP3. This PC is now quite stable with 1 G ram, but when put
> in second gig, all sorts of problems start to appear. Like problems
> with Firefox browser, random bluescreens, problems after standby and
> so on. This is now second configuration I tried with same results.
> Memtest seems to be ok. And I'm using the machine now, so it almost
> works. I don't think any drivers are needed, but something else is
> wrong here.
>
> Have you seen this? Comments?


I use 4 RAM modules in my P4C800-E Deluxe and have no problem at all.
http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/KVR400X72C3A_1G.pdf
I use Windows XP Professional SP3 and latest upgrades.

> > Have you seen this? Comments?
>
> I use 4 RAM modules in my P4C800-E Deluxe and have no problem at all.http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/KVR400X72C3A_1G.pdf
> I use Windows XP Professional SP3 and latest upgrades.

Thanks for all you for your answers. It is good to know this should be
possible. Partly it is, even now. This machine has 2 giga ram now.

Now I have two 1 Kingston sticks in my machine. They should be
compatible. I have also tried 4 512M sticks in this pc. And got
crashes then too. This maybe a browser related problem, because I left
the pc on with browser at full screen and it had crashed. But I have
had other programs on usually without problems.

I have to run full memtest, but there is always something else to do
with this machine.

> >Have you seen this? Comments?
>
> I've got 4 gigs in mine and no problem since I've had the board. *I'm
> also running XP with the latest updates. *So if you take out the dimm
> that works and install the second one without the first, what happens?
> And what bios are you using? *I'm using the last one issued... *good
> luck.
If someone is interested.
This machine seems to be working alright now. I ran Memtest through
once without problems and the computer wakes up from standby well too.
The problem probably was bad swap file configuration. I have swap file
on the second drive and there should be no small swap file on boot
disk. Either large or nothing, it seems to be.

Anyway, it was good to be sure that more than 2 ram modules should
work.

> By the way, have you tried overclocking this board? *I just did,
> overclocked it 5% in the bios, and the speed increase is detectable. *
Is it? Good to know. 5% seems quite a small amount. I have once or
twice tried overclocking, but it fellt like the pc got more unstable.
So I stopped. Nothing too precise or exact that is. I have to try some
day. It is interesting to know how it goes here.

Thanks
Leif