2GB Of Geil Ram Causing System Crashes.

TaKeN

TaKeN

TaKeN

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2GB Of Geil Ram Causing System To Turn Off

Ok, so loads of people complain about their 3dmark05 score, and can you add me to the list please :)

Ive just upgraded my motherboard from Asrock 939 Dual Sata, to Abit AN8 Fatal1ty SLi, with the 2GB Of Geil ram in my new motherboard, the Bios kept detecting it as DDR 333, so i set it to DDR400 and the pc kept crashing, so i removed one of the sticks and now the pc runs fine, when i put the offending RAM Stick in the 3rd slot the pc gets to the windows screen and crashes :O

When i installed the RAM in this new mobo i did it in this Configuration

|||| < These are the 4 Ram Slots, i put 1GB stick in the 1st, and 1Gb Slot in the 3rd because i thought it would make them run cooler,

Should i try running the whole 2gb in slots 3, and 4 ? or does it sound like one of the sticks is dead....

Please help, im starting to tear my hair out :(
 
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Try the memory in 1 and 2. Most motherboards in their manuals have a table that shows combination of memory and slots. Certain combination can make the BIOS set the memory to DDR333. I don't know why or how it does it but I had a similar problem in a different motherboard and was solved by moving it to different slots. If 1 and 2 don't work, try 3 and 4 and other combinations.

If that doesn't work, Memtest each of the memory sticks on it's own and if it passes then it rules out the memory
 
Thanks for the quick reply Dunky,

i swapped the ram sticks round like it says in the book so


|FREE| |FREE| |1GB| |1GB|

But once again my pc turned itself off, just before the windows screen.

so i pulled out the 4th stick and the pc booted into windows fine,

Ive got mem test on a floppy disk but it takes ages to test ram, does anyone know exactly how long it takes ? or is it just best to leave the pc on all night...
 
Leave it running over night (it actually loops until you tell it to stop). But if you want todo a quickish test then run test #5 and test #8 each for about an hour (this is per stick). Tests 5 and 8 are the most intensive however any errors may only occur after Memtest has done a few loops so best to leave it running overnight.
 
I ran mem test last night with what i thought was the offending stick, the test ran for 7 hr and 54 mins and did 24 passes no errors.

So ive put the other stick of ram in and left to test all day, i think there must be some compatability issue with this mobo, because when i put one stick of ram in, the pc boots, fine. But with two running in duel channel mode., the pc turns itself of before it gets to the windows screen...

I dont have a clue whats going on....
 
have you tried puttin the latest Bios on the board? also when you manually set the memory did you check the timmings were right some automatic detection sets some really odd things. also worth running memtest with both sticks in if you get loads of errors RMA it and try a new set.
 
This motherboard has ram in dual channel in slots 1 + 2 or 3 + 4,

i ran memory test with both stick in last night, slots 3 + 4 and its passes 24 times no fails in ten hours, the mobo detected the ram properly but once again it switched itself just before it booted into windows...

i asked a lad i know from a computer shop who thought windows might not like 2gb,..

should i try a fresh xp install with the 2gb in the current slots ?
 
Windows should have no trouble with the 2GB upgrade, I've gone from 512MB -> 1GB -> 2GB on the same install and haven't had a problem.
 
Well its realy realy realy strange, i ran memory test with the two stick, in the correct slots, as it says in the book,

I ran the test overnight for 8 hrs 48 mins, it did 15 passes no fails,

so i pressed esc to exit memtest, removed floppy and pc brought up the windows screen, hard disks made some loading noise, then pc just turns itself off, screen goes off aswell......

Is having 1GB less of ram going to affect my pc's performance that much ?
 
Ive had the ram running at 2.90 Volts, its rated to 2.95.

Im wondering if i should RMA The mobo :(
 
I see you have the problematic Tagen PSU. Could be that as ive heard a lot of incompatability stories with that psu and some motherboards. If you can, can you check in bios if possible your 3+ 5+ 12+ volts and ** vcore. And report what they are here. Might be a psu issue i dunno. If you can check we can rule out if it is or not. I know its a long shot but its best to rule out everything i supose.

At the end of the day i think you will either have to see if it needs a bios upgrade maybe or you might have to RMA the ram im afraid.

Is there anyway you can test that ram in another computer like a mates to see if its ok on other computers?
 
I can test it in my dads this weekend, and the BIOS Is up to date,

When i installed the power connector, mine was slightly short and it said in the manual if you are using an OLD style power connector, do it this way.

I fitted it just as the manual said, i cant understand though, why this pc isnt crashing with just the 1GB of geil in,

Ive currently overclocked the cpu from 2.2 to 2.5 stable, with a the memory running on a divider... and it hasnt crashed once *touch wood it wont*
 
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