I traded one problem for another...

[LokutusofBorg]

Here's my setup:

CHAINTECH VNF4 (nForce4 Ultra)
SPARKLE FSP350-60THA ATX12V 350W (ATX 2.0)
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester
Seagate Barracuda 160GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value
KINGMAX SuperRAM 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit
[1x DVD-ROM Drive]
[1x DVD-RW Drive]

It doesn't look like Newegg is carrying my RAM anymore, but when I ordered that RAM I ordered two of the kits -- for four sticks (2GB). I was originally running a GeForce 6600GT PCIe, and would get random lockups and restarts while playing EQ2. I thought I had memory problems or heat problems, so I ran Memtest86+ and didn't get any problems, I used Motherboard Monitor and didn't find any heat problems when I would lockup or restart. I did enough that I was leaning away from a memory problem, or a heat problem. And it happened rarely enough that I just cursed at my computer and kept putting up with it.

I recently upgraded to a 7800GT and I started locking up like crazy in EQ2. Reboot and load back in and within two minutes I'd lockup again. Check temps in BIOS and everything seems cool.

So I took two of the RAM sticks out. Now running with 1GB for a couple weeks and haven't seen a single lockup or reboot. But... EQ2 runs horribly, my hard drive is constantly accessing, which makes the game freeze for a few seconds, sometimes even nearly 30 seconds. I look in Task Manager when things get bad like this and it usually says there's only like 32MB of Physical Memory available. I have GOT to get the 2GB setup working again. (Most frustrating thing is, my wife's computer is the same setup as mine, though I can't remember what memory I bought for her (but it's 1GB) and she doesn't have these problems in EQ2.)

So... I'm thinking my PSU isn't up to snuff. Would this seem like the logical culprit? What is an affordable ATX 2.0 PSU that you all could recommend (that would run my rig with some headroom)?

Also, the Kingmax RAM is double-sided (chips on both sides of the PCB) -- this means the RAM is slower and requires more power than single-sided RAM, right? Should I make sure to get a better PSU before even thinking about replacing my RAM with something better?

Any recommendations on single-sided RAM that I could maybe spring for and sell this Kingmax stuff off? I'm on a pretty tight budget, so the RAM swap probably won't happen, but I'm just weighing my options.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any advice.

-Chris

 

[Fardringle]

Before you start buying and swapping out parts, there is a fairly easy way to find out if the PSU just can't quite run everything.

Pull your sound card and one of the DVD drives out of the system. Put the full 2GB of RAM back in. Play EQ2 (or any other games) for a while and see if you still get the lock-ups or reboots. If not, then the PSU likely is the problem. If you still have problems, then it's most likely a problem with the memory slots that you have the second GB of RAM plugged in to. It might also be a compatibility problem between the RAM and your motherboard, or your motherboard just can't run with 2GB of memory. To test this, take the 'first' GB and put it in the second pair of slots and see if it will run properly there. Also, take the RAM from your wife's computer and put it in your PC and see how it responds.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

Thanks, I'll give those things a try.