memory issues

[Altoidman]

So I have a dinosaur of a computer and I was trying to breath some life into it with a 512mb PC2700 dimm from Kingston. Prior to that I had somehow managed to have my computer running with a 128mb of PC2100 and a 256mb stick of PC2700. The idea was to ditch the 128 and add teh 512. Well the computer wont boot with the 512 stick or the 256. Now it only boots with the 128 and if the others are in there, it wont detect them. When the 512 or 256 are in all the computer does once the power button is pushed is beep.....beep.....beep. I had returned the new 512 in case I got a bad stick but the problem persists. I don't know what could be causing this since my mobo supports PC2700. Anyways, here is my setup: Epox 8K3A (Via KT333), AMD Athlon XP 2800+, ATI Radeon 9600 Pro, and the storage stuff. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[LiLithTecH]

You may want to try clearing the CMOS if you haven't done so already.

Then install the 512 module alone. If it boots then try adding the 256 module.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

First of all, if it's really old, the mobo may not support a 512Mb stick (although I'm certain that mobo supports 512Mb sticks). Check the manual for the mobo, or download it from the manufacturer's website. Maybe you need a BIOS update to add support for larger memory sticks.

If it's an old system you can get a thin patina of corrosion built up on the memory sockets, and the edge connectors of the old memory sticks. Removing and re-inserting the memory stick usually cleans off the contacts. Make sure it's firmly seated but don't press too hard on the mobo or you may crack it.

Try booting the system with only the 256Mb stick and see if you can get it working, then try the 512Mb stick by itself.

Some mobos are fussy about the order you fill the memory slots. Try the memory in different slots.

Did you take static electricity precautions? This time of year the weather is very dry in most parts of the country. You can easily damage a memory stick or a mobo by working in it without discharging the static out of you body.

 

[absinthe]

I am having similar issues with trying to add a stick of 512 MB PC3200 RAM to an Epox mobo that only had a 256 MB PC2700 previously (as outlined here: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...tid=32&threadid=1556409&enterthread=y).

When I just stuck in the new PC3200 stick, I boot immediately to a "system hardware failure" bluescreen. If I remove the old stick altogether and use only the new stick in the original stick's slot, it seems to work. Adding the old stick back in the middle slot, I got the error message. Adding the old stick back in the third slot (leaving the middle slot empty) worked!

But, now my computer crashes to the blue "hardware failure" screen at random moments. Something is obviously not right. I removed the old 256 stick altogether and am trying it just with the new 512 stick. It boots fine, but I'm still getting the blue screens (so it's obviously not an issue with the contacts).

Also, I've run MEMTEST386 with both sticks on RAM in for 12+ hours with no errors, so the RAM would appear to be good.

I've read that these RAM sticks of differing speeds should always conform to the lowest speed. But I guess that's only in theory.

I'm gonna check the ePox site for a BIOS upgrade.

-abs

 

[Altoidman]

Well I was persistent and it finally booted up. I think clearing the cmos and just booting up with the 512mb stick finally did even though I think I had already tried that, hmmmm. Anyways thanks for the help.