Mis matched ram ?

[corplug]

Hi
I have been having troubles, pc keeps shutting down particularly when using heavy graphic loads (games). I have replaced the cpu, graphics card and power pack. The problem remains, on checking I have found that I am using one stick of ddr 333 and one ddr 400 ram, could this be the problem or do you think its the motherboard?
I am pulling (what little is left!) my hair out.
Asrock K7S8X Board
Asus V9480 Ti4800 Graphics card
AMD xp2500+ cpu

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[thecrecarc]

the ram SHOULD work

 

[stevty2889]

What power supply were you and are you using now? If you replaced a generic PSU with another generic PSU that could still be the problem. If you suspect the ram, I suggest running memtest. You can also try taking out one of the sticks of ram, to see if the problem continues to occur. What are your temps like? Overheating could also cause the PC to shut down. What is your FSB at?

 

[corplug]

I am using a colorsit 550w psu.
FSB is 166, not sure about where to find temperature readings.
Would memtest show up faulty ram?

 

[corplug]

Sorry previously running 250w psu

 

[stevty2889]

Memetest would show faulty ram, never heard of clorsit, sounds like you replaced a weak power supply with a no name power supply. What does it have on the 12v rail, 550w is meaningless by itself, a quality 350w is better than a generic 550w. Downlaod motherboard monitor, you can use that to monitor your temps.

 

[stevty2889]

And due to the fact that it's when it's under heavy load that it shuts down, it's more likley to be heat or a power issue, rather than memory.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

With it shutting down and not BSOD'ing it seems to be power supply or heat as a close second. Ram usually causes reboots, not shut downs

 

[corplug]

Thanks for your help.
I ran memetest overnight, it did not report any problems.
It is most odd, a couple of times when running call of duty uo, it has started to load a map and then just rebooted, and on other occasions it completly switches off, leaves power to the keyboard, but will not switch back on, have to switch off from the mains for 10 secs then switch back on. Windows (xp) will sometimes report "windows has recovered from a serious error", sometimes not....I am now wondering if I need an exorcist !!

 

[stevty2889]

Which is just more of an indication that you have a heat or PSU problem..

 

[corplug]

Sigh.....do u think it may help if I put additional fans in the case ?

 

[stevty2889]

Well it depends, first you have to figure out if it is a heat issue, by downloading something such as motherboard monitor, to watch your temps. It will keep track of high and low temps, making it easy to see how high your temp gets under full load, and also monitor the voltages coming out of your PSU, so you could see if you get any significant drop on one of the rails.