PLEASE HELP! Problem with adding more ram on my system...

[daywalker]

I have an AMD Duron 1Ghz, my mobo is the ASUS A7A-133 and i have 1 stick of 256MB PC-133 double sided. Yesterday i went to buy another stick of 256MB Ram. I came home, installed it on the mobo opened up the system and it counted 256MB just like before! It couldnt see the second Ram stick i added at all! I went back to the store, changed the memory stick with another, NO LUCK. I went back AGAIN picked up another memory stick and it worked, showing the memory count correctly (512MB) at start up BUT i had tons of freezes in WinXP. Took out the stick, everything worked fine. In the end i went back to the store, gave them that last memory stick back and i took my money.

But what went wrong??? Aside the fact that all the sticks were a different brand than the one i already have, they were of the same type. I also changed positions of each stick, tried each one on its own but nothing. I dont think its a bios problem, i have my mobo updated to the 1011 version which enables me to upgrade up to an Athlon XP 2100+, you can see for your selves HERE Something i would like to NOTE about that: Both the ASUS A7A-133 and the ASUS A7A-266 share THE SAME bios revision (1011). But i dont think thats a problem, as both mobos have the exact same chipset with the difference that the second one (A7A-266) uses both DDR and SDRAM. My mobo (A7A-133) uses SDRAM only.

Is it possible that i have such a bad luck and ran into 3 deffective memory sticks? I would appreciate any opinion or advice. Thanks a lot.

 

[Buz2b]

What happened when you put just the new stick in the system? Did it recognize the RAM? You might have to check in your BIOS. Maybe you have the RAM timings set too high and the newer stick couldn't handle it. Different brands react differently to settings sometimes. What brand is the original stick? What brand were the new sticks you tried? Are you sure they had the same ratings, like CAS 2 or 3?

 

[daywalker]

The two first sticks i added werent recognized at all by my system, even when i went in the bios settings. It was like i HADNT added any ram at all. As for the brand, well they were no-name brands all three of them. The third last stick DID work but i guess it didnt cooperate with my existing RAM (thats why i had all these lock-ups and freezes i guess). I dont know well the things you tell me about CAS2 and CAS3. And as for the timings... all i know is that the RAM settings are set on SPD mode in the bios. But i would appreciate if you would be more specific about what should i be cautious of...

 

[Buz2b]

SPD is fine. Do you have any settings in the area of RAM in the BIOS for "Turbo" or "Optimal Performance" mode. Those would be the only other ones. You still didn't quite answer what I asked though; what happend when you (if you tried this) put in just a stick of the new RAM without the old RAM still installed? That would also be a key element to the mystery. Chances are the "no-name" RAM just isn't compatible or not of correct configuration for your MB. Also, what is the brand of what is already installed in your system?
I am not sure about international ordering from them but maybe you should look into ordering from Crucial.com. I took a quick look and they do have an international website but you would not get their "free shipping" outside the UK. In any event, their prices are really good and compatibility is guaranteed. You might find that the price for their RAM (even with shipping charges) might even be close to what you paid for the "no-name" stuff.

 

[daywalker]

First of all man THANKS for all your help.

Even when i added each ram stick on its own, i had the same results. The brand name of the RAM i have now is M-TEC but i couldnt find its match anywhere. As for the bios options you mentioned, there is a turbo-like option but i have it disabled. As for what you said about crucial, i went to their website and jesus that company is amazing. I just chose my MOBO model and it showed me the EXACT type of RAM that i should add on to it... you can see for yourself
HERE

The problem is that i live in Greece and even worse, i dont even own a credit card. So i guess that i will have to go to another store for RAM. I just wish i didnt have to deal with all these incompatibilities.

 

[Buz2b]

Well, you might try writing down the Crucial part numbers and especially thePart details for that Crucial RAM that shows on that site. Then check some of your local stores and match up the part details with what they have. That will at least give you a "fighting chance". You might also want to shop for some of the more "branded" types (Kingston, etc) if the prices aren't too high. If you can find RAM that matches the Part Details of the same Crucial stick in a brand such as Kingston, Micron, etc, then you should have no trouble.
If your board did not recognize the newer sticks when they were installed by themselves then it was either incompatible or lower quality RAM. The ASUS boards can sometimes be a bit picky about RAM quality and density. Good luck in your search.