moon Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 My system has become unstable, shut downs, freezes. Sometimes my RAM shows as 511MB ( 2x256), sometimes 384MB. Is it simply an iffy 128MB on one of the sticks or is is something deeper, depressingly expensive, rooted in disaster ? :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurdy Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Download Memtest from here - you will need a floppy disc.Run the test for a couple of hours but bad memory normally shows up pretty quickly.Have you tried taking one stick out ( then the other )and running the PC and determining by a process of elimination whether it is bad memory and which of the two is at fault? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Ta.No, I was fishing for the unusual before I did that. I'll do it now. Sadly, sticks of Crucial 256MB for this ol' box are still over sixty quid. I wish I'd bought Crucial to start with instead of buying the extra memory on eBay. It's lasted three years though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Moon,What sort do you want ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 I've got four sticks here, boris, and three slots. I'm putting them in one by one. First one, which was in the machine with another, refused to boot. Binned. I'm on the second one now. They're SDRAM 256MB. One is PC100 and the others are PC133. I'll get back after using Memtest on any that function individually.Ta. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Well, only one stick is any good. I'm just about to run Memtest on it.The PC100 stick was too hot to handle when I went to remove it. :blink: These are my options from Crucial, boris.Abit BE6Edit; I ran Memtest to 800% so I guess that stick of PC133 is OK. Wotya got, boris ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 If you mix 100 with 133, you may notice half of it not showing up, or not showing up at all. It's best not to mix ram, as it can only cause problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Thanks, crowman. No, I don't mix them. I'll need PC133 to match my last remaining stick. (Even though my FSB is 100MHz) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 These numbers are for a reason, to determine maximum abilities.Check your mobo documentation or go to motherboards.org and search for yours. You will find that installing RAM over the specified limit, may actually cause a decrease in efficency and preformance.Same thing goes for devices. If you use a 1gbit cable on a 10/100mbit ethernet card, how fast is it going to go? There is ways to 'overclock' things like this, but if your looking for better preformance, or you've upgraded as much as you can, but still aren't happy. It's time to get a new mobo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 It's debateable, crowman. Crucial ( from my link above) recommend installing the highest spec. compatible with your mobo. In my case it's PC133.We also recommend that you choose the upgrade with the fastest memory listed. For example if PC2100, PC2700, and PC3200 are all listed as compatible upgrades, we recommend that you upgrade with the PC3200 module.This ol' box is pretty much rooted in Windows 98SE. I've run the Win2K upgrade test and I'd need new drivers for just about evrything. The Voodoo3 2000 card probably doesn't have any 2K drivers, same for the modem and the sound card, all antiques. I download drivers from Driverguide but 2K rejected them . It just ain't worth spending money on. It's got a new power supply, new CDRW and I'll give it some fresh memory but that's it. I'm waiting for the new 64bit AMD 3400 and then I'll put a new one together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 It's debateable, crowman. Crucial ( from my link above) recommend installing the highest spec. compatible with your mobo. In my case it's PC133.We also recommend that you choose the upgrade with the fastest memory listed. For example if PC2100, PC2700, and PC3200 are all listed as compatible upgrades, we recommend that you upgrade with the PC3200 module. Yea yea, I agree completely, what I was trying to say is, don't mix PC133 with PC100 if your mobo can support PC100 only, even if it can support PC133, it's not a good idea to mix it.I've got many many random bits of ram in my computer, 64mb, 128mb, 256mb, but they are ALL PC133, and I've never had a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 I've no idea where my stick of PC100 came from. I vaguely remember a guy leaving some unwanted RAM on my desk and that's probably it. I have no idea why it got super not when I tried to test it though. Perhaps he doesn't like me. :DEdit. Leaving just the one good stick in has helped the instabilities but not completely cured them. I still get the occasional 'fatal exception' in the areas of OE and IE. Restoring the drive from a good save of Drive Image hasn't helped either so I guess I've got a hardware problem somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Well, I hope you can get it all sorted out. I don't know what else I can do for ya as of now. Just make sure you have all same type of ram installed as not to cause problems. It could have also caused problems with other hardware, but that's not a fact, just me. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 I haven't used any mixed speed RAM but the RAM failing might have done some damage. Can't think to what though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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