Dimm ram installation?

[jack478]

Hello everyone, im on the scrounge for pc knowledge again, first sound cards now more ram. I have just bought and installed a 512 dimm memory card, thought it would be no problem to put in, but as with all things I touch it didn't work out as straight forward as that!
I have checked the connection and it fits tightly into its slot, but when I start up it gets half way and just crashes. I managed to get a good start up, went straight to the system panel, this showed me that I now had 768mb of ram. Oh good I thought, then it just crashed!
At the next start up I performed a system restore using xp, this seems to have done the trick, I have 768mb of ram and it hasn't crashed again since.

Does anyone have any suggestions on why it's playing up??


Cheers very much
Jack.

 

[VIPER_1069]

Are they both the same clock speed in MHZ ?! and not miss-matched for example 333mhz and 400mhz !?

this maby could cause issues !?

are they both the same type of ram too !? are they both DDR or both SDRAM not a mix of the two ?!

 

[jack478]

I'll have to check

I don't know i only know what the 512 is, i origenaly had a 256mb card already instaled in a slot origenal with my pc.

the one i've just put in is:-
512MB DDR400 PC3200 Memory
512MB DDR 16 Chip 32x8
PC3200
184 Pin
2.5 Volt
Gold connector
Un-buffered
Non ECC
Cas Latency 3 (CL3)

how would i find out the clock speeds?
and how would i find out the specs of my oreginal card?

Cheers for lending a hand!

 

[VIPER_1069]

its DDR 400MHZ it tells you here

DDR400

it should also tell you what the original memory is .. somewhere usually on the memory stick


SDRAM and DDR look different too DDR has one NOTCH or cutout somewhere in the middle of the stick along the edge where the contact strips/connectors are and SDRAM has 2 notches/cutouts in the same place

it does not sound like you have different types of ram (sdram & ddr) sounds like you have 2 sticks of DDR ... check what clock speed the 256mb stick of ram is by powering down and taking the ram out and looking see if there are any stickers on the ram telling you if its ddr333 or ddr400 or other

 

[jack478]

sounds just the job

from memory both cards have just the one notch in them. i will check this when i get home from work , also i will look to see what the stickers say.

if your wondering, yes im not very busy at work today!

thanks again
jack

 

[VIPER_1069]

lol i wasent busy at work either at the time i answered lol

 

[jack478]

may have found out what it is?

i have read the sticker on the origenal card it says,
samsung 256mb ddr pc2100 cl2.5

do you think that because the new card is pc3200 that might be the rote of the problem?

thanks for sticking with it!
jack.

 

[Duracell]

samsung 256mb ddr pc2100 cl2.5
do you think that because the new card is pc3200 that might be the rote of the problem?

no, pc3200 is backward compatible to 2100; this means you can clock the RAM with 200 MHz too;
rather the "Cas Latency 3 (CL3)" of the new RAM might be a problem; remove the new stick > boot > enter the BIOS > set RAM clock to 100/200 and RAM timings to 3; then try it again with the new stick;

if it won't work:

- the board/chipset dislikes the new memory chips,
(not uncommon, have a look at the motherboard fabricator's homepage for brand recommendations)

- your old RAM dislikes the new memory chips,
(not uncommon too)

- the new stick is faulty,

- the board doesn't tolerate the RAM size or the addressing/layout "16 Chips as 32x8MB",
(again have a look at the motherboard fabricator's homepage for RAM addressing/layout recommendations)

 

[malcontent]

Perhaps, but it's good practice to use matched pairs (I've been neurotic about the issue since a VERY unreliable system died on me)

2X 256mb Crucial DDR400, and thats the way I like it!

 

[jack478]

i will give those suggestions a go and see what happens

but having relised i may have bought a duffer i thought i'd try and send the card back and get a refund, i was refused, so now i guess im stuck with a card i don't want!
i bought the card from www.simply.co.uk if anyones interested.

thanks and i'll let you know if your suggestions work out

 

[malcontent]

There is a good solution:

Ebay?

 

[jack478]

that was gona be my last stop, after i've tried to flog it to everyone i know

 

[roadworker]

What processor do you have?
Perhaps it's better to fit the new 512MB RAM in and keep the 256MB as a spare part.....most likely,your system's performance will improve.....

 

[jack478]

i think i'v got it

i have sorted the ram problem out now, thanks for everyones suggestions i attempted the clocking idea, it worked but not at every start up. i have managed to find ram made for my motherboard, luckly i have also flogged the old 512mb ram on e-bay! ( nice suggestion!)
i am now running smoothly with 768mb dimm ram, my next thing to pick peoples brains about is graphics cards, as i've only got pci slots on my mother board i can't get a high end card. the one i've got my eye on is a:-

BFG nVidia GeForce FX 5200 OC 256MB PCI

dose anyone know if this is a good card or anywere were i could look up and compare models or what i need to be looking for.

Thanks
JACK

 

[LTR12101B]

A motherboard that takes DDR, but lacks an AGP slot?

Sounds like one of the onboard graphics ones, before they realized that onboard graphics get dated very quickly indeed.

The FX5200 - even pre-overclocked (that's the OC), is a slow DX9 card - it trails with the bottom of the pack (even in AGP version), and unless DX9 is required in order to participate, gets its ass wiped by any competent DX8 card, even an elderly Geforce 3.

Depends what you're aiming for, of course - if you want the best card you can buy in PCI, regardless of the price (since there are NO real top end cards in PCI), or just a bit of a kicker for inferior onboard graphics.

 

[jack478]

Hmm? Does that mean im a bit stuffed then?
The only gaming I do is strategy, total war and that kind of thing; I wanted a better graphic card because I have a lot of lag in the game movies and intros for Rome Total War. Anything with good 3D

Graphics wise I use Photoshop cs a lot but this seems to display well with the set up I have.

I would change my mother board to one with agp slots bit having just bought a pci sound card I think I’ve burnt my bridges!

What would you say is the best bet for around 80 to 100 quid?

 

[LTR12101B]

Depends on how confident you are - a motherboard swap is like a heart transplant - it's the biggest job you can do on a system, and a replament is likely to require the mountings repositioned - miss one, and it'll short out the board.

What is it?
I'm guessing that if it's recent enough to use DDR, it'll be an ATX standard case (good) or some atrocious custom one that will not take standard parts.

An AGP slot motherboard only has ONE AGP for the graphics, the rest is PCI.

Looking at PCI cards though, the alternative to FX5200 is probably Raden 9200/9250 - not sure if they were crazy enough to put the DirectX9 hardware on PCI as well.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=27388&item=5164154606&rd=1 - The 5700LE is available in PCI, that's a bit more powerful a card than a 5200 - but would you trust a ZERO on ebay - would you trust ebay at all?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=27388&item=5163078235&rd=1 - Radeon 9200, not "Slow Edition" - a pretty solid DX8 card

http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html
Interesting, the Radeon 9200 isn't doing great against the FX5200 - but you can see how low down the charts they both are.

The FX5700LE is not a "full" FX5700, but what reviews I found had it trading punches with a Radeon 9550 (in AGP versions) - looks like it's probably the most powerful thing you can get in PCI, and adequate it you don't insist on maximum resolution and AA/AF - I'd probably be happy to put one of those on my system in AGP - the PCI version will lose a bit of performance, of course.

 

[jack478]

i don't know exactly what it is?
my system is an e-machine 210, about a year old. i think it would be better if i didn't attempt a full on swap! can you imagine the time i'd spend on here posting really ovious questions.

i,ve found this post on another forum http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-39400.html

anzak10-25-04, 06:10 PM
Actually Radeon 9100 is based on the same Radeon 8500 core back in 2001, that 3 years old technology and 5700LE is just only 1 year old now.

Still, the Radeon 9100 is the fastest PCI card available. But with the current state of drivers for the R2xx I would say pass. What really matters most when it comes to PCI video cards is the amount of frame buffer the card has.

Highest FPS: Radeon 9100 128mb
Smoothest game play in older games: Geforce FX 5700LE 128mb
Smoothest game play in newer games: BFG Geforce FX 5200 256mb

Most newer games eat a lot of video memory and when a PCI card runs out of video memory it's SOL. It cannot interface with the system ram like an AGP card can. Call of Duty is a good example.

It's a toss up between the 128mb 5700LE and the 256mb 5200.

rage, you are correct that the 5700 nvidia drivers are better than the radeon 8500/9100 drivers.

Yes. I am currently using a Radeon 9000 for my primary gaming card. I have encountered no less than 4 bugs in CS: Source (one of which is a white box around every light source and the box can be seen through walls). It's not the game ether because I did not have thoughs troubles with my 6800GT.

should i just take the plung and see what its like, it seems to be pretty much swings and roundabouts
no i would'nt trust e-bay at all, some of the stuff i've sold on it shocking

i can't seem to find anywere UK that sells a pci version FX5700, i'll keep looking.
Cheers

 

[LTR12101B]

Well spotted!

An AGP card can make up for lack of RAM, by using the AGP aperture to map system RAM, a PCI cannot.

Couldn't find a 210 - I'm still shocked that a machine of recent vintage would lack AGP - I'd expect it to be before PCI Express.

And It would be nice if some stores fixed their search, so you could tell the difference between PCI and PCI-E - what a mess!