Help needed! memory problem

[Lance Van Voor]

Hello

Can someone point me in the right direction, im in the process of upgrading my pc (please see my spec below)


My upgrades are graphic card 850xt agp 256mb to replace ati radeon 9600
2gb of crucial ddr pc3200 to replace my 512mb (2x 256mb 3200)

My pc becomes very unstable when i installed the 2gb of memory and the 850xt card, rebooting constantly,but runs fine with my old 512mb and the 850xt.

I have returned the memory and installed the replacements they sent but still rebooting all the time, so i dont think the memory is faulty?

Do you think the extra memory, and the power hungry 850xt are putting a drain on the power supply? (350w) do i need a new psu?

any help please


My Computer
Computer Manufacturer
MSI (Micro Star)
Computer Model
MS-6570 (K7N2)
CPU Manufacturer
AuthenticAMD
CPU Family
AMD Athlon(tm) XP 3000+
CPU Speed
2094 MHz
Front-Side Bus Speed
200 MHz
Currently Installed Memory
512MB
Maximum Memory Capacity
3072MB
Total Number Of Memory Slots
3
Available Memory Slots
1

 

[VIPER_1069]

COULD be underpowered i would advise maby a bigger psu anyhow to cope with most systems requirements...... or it could well be overheating has your processor got a good enough heat sink ?

i recently added 2x 8cm fans to the side of my case due to overheating in this hot weather

i have a 9600 pro 256mb and 1gb ram 3 rom drives and 4 x hds so i generate a LOT of heat with my system as it runs 24 hrs a day 7 days a week and also acts as a server to my second system

attached is the heat sink with liquid filled copper heatpipe and fan i use with my AMD 2.6 running at 2ghz

 

[The-poacher]

Heres a tip to cool down a PC drill 4 or 5 holes in the top of the case (1/8th inch)
<> the hot air rises & disperses (keeps the room warm too)

THIS IS NOT a joke I did it on my 2nd puter cos the case was getting hot <> now it stays cool.http://javascript:emoticon(':sunglasses')

 

[bionic]

Along with whats already been mentioned...
If your running your new ram in dual channel(128 bit) try single channel(64 bit).
Sometimes the bios default settings is not accurate, make sure the bios is confgured correctly according to your ram timings and power spesification. Upping the ram volts a notch over specs might be worth a shot.

Test with memtest and prime95
Check the system temps in bios or with fex Speedfan

Heres a power supply calculator.

 

[scarecrow]

A cheapo 350W PSU (nominal- the real current delivered is another story that usually hurts) is too anhaemic for all modern puters.

 

[LTR12101B]

A note on the page (not sure if it's the right model, but similar) says

NOTE: nForce2 does not support x4 memory for 1GB but it could support other density of dram chip such as x 8, x16...

So if the RAM has only 4 main memory chips on it (I didn't know they'd got up to 2 Gigabit chips yet), it's not suitable.


I'd try the 1Gb modules individually, (not dual DDR) and see if that's stable.

I wouldn't have thought the memory would add much to power consumption, but it could be the last straw, I suppose.

A 350W, especially a no-namer, does sound a little tight for that setup - how many drives and other stuff does it have?


Do you still have the 9600? - if so, I'd try the 9600 and the new memory, and if that works, I'd say it has to be power that's the problem

 

[Lance Van Voor]

I have tried the 2gb (x2 1gb sticks) with the 9600 card, but the same problems, rebooting. I have tried just the one stick of 1gb but again keeps rebooting.

When I bought the memory from crucial, I did the crucial memory scan on their web site which then offered all suitable memory for my machine. So this memory should be ok for my pc?

"nForce2 does not support x4 memory for 1GB but it could support other density of dram chip such as x 8, x16" have I bought the wrong memory? do I need slower memory?

Im at a loss at the moment, sunday i will buy a new psu, what power can my mobo handle? how much power do i need 500w 600w ?

Thanks for your help thus far people.



more spec on my system

1 hard drive
1 dvd burner
1 cd burner
sound blaster live 6.1

 

[LTR12101B]

As I read it, "x4" memory would be 4 main memory chips, 4 on one side or 2 on each.

x8 would probably be 8 on one side, and x16 would be 8 on each side.


The PSU would seem to be ATX standard, 20 pin and 4 pin auxilliary 12v feed.

Golden rule of PSU's

1. NAME - The Antec, Thermaltake and other names bandied around by performance nuts have ratings that are worth the paper they are printed on, while the cheapo 550W units often make up the ratings with surplus power where it won't be called on.

2. Weight - all things being equal, the heavier the PSU, the better

3. 12v Amperage - forget headline power ratings, the PSU with the best 12v load is probably the best PSU.

I favour the "large fan" style among cheap to mid-range PSU's, as all the junk brands do twin fan, but a lot less of them do the large (intake) fan.

One drawback of big-fan PSU's, they do little to cool the upper section of the drive bays - the front to back path of an old-style single fan works best for that.


Check the 12v rating of the existing unit, and instantly reject anything that does not offer at last 2 amps more - Dual 12v may be another option, where there is 12V (1) and 12V (2) - one feeds the motherboard and CPU, the other feeds the graphics card, and the drives are spread between them.