[rxkevco]

Hi all,
My pc has been running with 1.5gb of pc2-4300 ddr2 for some time now without any problems at all.
As the mobo only accepts a maximum of 2 gb memory (having only 2 slots ), i decided to get another 1gig stick to replace the 512 stick.
I bought a 1gig stick of pc-4300, fitted it in today, and am not sure if theres something wrong with it or not.

Problem is,,,,,, with the 2gb memory installed, i have checked in the system details on my pc only to find that it says there is only 1gig installed ?? ! ! !

So, i opened up everest home edition, and this too says only 1gig installed,, however, when i opened up cpuz, this told me that there was 2gig installed, and even identified the brand in slot one and in slot two !!!

Am very puzzled by all this ! Why doesnt my pc or everest home edition recognise the new strip of memory ??
And, although cpuz sees both 1gig sticks,, i feel my pc is only running on 1gig. Could be just me thinking the pcs slower, might not be really !

I have tried swapping the 2 sticks over,, same lack of recognition of one of the sticks with everest and in system details !!

I have installed the original 512mb module along with the 2 sticks of 1gig ( one at a time ), and the 1.5gb shows up in system details, everest and cpuz, making me even more puzzled ? ? ? ?

What on earth is going on ??????

Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, kev

[Advertisements]

Looks like i was right,,,pc is only running on 1gig of memory ??

Just had a look in the system bios and only 1gig in slot one is recognised, bios says slot 2 isnt enabled ???

There isnt anything wrong with either 1gig sticks of memory as i have swapped em around the 2 slots and still only slot one is recognised.
When took out a 1gig stick and replaced it with the older 512 stick then the bios recognises both slots as being enabled ??

So , in esence, the pc supports a max of 2 gigs, both sticks of 1gig are fine as they are recognised in the bios and both work independantly in either slot,,, its when you try any combination of both 1 gig sticks that the bios only recognises one of them.

The pc is now running on the original 1.5gig of ram, its just when you replace the 512 stick with either of the 1gig sticks that the bios only recognises igig ???????

This is really puzzling me now,,, please,,, any ideas ??

Edited by rxkevco, 31 May 2007 - 03:22 PM.

[rxkevco]

Looks like i was right,,,pc is only running on 1gig of memory ??

Just had a look in the system bios and only 1gig in slot one is recognised, bios says slot 2 isnt enabled ???

There isnt anything wrong with either 1gig sticks of memory as i have swapped em around the 2 slots and still only slot one is recognised.
When took out a 1gig stick and replaced it with the older 512 stick then the bios recognises both slots as being enabled ??

So , in esence, the pc supports a max of 2 gigs, both sticks of 1gig are fine as they are recognised in the bios and both work independantly in either slot,,, its when you try any combination of both 1 gig sticks that the bios only recognises one of them.

The pc is now running on the original 1.5gig of ram, its just when you replace the 512 stick with either of the 1gig sticks that the bios only recognises igig ???????

This is really puzzling me now,,, please,,, any ideas ??

Edited by rxkevco, 31 May 2007 - 03:22 PM.

[rxkevco]

Anyone !!!

[The Skeptic]

Looks like the two 1 gig modules are incompatible whereas each of them is compatible, independently, with the 512 mb.

Try to set the BIOS on default (or fail safe) values and see what happens.

[rxkevco]

Thanks for that,,
Will try setting the bios back to default settings and see what happens ! !
It isnt likely to cause any problems elsewhere by resetting the bios is it ????

Incidntly, why would the two sticks be incompatible ?? they are both 1gig, both pc 4300 ddr2, none ecc, unbuffered, 266 mhz, just made by different manufacturers. I have never had a problem like uncompatibility with any of my pcs before ! ! ! !

Just as an afterthought,, my mobo supports a max of 2gig ram,,,,,,,,the two sticks of 1 gig each equates to 2048mb in real terms, so is over the maximum 2000mb,,, or am i just being stupid thinking along those lines ??????

Edited by rxkevco, 01 June 2007 - 01:37 PM.

[The Skeptic]

I can only tell you that I have seen quite a few bizarre problems with memory modules which, in most cases, boiled down to incompatability either between modules or between modules and motherboard/BIOS. The faster the memory or the system as a whole the bigger the chances for failure because these systems or not forgiving for even slight differences in latencies etc. For this reason it is best to buy a set, made by the same manufactuter, especially if the modules run in dual channel mode. A compatible set will cost somewhat more then two sperate modules.

[rxkevco]

Well, i have just upgraded my processor from the 2.93ghz P4 516, to a newer Pentium D 945 3.4ghz dual core processor.
In the process of installing it i had to upgrade the bios cos of a " microcode " error, which in the process has set the new bios to its default settings.
Now that the new cpu has been accepted by the mobo and all seems fine, i will now attempt to have another go at sorting out the memory.

If it still fails to recognise the new 1gig module, then i think i will just settle for the 1.5gig that i have used for the last six months, ans sell the other module on ebay or something. Might look for a matched pair though,,

Thanks for your advice, i appreciate it.
I will post back if i get a result though.

Many thanks, kev