[droskill]

Hey all,

I've got a Dell 4600 with 256mb of RAM - clocked at 2.66mhz.

I bought 2 K-Byte 512mb PC3200 DDR DT chips (packaging says 3200/2700 PC400/333 184 Pin DIMM) and performed the upgrade. Everything went fine, except that now I've been getting thermal shutdowns.

So I went back and put in the original 128mb chips - everything works fine again - no thermal shutdowns.

Both fans (cpu and main unit) are working fine.

So my question is this: shouldn't these DIMMs work fine? Or do I need to get the 2700 or the 3200 directly (as opposed to one that handles both)?

I guess that's two questions - but any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Damian

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Thermal shutdowns are usually caused because a fan somewhere isn't spinning. Its possible that when you opened the case up and closed it again, one of the cables is inadvertently caught on the blade of one of the fans or you've accidentally pulled out one of the fan connectors to the motherboard. Either that or the heatsink itself is too hot.

Dells are really awkward for thermal shutdown issues because there is often no obvious cause as to why they've suddenly decided a thermal shutdown is in order. However in your case since the problem only occurs when you swap the memory out this could be an issue with the new sticks you've bought.

[Neil Jones]

Thermal shutdowns are usually caused because a fan somewhere isn't spinning. Its possible that when you opened the case up and closed it again, one of the cables is inadvertently caught on the blade of one of the fans or you've accidentally pulled out one of the fan connectors to the motherboard. Either that or the heatsink itself is too hot.

Dells are really awkward for thermal shutdown issues because there is often no obvious cause as to why they've suddenly decided a thermal shutdown is in order. However in your case since the problem only occurs when you swap the memory out this could be an issue with the new sticks you've bought.