Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with RAM

6 GB of mixed-speed RAM better or worse than 4 GB of matched pair faster RAM?

suburbanrobot — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:55:27 -0800

I just picked up 4 GB of DDR2 800 RAM to upgrade my computer. It already has 2 GB of DDR2 533. Should I get rid of the old RAM and just use the new, or should I install all of it? Santa was good to me this year and I received two 2 GB sticks of DDR2 800 of RAM for Christmas. My current desktop already has two 1 GB sticks of DDR2 533 RAM. My motherboard has 4 slots for RAM and I'm running Win 7 x64, so if I'm not mistaken I could actually install the new sticks in addition to the old ones and have 6 GB of RAM total.

However, I seem to remember something about how installing faster RAM in addition to slower RAM will slow all of the memory down. Will this drag on my system performance? If so, would the trade-off be worth installing all 6 gigs anyway?

How do the chips on a memory module interrelate?

espertus — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:12:37 -0800

How is memory typically mapped to the different chips on a DIMM, and what are the typical timing characteristics, broadly speaking? For example, are bytes/words whose address is i mod 8 typically on chip i? In the case of reads, are results returned first from chip 0 (after the RAS and CAS latencies), then promptly on subsequent cycles from each of the next 7 (or 15) chips? How about from other DIMMs on the same motherboard?

RAM all over the place

VikingSword — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:10:01 -0800

RAM configurations for the new iMacs - permutations galore! I'm going to be buying a new quad iMac probably sometime in January 2010 (either the i5 or i7, I have not decided as yet, I'm waiting on reviews and tests). I will be buying it with the stock 4GB RAM, and I'll buy more RAM on my own and install that. However, I'm not clear on a few issues with optimal RAM configurations. The new iMacs have 4 RAM memory slots, and the stock configuration is two 2GB sticks (2GB + 2GB). There's a BTO option of getting additional 4GB RAM in one of two configurations, as 2GB sticks, so the end result would be 2GB+2GB+2GB+2GB=8GB, or two 4GB sticks, so the final configuration would be 4GB+4GB=8GB (much more expensive). Now, come January if I'm lucky RAM prices might drop, but regardless, it will still be cheaper to buy RAM myself and install it, instead of buying from Apple BTO. Issues:

1)Is there a performance penalty with 2GB+2GB+2GB+2GB=8GB versus 4GB+4GB=8GB? I realize that there is an expansion difference, in that using the 4GB sticks, I leave myself the option of upgrading to 16GB.

2)Is it possible to do: 2GB+2GB+4GB=8GB or is it contraindicated to mix 4GB sticks and 2GB sticks? If it's possible, is there a performance penalty vs 4GB+4GB=8GB?

3)Similarly is it possible to do 2GB+2GB+2GB+4GB=10GB or is there an issue? It is my understanding that as Apple has it configured, both the i5 750 and the i7 860 are dual channel Lynnfields, and the i7 is not 3 channel (1156 socket)

4)And again similarly what about 2GB+2GB+4GB+4GB=12GB

5)Final option, what about 2GB+4GB+4GB+4GB=14GB.

Of course, my decision will be driven by pricing, and this may pertain to quite some time down the road, so I may add gradually over the course of a year depending on prices. Thanks!

Memory upgrade for Intel Xeon Mac Pro?

austinlee — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:12:17 -0800

Memory upgrade for Intel Xeon Mac Pro? I bought the base mac pro a few months ago planning to up the memory right away. When I went to do this I got confused by a few websites that warned about using only certain kinds of memory and in certain groups. Can someone tell me what they think is the best way without spending more than necessary?

The computer is a 2.66 Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 3 GB 1066 MHz DDR3.

Thanks!

What's wrong with my truck?

geoff. — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:37:21 -0800

I have a 2001 Dodge Ram that I use when I need to haul things. It runs great, except in the morning after it rains. The truck will not want to rev beyond 1800-2000rpm. If I idle it or drive for for about 10 minutes the problems go away. Any ideas? This has been happening for about a year but I don't use it very often so I sort of ignored it. I've been using it a bit more and I sort of want to get it taken care of if it is causing damage, if it is not I can just ignore it. It is also an automatic so I'll try to explain gear changes as best I can, but I could be wrong. Keep in mind this only happens in the morning after a rainfall. It did occur once without rainfall, but in that instance I parked it in a field that was very dewy; there's definitely a moisture connection. I haven't noticed the problem if I drive it on a dry day and it rains in the afternoon. Here's the best description I can come up with:

It will make the transition from first to second at about 1800rpm so I don't initially notice it. From second to third, on normal conditions, it'll get up to 2400rpm before changing gears. When it is experiencing problems it won't go above 1800rpm or 2000rpm and if I apply more pressure on the accelerator the engine sounds like more power is coming out of it but the tachometer doesn't seem to want to move up. It is as if I hit a ceiling or there's a hole at around 2000rpm. If I accelerate slowly I can get up to the speed I want without any problems. This is really noticeable when getting on the highway and I need a lot of torque to get up to speed. If I push it when I hit this "wall" , and I only did this once, it gives up and drops down to like 1600rpm. I don't know if I would describe it as a popping sound or just a cessation of power? When I did this (just once!) the engine light came down, when I let off the accelerator the engine light went off. It has yet to come on again.

It is most definitely every single morning it rains the night before, I've been driving it everyday this last month to isolate the problem and to make sure the rain thing wasn't a red herring. I'm really confounded as to what it could be.

What's causing my new computer to crash?

chndrcks — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:19:14 -0800

My new computer freezes or reboots when I'm pushing it (e.g. encoding video). Can you help me figure out which part is bad before I start having to ship things back to newegg and pay restocking fees? CPU: Core i5
MB: MSI P55-CD5
RAM: Crucial 4GB (2x2) DDR3 1333
PSU: 500W OCZ ModXStream Pro
VIDEO: MSI Geforce 9600 GT
HD: Samsung 1TB 7200RPM

It's usually fine for low intensity use (web browsing, office, etc.), but if I push it (say video encoding), it typically crashes within about 20 minutes. In Windows 7, sometimes it reboots, sometimes it just freezes. I had one BSOD. I think it also reboot once in Linux (gentoo), while running genkernel (unless that was some other problem)

My guess is it's either the RAM or the Motherboard. I have memtest86+ running right now, but so far it's been running for an hour and done 2 complete passes with no errors. On the other hand, one of the newegg reviews says:

This RAM does not play nicely with 1156 motherboards with the P55 chipset. Two other reviewers have mentioned rebooting issues with Gigabyte boards, and my Intel DP55WB had the same problem.

Did some testing and found that during PC-Check, the RAM would always lock up/reboot once it got to the block rotation test, but would pass MemTest.

PC-Check's price is not listed on their website, which leads me to believe it's out of my budget for the limited use to which I'll put it. As such, I cannot try to replicate these results myself.

Also, I've changed the Command Rate to 2T, but the problem still persists.

If it's not the RAM, it may be the motherboard. Is there any good way to test this other than trying new RAM and seeing if the problem persists?

The other thought I had was that the PSU isn't strong enough. I found a PSU calculator online which suggests it should be fine. Besides what I listed above, there's an old IDE hard drive (which is only connected right now to transfer files) and an internal CD-RW drive. There's also a USB DVD drive and a USB printer, but those both have their own power.

Does the hivemind have any suggests on the best and cheapest way to figure out what I should return? Also, do you have any suggestions on what I should replace that part with?

Thanks!

What kind of RAM does my PC need?

Wild_Eep — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:48:24 -0800

What kind of RAM does my PC need? I have a Windows PC that needs more RAM. I can see that it has more than one slot, but I don't know what kind of RAM to buy. I'm able to see a label on the motherboard that has the letters "D15GLVG/D15PCDT" on it in tiny writing. The motherboard is made by Intel and has an Intel chip on it.

Recommended computer workstation vendors?

pombe — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:14:26 -0800

I'm looking for recommended vendors for high performance computing workstations. I need a workstation with 32 GB or more of RAM for image analysis; my computational needs are more modest, but a couple decently fast cores would be nice (my application parallelizes well). I'd like to spend around $5k if possible, but could go up a little if necessary. I'd prefer not to build a system.

RAM Speed vs. Ram Quantity

Partial Law — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:36:24 -0800

Is there a general formula for determining the relative value of RAM speed versus RAM quantity? More specifically, am I better off with 2GB at DDR400 in dual-channel mode, or 2.5GB at DDR333 in single-channel mode? I have an ASUS A8N5X with an Athlon 64 3200+ and have been running on a single 512 MB DIMM for way too long. I just bought 2GB (in the form of 2x1GB) and I've tested it both on its own and with the original 512 stick as well. By itself in the proper slots, the new ram runs at DDR 400 in dual-channel mode. With the old stick added in, the motherboard drops down into single-channel at 333.

The internet tells me this is correct behavior (specifically that the motherboard will drop to 333 MHz when running in single-channel mode), so the question is whether I'm better off with the extra 512 MB or with the faster speed.

Additional information that might be relevant: I still play games now and again (TF2 mostly, which ran largely fine on the old RAM), but the primary RAM-intensive use which finally prompted the upgrade is working with 10-megapixel RAW files while keeping a browser window and a half-dozen or so tabs open.

Right now I'm using the 2GB at the faster speed. Performance both ways seems to be fine (and a heck of a lot better than before), but I'm wondering if there's a good formula here. Also if it matters, I'm happy to play with CAS latency and timings and all that, but something tells me those effects will be comparatively small.

Please help me decide where to start fixing my BSOD issue

ClarissaWAM — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:53:41 -0800

Blue Screen of Death hell and I don't know where to start... is it software? Hardware? HDD? RAM? Drivers? Any pointers would be appreciated! Hi and thank you for your time. Here's the story so far:
I started getting BSODs last week - first sporadically and the PC would still run in between, but by now I can basically only boot into safe mode without getting a BSOD pretty much straight away. Here's a blurry example of one.

Potentially relevant information:
- When I upgraded to iTunes 8.2 my PC (esp. Firefox) slowed down to a crawl. As one measure (possibly stupid) I disabled a number of services in msconfig to keep stuff running to a minimum (which I do often, but I was particularly drastic this time. I did not disable any MS services however.).
- After that (I think - might be coincidence, tho unlikely) boot up time increased tenfold. That is, at the very beginning, when all I can see is the silly Pentium logo anyway, so can't determine what is holding it up (or am too stupid to figure out how to get rid of it). It literally takes around 3-4 minutes to get past that stage.
- A few days later (about a week ago) the first BSOD. I first suspected the HDD, but more out of my tendency to expect the worst, for of course I hadn't backed up in ages (have however managed to back up the essentials now, so would be happy enough to reformat & reinstall).
- Now for the odd part. I figured I'd re-enable the services I'd disabled to see if that would help - however I get error (I paraphrase) "you do not have authority to do this for some of the services (won't tell me which one), please log in as admin" - needless to say I am admin.
- When booted into safe mode & trying to get to the event viewer, I get "unable to complete the operation.. the interface is unknown." Calling up the Device Manager, it comes up blank! There are various other similarly baffling errors. It's like I'm locked out of my own system! This of course makes me suspect soft/malware rather than hardware.
- I also did try system restore before the BSODs became all-invasive and it told me it was not possible to restore to any earlier restore point.
- Oh yeah, here is my HijackThis log - one, two (pics, sorry, since I can't get the damn file off the PC). I ran Avira too with no worrisome results.

So.... where do I start? I am prepared to reinstall, replace the HDD, remove all memory sticks one by one, update the BIOS, whatever else you can think of, but I'd be really grateful for some pointers so I don't start at the wrong end and waste hours & hours when it might be something really obvious.

System Specs: Win XP Home SP2 5.1, Build 2600, 3GB RAM, Intel Pentium 4 3GHz, Mobo Medion MD 8088, 2 HDDs & the system one is 120GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 and reasonably old.

Many many thanks!!!

Extra RAM destroys my PSU!

edbyford — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:31:32 -0800

I installed new RAM, and blew my power supply. Now, after installing a better power supply, the same symptoms which led to the broken power supply are happening again. What is going on? I recently ordered a pair of these to upgrade my computer from 2GB RAM to 6GB, after installing Windows 7 64-bit. This is what Crucial told me is compatible with my Intel DG965RY motherboard.

After turning the computer back on, I noticed that Windows hung on startup. I shut it down and ran Memtest86+, but that ran very slowly (although didn't show any errors).

I then restarted, and after a couple of beeps from the mobo, the computer wouldn't turn on. SO I ordered a new, more powerful PSU.
For comparison, the model I had originally was this one. It is 430W and has a max current on 22A across the +3.3V rail (I think this is important if you want to add more RAM, right?)

The one I have now is this one. This is 600W and has 35A across the +3.3V rail.

Just to be safe, I sent the RAM back and bought exactly the same type again. I installed it, and then ran both Memtest86+ and Windows Memory Diagnostic before attempting to boot Windows. They both showed no errors. When I then tried to boot Windows my computer froze! Scared of blowing my PSU again, I shut it down and removed the RAM. It now seems to work fine.

What can I do? Surely my power supply is more than adequate for some RAM?

Thanks in advance

What do I need to look at when buying a new laptop?

reenum — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:28:05 -0800

I'm in the market for a new laptop. Should I get a PC or Mac? What specs are important for me to look at when making a decision? My Toshiba Satellite A65 seems to be on its last legs, so I think I'm getting a new laptop.

In researching, I've become confused as to which specs really matter when looking at a computer.

Here's what I would use it for:
- E-mail, IM, and Web
- Watching DVDs
- BitTorrent
- Word processing and spreadsheets
- Tracking my finances
- Some music creation (mostly breakbeats)

I've seen some places say that I need as much RAM as possible, others stress the importance of a large hard drive, yet others say I need the fastest processor.

Also, any recommendations as to brands that are more reliable than others?

Please help!

Needs More RAM?

Oktober — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:37:09 -0800

I've upgraded my video card. Games run great (for the most part), but windows itself runs slower. What do I do? Add more RAM? As always, more inside. I'm running Vista Ultimate SP1 on a Dell Dimension 9200 with a 2.4ghz Core Quad and 2GB of DDR2-800 RAM. I upgraded from a GeForce 7600GT 256MB to a GeForce 9800GT 512MB. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers while doing the upgrade, even though it's the same package. After installing the drivers, rebooting, etc, I notice that Windows itself feels slightly less snappy, and that Sins of a Solar Empire (which is memory constrained more than video constrained) seems to take longer to load, and runs somewhat slower. When I ran 3dMark06, my score had jumped from ~7900 to ~11000, even though that's the very bottom of "systems like mine". I'm a former windows IT guy who's been off in *nix land for the last few years, so I don't know if there's some glaringly obvious vista problem that I'm missing here. I have a vague memory of something along the lines of "video memory is shadowed in main RAM, and if you have more video memory, you need more RAM for the same performance", but that could just be a misremembering of how a 32-bit OS can address a maximum of 4GB of ram. Additionally, could it be a power issue? I have two internal hard drives, and the 9800GT requires its own PCIe power connector, but when I've had power problems with home-built systems, I tended to get system hangs more than just slow performance.

So my questions:

1) What can I do to get my performance back where it was? Add another 2GB of RAM?

2) Are there any Vista tweaks that could help? I've already moved my paging file off of my system drive, but that's an old trick. Give me some new ones.

3a) I've got the Windows 7 RC lying around somewhere, I could install that. I've heard great things. What would be the effect performance-wise?

3b) 32-bit or 64-bit? Considering my system is hardware limited to 4GB of ram, would going 64-bit be worth it for the full 4GB versus the ~3.4GB I can get under 32-bit?

Cross-Platform Crashing on a Macbook Pro

N2O1138 — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:04:43 -0800

I have Leopard and Windows 7 (7057) installed on my Late 2007 (possibly older, I got it refurbished) Macbook Pro 15". My problem is, every time I boot into either OS, I get a kernel panic or BSOD respectively. The fact that it happens in 2 different operating systems makes me almost positive that it's a hardware problem. Unfortunately, I don't know very much about computer hardware, so I don't really know what to troubleshoot first, and I don't want to void the warranty by opening the case (I plan to take it to the Apple Store if nobody here can solve the problem). Specifically, either operating system will crash about a minute into booting up. I don't think the problem can be too serious because everything graphically looks fine and all my files are intact. This leads me to think that maybe it's a RAM problem, and that it runs out of memory and crashes during bootup. Safe Mode in Windows works fine (I'm using it now), and still reports the correct 2gb of RAM. I haven't done safe boot to OS X yet.

The Blue Screen says
"Uncorrectable Hardware Error" and below it gives the code
*** STOP: 0x00000124 (0x00000000,0x85BAE024,0xF2000000,0x00060151)

If it were just what I'm experiencing on Windows, I might think it was something to do with drivers, but it's on both operating systems.

Two 2GB sticks, or one 4GB?

brenton — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:44:47 -0800

Which is better, one 4GB stick, or two 2GB sticks of DDR2 RAM in my Laptop? I bought a new laptop with two 800Mhz DDR2 slots. I saw a good deal on two matched 4GB DIMMs (8GB total), but I think because I'm running Vista 32bit, I can't put in more than 4GB. :(

So should I get a matched pair of 2GB sticks, or a single 4GB stick?

RAM upgrade backwards-compatibility

DB Cooper — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:40:20 -0800

Is DDR2 PC2-6400 memory backwards-compatible with a laptop that uses DDR2 PC2-5300? The brick & mortar store has 200 pin PC2-6400 in stock and for the same price as their out-of-stock 200 pin PC2-5300 selection. FWIW, I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop.

How to get my motherboard to recognize all 6GB of RAM

PetiePal — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:25:54 -0800

New Asus P6T motherboard only showing 4GB of RAM in BIOS when I have 6 installed. :( Hey everyone! Just built a new PC last weekend specs are as follows:

-Antec 900 case
-Asus P6T Mobo
-Intel Core i7 920 CPU
-3x2GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM
-Vista 64-bit
-ATI Radeon 4870 1GB

I have the memory slotted in DIMMs A1/B1/C1 as listed in the manual for the P6T. When I boot into BIOS (and Vista 64) it only shows 4GB of RAM total. I've tried looking everywhere for possible disabling of memory reallocation etc but I haven't been able to find any way to switch this on and off. I don't think any of the modules are faulty but I will admit I'm not that experienced with RAM optimization.

Is it possible I may have to set voltages etc manually. I've heard/read that DDR3 takes more voltage than standard DDR2 RAM. Mobo BIOS was flashed to most recent (which was released March 6, I built it all the 7th lol) Any help would be most appreciated as I'm really super eager to get all 6GB working :(

PC performance boost: more RAM or a new processor?

gottabefunky — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:28:51 -0800

How can I find out if I'll get more of a performance boost in my desktop PC by adding more RAM or replacing the processor? I'm trying to figure out which will give me more bang for my buck in terms of processing speed: adding more RAM or replacing my processor.

Here are my stats: Dell Dimension 4600, Pentium 4 CPU, 3.06Ghz, 1.5G RAM, Win XP SP3; Intel Springdale-G i865G motherboard chipset; NVidia GeForce 7600 GS video card.

I've already added more RAM, but I'm willing to give the processor replacement a go if it's worth it; I just can't figure that out. I use the machine mostly for word processing, email, web surfing, photo editing (I know, I know), and some gaming.

It may be my imagination, but (as usual) the computer seems to move slower every year. Programs take forever to load, images longer to process, occasional minute-long hangups with multiple programs running . I defrag, virus scan. CClean and delete unneeded stuff regularly. What should I do? (Please don't say buy a new one.)

OMG! Stupid computers!

HauteMama — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:15:50 -0800

Memory replacement on my laptop is driving me crazy. I've got a Toshiba A215-7422. According to Toshiba it's got this memory installed "1024MB PC5300 DDR2 SDRAM." So, I ordered these memory modules, 2GB PC2-5300.

And that's where the trouble begins. I inserted the two new dimms, and the computer refused to boot. No problem, I thought, it must be bad memory sticks. So, I exchanged them for new ones. Still nothing. ( I did try testing both sticks individually and in different slots, with each set.)

Now, I can see four reasons for this.
1) I've got the wrong memory
2) The software doesn't like the amount of memory.
3) I somehow got a hold of four bad memory sticks.
4) I don't know how to install RAM.

I've tried to look up whether PC2-5300 is not the same as PC5300, but the limited info that I can find indicates that it's the same exact memory with just slightly different names. Also Crucial had this to say "Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-6400,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 2GB per slot."

I can see no reason for the bios or OS to be unhappy with the new RAM. It's only 4GB total. (I'm running Vista Home Premium).

The odds against getting four bad sticks must be astronomical.

Finally, I keep removing and re-installing the original sticks with no problems (I'm on the laptop now). So, if it's me, I'm somehow managing to install the new memory badly while installing the old memory correctly.

So, what the hell? Can anyone suggest what the problem might be? I'm not computer illiterate, but I'm no expert by any stretch. (Frankly it could be something super obvious.)

Help!

What to use to get stickers off of RAM sticks?

bartleby — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:02:00 -0800

I have a shoebox full of RAM sticks that I want to make some art out of. What should I use to soak the stickers off? That's pretty much it; lots of obsolete desktop and laptop RAM modules that would look nice covering the fridge or a file cabinet (I'm thinking glue gun & minimagnets). But I want to get all the manufacturer's adhesive stickers off cleanly, without discoloring or otherwise dissolving the modules themselves.

Anyone recommend a solvent or favorite goop?

ECC ram for my personal server?

cowmix — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:53:23 -0800

ECC memory on a personal Linux server? My friends and I are upgrading our server that hosts a few VMs that run under VMWare Server 2.0 on a Ubuntu 8.10 box. We are buying this small ASUS 1U server (http://tinyurl.com/9dr3ee) from NewEgg and it happens to support ECC or non-ECC memory...

When I ususally build my custom whitebox servers I almost never use ECC memory.. when I do things a corporate environment I usually have no choice and always get ECC memory for servers..

Here are my questions:

1. Is it worth getting ECC memory for a personal server? I haven't had any issues in the past (that I know of) with non-ECC based servers but now I am kinda freaking out over not getting it.

2. Its not clear what RAM I would get for it if I do go the ECC route.. NewEgg has this RAM (http://tinyurl.com/9s82dk) but then NewEgg says is for HP/Compaq systems..

Lazyweb..plz help!

I miss you, RAM, come back!

Iosephus — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:14:26 -0800

Oh little RAM, where are you? 512MB module doesn't want to play along new 2GB module. Toshiba Satellite A200 laptop with 512+512. I buy one 2G module, remove topmost 512 (as they look on removing the little backside plate for it). Works perfectly, but it only sees 2G instead of 2.5G. I swap the slots of the 512 module with the 2G one, to see what happens (so now 2G sits on lowermost). Now it can't even boot to the BIOS screen. Try the same with the second 512 module, with same results. Argh. Out with the 512 modules, only the 2G in. All works perfectly, but it's of course still 2G only, and now I have two perfectly fine 512MB homeless modules. Me=dissapointed. Laptop manual mumbles something about dual channel whatsit, so I begin to think I'm screwed out of 512MB since the module sizes are different. Google isn't very helpful, and drowns me in endless "buy teh RAM!!1!" links.

Anything I'm forgetting to do to get the 512 module to play along its big brother? For some reason I like the idea of having a laptop with a quirky figure of 2.5G RAM, heh.

Why can you never have enough memory?

abcde — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:25:15 -0800

Why is there no such thing as too much memory? It's a truism that there's you can never have enough RAM, but why? Assuming that that you have enough that your peak memory consumption in daily use is significantly less than the RAM you have installed, why would adding more improve performance? Is it simply that the memory management even in the most current OSes is lame enough that they page excessively without a huge buffer of empty real memory?

I'd think this was an embarrassingly easy question, but I've asked a couple of serious hardware geek acquaintances and the best they came up with was even less specific than my guess: "something to do with the memory management."

The DIMMs of DOOM

shinybeast — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:33:42 -0800

Windows XP PC crashes and burns when four identical sticks of RAM are installed but Memtest86 shows no errors. I'm beefing up a PC that has an Intel motherboard (D865GBF) with four dual channel DIMM slots. I have four identical 512MB DIMMs that are certified for this board.

Here's the problem. THE PC works just fine with two sticks of memory in DIMM 0 in both channels A and B, but adding two more sticks to DIMM 1 causes the PC to fail in various ways. The PC may or may not load Windows XP. Various applications will crash randomly. XP will always eventually blue screen with different STOP codes. The STOP codes aren't pointing me to a solution.

The BIOS recognizes all four sticks when present. The Antec 380-watt power supply is new. I can fully stress the CPU and video card simultaneously with only DIMM 0 loaded, however the PC eventually crashes and burns while idling when all four slots are loaded.

All of the sticks work successfully in DIMM 0 channels. Adding any two sticks to DIMM 1 channels causes the grief. I've eyeballed the DIMM 1 slots and they don't appear to be damaged, but I'm guessing that one of them is toast.

Here's the mysterious part. I've loaded up all four slots and run Memtest86 for hours without error.

I'm stumped. I feel like I'm missing something obvious here. Any ideas?

Can I upgrade my ram to 2GB?

twelve — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:33:08 -0800

Can I upgrade my ram to 2GB? I have a Fujitsu Siemens D1675 motherboard. It currently has two 512mb sticks of ram and the third slot is free. Can I add a 1GB stick to the third slot or do the sticks all have to be the same size? I came across this page but I am still a little confused.