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ram issue

Started by ranakor Feb 27, 2005 at 1:30 PM 7 replies 1k views

Original Post

Feb 27, 2005 at 1:30 PM

i just bought a new stick of 256mb pc 133sdram (yes i still live in the last century...) to be up to uhm... the min spec on eq2 but when i put it in it doesn't add 256mb (for a total of 512) but 160ish i tryed removing the old stick (wich do is seen as 256) to put the new one in the same slot to be sure it wasn't the slot that wasn't working but same issue there new ram is seen as a 160mb stick & old one works just fine & is seen as a 256mb stick i wouldn't really mind since 256+160 would be enought but ... it crashes when i have both in so i guess the new stick i bought is just faulty. my question is this could it be a problem with my mobo or something or does it sound like 100% positive faulty ram (just making sure before i phone them so i don't feel like i have to put up with clueless CS if they blame it on something else)

Goober King

Feb 27, 2005 at 2:40 PM

That doen't sound good for your new RAM stick. You can run a memory test.

Chances are you will need to replace the ram stick. Even if it did work with the old one you shouldn't try it. It will go south sooner or later. Probably sooner. There is a small chance your Mother board may not support 512MB of ram, so you should find that out as well.

ranakor

Feb 27, 2005 at 3:46 PM

well as i said the 256mb doesn't work "even" when alone (it reports 160ish mb) but the old stick works in the SAME slot when alone (reports 256mb) so what i'm wondering is if it could by my mobo not being compatible with all rams or something or if i can be 100% positive that the ram is defective

oh and... don't laught but i can't run memtest.... i don't ... err... have a floppy drive... yea i know...

ps:reason i want to know if i can be sure wether or not it is defective before calling is the shop seems to be pretty bad at exchange/reimburse kinda stuff...

Goober King

Feb 27, 2005 at 4:49 PM

Quote:
Original post by ranakor
well as i said the 256mb doesn't work "even" when alone (it reports 160ish mb) but the old stick works in the SAME slot when alone (reports 256mb) so what i'm wondering is if it could by my mobo not being compatible with all rams or something or if i can be 100% positive that the ram is defective

oh and... don't laught but i can't run memtest.... i don't ... err... have a floppy drive... yea i know...

ps:reason i want to know if i can be sure wether or not it is defective before calling is the shop seems to be pretty bad at exchange/reimburse kinda stuff...

Can you boot off of a CD? My main system dosn't have a floppy. They are fairly usless at this point. BIOS flashing not withstanding.

Most likely its bad. I can't tell you how many sticks I've had to return. If you find a good one it will often last forever, but they go bad right off the bad all the time. If the store has a bad return policy then find a new store. If they are a store of any value they should also be able to test the RAM there at the store.

Drew_Benton

Feb 27, 2005 at 4:57 PM

Quote:
Original post by ranakor
well as i said the 256mb doesn't work "even" when alone (it reports 160ish mb) but the old stick works in the SAME slot when alone (reports 256mb) so what i'm wondering is if it could by my mobo not being compatible with all rams or something or if i can be 100% positive that the ram is defective

That sounds like you have bought incompatible memory. Check the old stick of ram and see what type it is, if the info is on there. Also, here's a tip on installing memory. Unplug the PC and hit the power key to drain out the stored power. Install the new memory. Plug it back in and see if it works. I remember one time I went through 3 sticks of ram, thinking they did not work - on the fourth time I had the random notion that I should unplug the system first, and it worked. If that does not help, you should try to get a new stick of ram, but make sure it is the correct type. BTW, what type of MB do yuu have?

- Drew

Conner McCloud

Feb 27, 2005 at 5:02 PM

Quote:
Original post by Drew_Benton
Also, here's a tip on installing memory. Unplug the PC and hit the power key to drain out the stored power.

Whenever you do anything inside your computer, you should unplug it first.

CM

ranakor

Feb 27, 2005 at 5:09 PM

Quote:
Original post by Drew_Benton
Quote:
Original post by ranakor
well as i said the 256mb doesn't work "even" when alone (it reports 160ish mb) but the old stick works in the SAME slot when alone (reports 256mb) so what i'm wondering is if it could by my mobo not being compatible with all rams or something or if i can be 100% positive that the ram is defective

That sounds like you have bought incompatible memory. Check the old stick of ram and see what type it is, if the info is on there. Also, here's a tip on installing memory. Unplug the PC and hit the power key to drain out the stored power. Install the new memory. Plug it back in and see if it works. I remember one time I went through 3 sticks of ram, thinking they did not work - on the fourth time I had the random notion that I should unplug the system first, and it worked. If that does not help, you should try to get a new stick of ram, but make sure it is the correct type. BTW, what type of MB do yuu have?

- Drew

it is compatible memory & i didn't know about that unpluging part but my pc was shut down from the power switch behind tho .

my motherboard is a VT8363 from via & the ram is pc 133 (just like my old stick is) the bios lemme pick 100 or 133 & neither work on the new one (both work fine on old one)

Drew_Benton

Feb 27, 2005 at 5:10 PM

Quote:
Original post by Conner McCloud
Whenever you do anything inside your computer, you should unplug it first.

I didn't know that at the time [embarrass][lol]

ranakor

Feb 27, 2005 at 5:11 PM

Quote:
Original post by Goober King
Quote:
Original post by ranakor
well as i said the 256mb doesn't work "even" when alone (it reports 160ish mb) but the old stick works in the SAME slot when alone (reports 256mb) so what i'm wondering is if it could by my mobo not being compatible with all rams or something or if i can be 100% positive that the ram is defective

oh and... don't laught but i can't run memtest.... i don't ... err... have a floppy drive... yea i know...

ps:reason i want to know if i can be sure wether or not it is defective before calling is the shop seems to be pretty bad at exchange/reimburse kinda stuff...

Can you boot off of a CD? My main system dosn't have a floppy. They are fairly usless at this point. BIOS flashing not withstanding.

Most likely its bad. I can't tell you how many sticks I've had to return. If you find a good one it will often last forever, but they go bad right off the bad all the time. If the store has a bad return policy then find a new store. If they are a store of any value they should also be able to test the RAM there at the store.

thanks for the CD tip i'll burn that & try it as for the store i picked it because the one i usually use doesn't sell CRT anymore & just thought i'd buy a stick of ram at the same time

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