RAM upgrade problem - strange timing behavior

[Danstar10]

Hi,
I have just purchased 2* 1gb ram sticks to upgrade from 2gb to 4gb. The ram is:

Samsung Original DDR - 400MHz, 2GB (1024MB), PC3200, DIMM, Non-ECC RAM Random Access Memory, CL3, Desktop 2 x 1 gig sticks


It is made by samsung and i purchased this specifically as it is exactly the same as the ram i currently have (at least i think). Basically when i add it to my 2 current sticks to make up 4 1gig stick windows will not start. It either blue screens after it gets to the desktop and says there is a problem with 'MEMORY MODULE' i think or it says it is shutting down to prevent damage in a black screen early in the startup. When i turn it on with all sticks in it does a memory check and says 3'xxxxxxxx bytes OK' - it should be '4xxxxxxx' for a start as it is 4gig.

I have run the computer with just the new sticks in and it runs fine - however i tried it with just 2 sticks in the 'secondary slots' (the 2 slots that were previously empty) and it boots up fine - however CPU-Z tells me that the timings are all different. Normally it is 'Freq: 201Mhz' when there is RAM in the 2 first slots, but when i run it in the second two slots it varys between '157.9' and '158.0' Mhz.

Any ideas? Why would the same ram run at different speeds in different slots?

Any help much appreciated - Thanks

 

[Tedster]

if it is the same ram, then something is not right. Run memtest 86+ booted from a floppy or CD. Any errors you get are bad. Note the blocks that come up. You may have defective ram or possibly a bad ram slot?

 

[pdyckman@comcas]

Get 2 more sticks of what you most recently added and they will all be compatible. You can always use the ram that you remove on a future project. With the timings different.....if they are all working, your machine will run at whatever the slowest speed may be. I would spring for two more 'new ones' and run @ 400 mhz (200 mhz) Good luck. You should also go into 'setup' and make sure that you have the right timings programmed for your ram. (after you add the other two new one's").

 

[burbuletapimba]

DANSTAR: you need to run any mem tester from your CD or floppy

 

[Danstar10]

thanks for the reply, where would i get memtest 86+ from?

- here is an update.

I have tried all the RAM in their pairs in each 'set' of slots. The results are a little strange - although i am no expert - i have attached screengrabs of the CPU-Z timings for each combination.
The image named 'Primary RAM Slots' is the timings shown when the respective pairs of RAM are inserted into the first two memory slots which are normally used. The image shows the timings for both the new and my original RAM. the only difference here is:

my original RAM has RAS to CAS Delay of 4 and RAS% of 4
where as the new RAM has RAS to CAS Delay of 3 and RAS% of 3

and on the SPD tab my original RAM only shows up in one table @ 200MHZ where as the new RAM shows up in all 3 columns @ 133,166 and 200Mhz.


However when the exact same test is performed on the secondary slots - i.e. slots 3 and 4 only (no RAM in first two slots) it gets a little strange. The attached image named 'Secondary RAM Slots' shows the CPU-Z results. It shows:

Original RAM has the same reading as when it is in primary slots which is
FREQ: 201.0Mhz
FSB: DRAM : CPU/11
CAS Latency: 3
RAS to CAS: 4
Ras%: 4
Cycle Time: 8
Bank Cycle Time: 11
DRAM idle timer: 16

New Ram FREQ reads between 157.9 and 158.0 Mhz (keeps varying every second or so),
FSB: DRAM : CPU/14
CAS Latency: 2.5
RAS to CAS: 3
Ras%: 3
Cycle Time: 7
Bank Cycle Time: 10
DRAM idle timer: 16


When i try to run the RAM all together i either get a blue screen saying problem with 'MEMORY MODULE', or 'BAD POOL HEADER' - or it stalls on startup just before it would normally say 'Veryfiying pool data'.

So any ideas? It seems all the RAM sticks are fine as they run no problem in their respective pairs in the primary slot, aswell as the original stuff running fine in the secondary where as the new stuff works in the secondary but seems to run slow.

I should add recently every time i turn off my computer i have to wait at least 5 mins b4 it can turn back on else the fans just turn a few rotations and nothing happens when i try power it up straight away - a PSU problem? could it be related?

Thanks alot

 

[Tedster]

download from http://www.memtest86.com/