Adding extra memory causes System to crash

[peffs]

Gigabyte Mainboard GA 845PE 667 Pro. I built this PC using 256 MB PC 2700 DDRRAM Matrix brand using Samsung DIMMS

The PC has been fast and stable. I have not tried overclocking.

I have tried to upgrade the RAM with another 256 MB to give a total of 512MB. But got system reboots instead. I tried in slots 2 and 3 - no luck.

I now have some RAM same as the original but a different batch. However, this has also given system freezes and reboots. I have tried this DIMM in slot 1 – no problems. Add in the original DIMM into slot 2 or 3 gives reboots and freezes even when no applications are running.

System details
Win XP Professional Version 2002 SP1.
BIOS Award 08/29/2002-I845PE-6A69YG03C-00, now updated to
BIOS Award 10/16/2002-I845PE-6A69YG03C-00
CPU ID: 0F24 Patch ID: 000B7
Video card Leadtek Winfast A170T GEForce4MX 440 with 64MB DDRRAM, BIOS Ver 4.17.00.45, Driver nv4_mini.sys Ver 6.13.10.3100 NVIDIA
20GB Maxtor ATA 100 HD

Frequency / Voltage Control in BIOS
CPU Host control Disabled
Host DRAM clock Auto
DIMM Over Voltage Normal
AGP Over Voltage Normal
CPU Voltage Normal

Voltages as per Easy Tune 4
Vcore = 1.490
3.3V = 3.320
5V = 4.970
12V = 11.960
DRAM = 2.500
CPU = 1.500
AGP = 1.500

I have asked Gigabyte but no answer.
Is the motherboard at fault or should I increase the DRAM voltage?

 

[Rick]

2.5v for DDR is the correct voltage for all modules I've seen. I don't recommend increasing the voltages to anything unless you'd like to fry something. But I am not fully aware of the consequences of increasing your DRAM voltage.

The first thing I would do is go into the BIOS and disable "Quick boot" or "Quick post".. The idea here is that the BIOS should perform a standard memory test when the computer boots and it will tell you if the memory is bad or not (although it lies sometimes).

Second thing I would check is that ECC is turned off. If you have mistakenly mixed ECC memory with non-ECC memory and have ECC turned on in your BIOS, then you can expect these problems. Disabling ECC in the BIOS should fix this, if this is the case.

Third thing I would do is try running the memory by itself, instead of with your original module(s). Is it stable? This means that it is an incompatibility with the memories you have installed, rather than the motherboard/memory.

Lastly, if none of the above are helpful, I would assume the memory is not compatible with your motherboard and get an RMA as soon as possible. Many "generic" or low quality brands of memory do this often. Name brands do this to from time to time, but it is much more unlikely.

 

[Greeno]

obvious thing to try would be :-

use the new dimm on it's own to see if the pc works stabily.
they are the same speed aren't they? etc.
random reboots... how bigs ur psu ?

someone else might be able to tell me/u this, does adding more RAM add strain on ur psu?

 

[peffs]

I have now set DDR clock to 2.5 x = 333MHZ rather than auto. Will check to see that quick boot & ECC are off.

Both new and old memory are Matrix brand using Samsung DIMMS, 229, K4H560838D TCB3, BDF082BB same speed etc from same shop but different batches. Both work well by themselves in Slot 1 but not together. I have tried a couple of other brands as well before the Matrix but no luck. I had assumed from this that it was an incompatibility problem but not with 2 Matrix brand using same chips etc. PSU is a 350w Eagle brand - more than enough power for my set up. Power with both DIMM's still shows 2.5V.

Will try above suggestions tomorrow night and post results - power has only just come back on after bushfires blew a HV Feeder to this area.

 

[Rick]

Something else you might want to try is flashing your BIOS to the latest version. Newer BIOS revisions can sometimes fix odd memory behavior and broaden memory support.

 

[iss]

I had an epox board once that did something similar when I tried to add more ram. I went into the bios and loaded fail safe defaults and it would then boot fine after getting it to boot the first time I went back into the bios and loaded optimized defaults and it booted normally no more problems. it's worth a try.

 

[Nodsu]

if you have tweaked your memory settings to maximum in BIOS, you may consider lowering them, or as iss suggested, load fail-safe defaults and work up from there.

Larger amount of memory may mean more latency and also more power to drive the memory chips. Thus the overall performance of memory may drop below the requirements you have set in the BIOS.

 

[peffs]

Many thanks for all the suggestions. Had meant to try the suggestions, but have been to busy. Have just finished cleaning up after copping a lot of ash from the fires near here.
I have flashed the BIOS to the latest available - hope to test things out tomorrow.

Will post results.

 

[vassil3427]

Yeah I hope things work out for you!:grinthumb

 

[peffs]

Well, I have tried all the suggestions, I thought that loading Fail Safe Defaults would work it was the most stable - lasted about 7 minutes before locking up.

No ECC settings in my BIOS, BIOS has been flashed to the latest available. Tried setting a slower speed for the DIMM'S - no good.

I will try Gigabyte again - they still have not replied and my first email was about 10 days ago.

When I fix this I will post it.

Many thanks for all suggestions they are ALL worth a try.

 

[Arris]

I thought the Ctrl F1 Bios advanced options info was in the Gigabyte manual. I'm almost certain its in my GA-7VAXP manual.
Anyway regardless of Gigabytes hiccup in not including this information in your manual you should check out the www.amdmb.com forums located at www.amdforums.com .
They have a dedicated Gigabyte motherboard forum which had a lot of information contained in it, some of which might be pertainent to your problem. I suggest you have a look there too. Hope you get your ram issues resolved.

Also Gigabyte list recommended memory modules for each motherboard that they release, when you get round to purchasing your new branded ram at the beginning of the year have a look at their list, because if ram that they say works doesn't you may have more of a case against them for RMA'ing your board and getting a replacement or anoter motherboard.

 

[FiremanDan]

I had the same prob with my Asus A7A266. The peeps that I bought it from said that the MB had the wrong mem voltage settings from the factory, and that I needed to flash the bios. I did this and had no more lock ups with two sticks pc2100 ddr. My 2cents.