Memory in Channel B

[Vancouverite]

So, i went out and bought 1g of kingston valueram ddr400 to go with my other 3. they are all the same. i booted up (seemed like the cpu was a bit slower), went into system properties to see if it has reconized the new RAm, and it hadn't. it still said 2.87 from be4. my motherboard allows a max. of 4g ram. so i tured it off and slid out he ram i just got(in slot 3) and booted up. this is the message i got.

"Memory in cahnnel B. Maximum memory performance is achieved with equal amounts of memory installed in each cahnnel.
maximum memory performance is achived with matched DIMMs.
the installed amount of memory in channel A is not equal to the amount of memory size decrease."

i pressed F4 to boot and everthing seems fine.

What happened and what do i do? In the meantime im gonna return the Ram to see if thats the problem and hopefully by then someone has replied to me.

THANKSSSS!!!

 

[dividebyzero]

Not too sure if I understand fully what you're asking.
You had 3 DIMM's populated (2 as dual channel, 1 as single channel), you added a fourth -but it didn't seem to show up?
If you are using a 32-bit OS then all 4Gb wont be seen by the OS-it can only address 2.75-3.25Gb in most cases. If you used a monitoring tool (CPU-Z for example or Memset) then all 4Gb would show up.
Assuming that this is the case then testing the RAM and the DIMM slots (possibility that your 4th slot could be at fault) is relatively straightforward.
-Download Memtest86+ here http://www.memtest.org/ then burn the .iso (after uncompressing) to CD with ImgBurn or burning software (needs to be bootable) OR download the executable for USB if your BIOS allows you to boot the system from USB
-If you have the RAM set at non-stock levels it would pay to set your BIOS to default settings.
-Power off. Remove your 3 known working RAM sticks and insert the new stick into DIMM 0 (the first DIMM slot)
-Reboot computer, change boot order to CD (or USB), save change, reboot.
-Memtest will load and test the module. Each pass takes around 10-15min to complete for 1Gb, run 7-10 passes minimum. Tests 2 and 5 within the pass are most likely to find errors and you can order loops of these tests in the options. If the RAM passes, stop the test and power off. If the RAM fails then stop the test and skip the next step
-Move the RAM stick to the 4th DIMM, reboot and repeat the test sequence.
-Stop the test when you're happy that the RAM is stable, power off.
-Insert your stable RAM back into it's slots
-Remove CD/USB, reset boot order, save changes, reboot.

 

[Vancouverite]

"If you are using a 32-bit OS then all 4Gb wont be seen by the OS-it can only address 2.75-3.25Gb in most cases. If you used a monitoring tool (CPU-Z for example or Memset) then all 4Gb would show up."

Does this mean that it just cant detect 4g it and it still works, or does it mean that i can have a max. of 3.2g? and if so, can i have 1g in slots 1,2,3 and have a 512mb in slot 4? all are the same make.

 

[dividebyzero]

You can have 4Gb (4 x 1Gb) installed and it will still work but the OS cannot make use of the whole 4Gb.
You can have mis-matched sticks in the system, and have upgraded numerous computers that come out the factory door with such configurations. How effective it is is open to debate.
If you are using a 32-bit OS the the better option would be to keep 3x1Gb populated- your operating system cannot utilise the extra 512Mb in any case.

 

[Tedster]

read my guide - it answers all. https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic65114.html

and no- it is never recommended to mismatch ram.

32 bit operating systems can only access around 3.4 gb of ram.

 

[dividebyzero]

read my guide - it answers all. https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic65114.html

and no- it is never recommended to mismatch ram.

32 bit operating systems can only access around 3.4 gb of ram.

Since you're linking to a closed thread. I'll post here:
Memtest86+ is also available as an executable for USB if the users motherboard supports USB as first boot.
A Floppy drive only makes sense if it selected as the first boot device- handy if you have a failed BIOS flash, but if it's not 1st boot then it's pretty much wasted space. Some users may also note that increasing numbers of motherboards do not support PATA devices.

 

[Tedster]

The guides are not threads and it is locked so people cannot post until I request it so.

Because ram is a core OS function, it is best to boot off a floppy to test it. While you may be to do it off a CD the bottom line is that you do not want to test ram with an os loaded. And yes, there are USB options as well.

 

[dividebyzero]

Because ram is a core OS function, it is best to boot off a floppy to test it. While you may be to do it off a CD the bottom line is that you do not want to test ram with an os loaded. And yes, there are USB options as well.

Not sure I understand?

Booting from floppy is testing in a dos enviroment
Booting from CD is testing in a dos enviroment
Booting from USB is testing in a dos enviroment

Memtest86+ , as far as I'm aware, is a DOS ONLY testing utility.

Or am I not grasping the meaning of your reply?

 

[Tedster]

You can boot memtest from a CD using an ISO file.
read the website instructions. You have to make a bootable cd rom.

 

[dividebyzero]

You can boot memtest from a CD using an ISO file.
read the website instructions. You have to make a bootable cd rom.

...and you mount the iso using ImgBurn or burner of choice etc, etc.
I believe I outlined that exact procudure earlier in the post.

How does that differ from making formatting and loading the executable onto floppy?

They both boot at startup -just select boot order in the BIOS
They both run at DOS level - strangely enough the CD (or DVD) version is also employed by manufacturers of operating systems- go figure.

IF your motherboard supports boot from either floppy or optical drive, why, precisely is the floppy the profoundly better choice for running DOS based programs? Would you consider floppy the better medium ? Is there something inherently wrong (or inferior) about using a bootable CD/DVD as a method of initializing a DOS based program?

 

[Vancouverite]

lol. .

 

[captaincranky]

Actually the best possible configuration (IMHO) would be 2 1GB sticks and 2 512MB sticks, all the same brand and speed, installed equally in each of the board's 2 channels. This would also include that the RAM be on the board manufacturer's list as being compatible.

As to Memtest86, Intel boards usually beep 3 times if the memory is not working correctly.

You can also slap mix and match RAM in the board at your own risk.

A prolonged conversation won't magically turn mismatched RAM into a matched RAM, no matter how many times the question is asked.

2 to the 32nd power equals 4 Gigabytes, When you subtract the hardware addresses, you then have a number the available memory addresses that can have RAM assigned to them.

I had really thought that everybody in the world knew that a 32 bit OS would only show about 3GB in Windows. Actually older board chipsets were 32 bit also, and they wouldn't even show more than about 3 GBs to the OS in the first place.

4 GB of memory cures everything!! LOL

 

[dividebyzero]

Agreed.
From Vancouverite I assumed that he got a standard Intel notification about unequal loading of the RAM slots. Not necessarily any cause for alarm. Attempting to ascertain how he arrived at his unchanged 2.87Gb could have led in two different paths, either the OS not being able to address the extra RAM, or the hardware not able to access it.
Since we've not heard a follow up I presume it was the former.

Maybe the Techspot admin might give some thought to running a ticker across the bottom of the screen regarding memory address parameters within a 32 bit OS enviroment.

 

[captaincranky]

I have an Intel 915GAG board, it's 32 bits, so the OS only gets to look at about 3 GB anyway.

However, in a rare display of humor on the part of the writers of the manual, it's explained that you can "actually put 8GBs of RAM into the board (dual channel 4 sockets), but that it will still only present about 3GBs to the OS.

With a 2GB DDR module at that time being worth about $400.00 USD, that was quite a send up, don't cha think?

 

[dividebyzero]

Common sense and tech sometimes seem to be mutually exclusive concepts...
About three years ago I bought a very cheap motherboard online because it had "BIOS" problems. The board was an Abit IN9-32Max - the 32 Max part was supposedly the maximum supported memory although Universal Abit's memory QVL never listed any compatible 8Gb DDR2 RAM modules ! Surprisingly enough it ran quite well, although it did get hot enough to double as a Coleman stove.

 

[Vancouverite]

it was my 32bit operating system. i ended up with 2 1GB sticks and 2 512MB sticks in cahnnel A/B. Never knew bout that 32bit ****...what a fat load Besides, im not as "Evangelistic" as you tech savy heroes.

 

[dividebyzero]

Glad you got back and closed out the thread. At least anyone with a similar question can look back on the thread and know it's been resolved and they may be able to find an instant answer. Cheers.