yacinator Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 These r my system specs : SIS K7S6A mainboard AMD 1800 Mhz processor 1 gig of memory ; 1 512 MB stick ; 2 256 MB stick Radeon 9600 SE grafics card 37 gig hard drive 3 12.5 V fans 400 Watt power supply Nothing is overclocked. At first when I installed the 512 MB stick the comp would run for only 5 minutes and then it would restart. The funny thing is when I rearranged the sticks now it runs for a couple hours before restarting. I thought that it was over heating so I installed 2 fans , 1 sucking air in and the other blowing the hot air out , and I installed a clip on heat sink on the 512 MB stick. After I turned of the comp and touched the stuff inside everything was cold except for the power supply. I know that the memory sticks aren't broken because the comp runs if only one is installed. That leads me to belive that the power supple can't handle the memory being doubled and it over heats , because after the comp restarts it doesn't run for very long , but if I leave it alone for some time it runs for a couple of hours again. So what should I do? Get a new power supply? Better cooling ? , but I don't think so since 3 fans + the power supply fan is enough. Should I install the heat sinks on the other memory sticks? Or do all of that? Plz help. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally's World Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 I had the same sort of problem. My PC (Epox 8RDA+ MB) would restart itself almost at random. So I tested each RAM chip individually and found that the problems were gone if I just used one of them. Before going out and replacing the one chip that seemed to causing the problems, I decided that instead of using slots 1 and 2 for the chips, I would try slots 2 and 3. It seems to have worked and my random restart problem is gone. I too thought my problem was heat related or a problem with my power supply. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yacinator Posted July 11, 2004 Author Share Posted July 11, 2004 Switching the memory sticks didn't help. It either get a black screen , the comp runs for only 5 minutes , or it doesn't change anything at best. Got any more tips? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 This sounds like a memory compatibility issue with your motherboard and your new 512Mb DIMM. It may also be an issue as you've already guessed - the power supply/motherboard can't handle all of its memory sockets being filled. Most likely this is the motherboard being unable to support all the DIMMs electrically. If you had 768Mb (3x256Mb), your motherboard might be a tad bit more stable, but maybe not. Do you run fine with 2 DIMMs installed - 2x256Mb or 1x256 & 1x512Mb - or is your stability dependant on just 1x512Mb or 2x256Mb and no more ? Which particular version of the motherboard do you have 1.0 or 1.0A ? Which BIOS version are you running (1.0A goes to 1.0d and 1.0 goes to 1.0f) ? Have you modified anything in the BIOS regarding your memory settings (SPD or 'manual' settings) ? Unfortunately the liklihood is that your motherboard may be unable to support your 512Mb DIMM along with other DIMMs at the same time (or at least not all three at the same time). I'm not seeing any info on the ECS website (www.ecs.com.tw) mentioning any approved/tested memory modules, so that reference isn't available. None of the BIOS upgrades mentions memory compatibility either. So this ends up a big guessing game. Your motherboard manual may mention something about 'double-sided memory' and your 512Mb DIMM may be this. This double-sided/double-banked memory will probably limit the amount of memory you can install (4 banks or so - it varies depending on the chipset, etc.). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yacinator Posted July 15, 2004 Author Share Posted July 15, 2004 Do you run fine with 2 DIMMs installed - 2x256Mb or 1x256 & 1x512Mb - or is your stability dependant on just 1x512Mb or 2x256Mb and no more ? Which particular version of the motherboard do you have 1.0 or 1.0A ? Which BIOS version are you running (1.0A goes to 1.0d and 1.0 goes to 1.0f) ?It runs fine with just 2 sticks. When the computer boots up , on the first screen that dislplays the comp's status (memory, ide devices,etc.) it sais "Award Winning BIOS v6.00PG , Energy star ally , yada yada yada....... The mainboard version is 1.0b Have you modified anything in the BIOS regarding your memory settings (SPD or 'manual' settings) ?No. Unfortunately the liklihood is that your motherboard may be unable to support your 512Mb DIMM along with other DIMMs at the same time (or at least not all three at the same time). I'm not seeing any info on the ECS website (www.ecs.com.tw) mentioning any approved/tested memory modules, so that reference isn't available. None of the BIOS upgrades mentions memory compatibility either. So this ends up a big guessing game. In the mainboard manual it sais that it can only support 2 PC333 sticks , but I'm using PC266 sticks , and it sais that the mainboard can support 1.5 gigs of that and the only way to have that is to put a 512 MB stick in each slot. Your motherboard manual may mention something about 'double-sided memory' and your 512Mb DIMM may be this. This double-sided/double-banked memory will probably limit the amount of memory you can install (4 banks or so - it varies depending on the chipset, etc.). The 512 MB DDR DIMM has microchips on both sides. So u think that the mainboard thinks that there are actualy 4 sticks not three? The maunual doesn't say anything abaut that tho. The chipset is a SiS745. So Schrullenhaft , do u think the culprit is a weak power supply? Nothing else really makes sense IMO. I don't want to buy a new power supply if this one is OK , so what do u think? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 I doubt it is the power supply. You can upgrade it / replace it, but I doubt that it will solve this particular problem. I believe it is a memory-compatibility issue. Not all memory is the same. Some brands (the chips themselves or the memory stick manufacturers) have problems with certain chipsets or motherboards. While your motherboard may be designed to take 3x512Mb of DDR266 memory it may not do that with every stick of memory available. Another issue may be the SPD timings themselves. I'm not sure how smart the BIOS is, but it may set the memory timings ('SPD') according to the memory stick in the first socket/bank that it reads (some BIOSes/chipsets/motherboards may be smarter than that). If you have mixed performance memory (some CL2, some CL3, etc.), then it may get a setting that won't work for some of the other sticks. Though there are three DIMM sockets, the chipset addresses memory in 'banks'. This is the actual limitation that the chipset recognizes. Double-banked memory (which is usually double-sided, though possibly not always) may reduce the amount of DIMM sockets that you can use (reliably) because the number of addressable banks has been used up before the number of available DIMM sockets has been filled. I will have to look at the motherboard manual to see what it says. Since you're running an Athlon XP 1800+ you're running at 133/266MHz bus speed. Check your memory to see what the 'ratings' are for it and possibly put the slowest one in the first DIMM slot/bank. The "1.0b" you mentioned is the motherboard BIOS version, so there is an update that you can apply on the ECS website (www.ecs.com.tw), though I don't think it will address any memory timing/compatibility issues. You will need to physically look at the motherboard itself to determine the board's revision level. Hopefully this is printed somewhere visible on the motherboard (usually not too far away from the model number that is printed on). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junk2drive Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 fwiw i have an ecs mb, because it was cheap. but they are cheap. crucial guarantees their ram will work if their configurator says it will work. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Reading through the ECS manual for the K7S6A v. 1.0 didn't really make anything clearer. The documentation just mentions the maximum memory that the motherboard can accomodate with installing 512Mb DIMMs of DDR266 for a total of 1.5Gb. Interestingly Crucial's website says that the max is 3Gb (which is the max that the SiS745 chipset can support). Unfortunately Crucial's information isn't as detailed as the ECS info (specifically no mention on the limits with the number of DIMMs if you're running at 333MHz). I assume that the 2xDIMM DDR333 limitation only occurs when you're running the CPU/memory at that speed - basically overclocking when it comes to the SiS745 chipset - and not if you happen to have DDR33-rated DIMMs installed (but you're running them at DDR266). There's no mention of banks in the documentation, so the assumption is that there isn't any addressing problems if you're using several double-sided/banked DIMMs. I may be wrong about your power supply. If it gets very warm and you can't restart your computer fairly quickly after shutting it down (with a reasonable time between shut down and the restart attempt), then the power supply may be overheating. Is the fan in the power supply running/spinning ? If it isn't, then the power supply will most likely overheat and eventually get damaged by running the computer. The 512Mb DIMM (or just the extra amount of memory) may be drawing more electrical current that could make the lockup occur quicker (and the power supply eventually fail completely). What is the brand and model of the memory you have installed ? If it's generic (there's no brand name on the module or you got it from a local dealer), what is the chip manufacturer and model which will be written on the black memory chips themselves ? Do you have any sort of warranty with whom you bought the RAM from ? [ July 16, 2004, 06:05 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TufenHuden Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 What's your OS....that might give you problems as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yacinator Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 I'm running Windows XP. I got a stronger power supply but that's not helping. P.S. I think u were right about my system not liking 2 sided memory, Schrullenhaft. I think the OS is at fault, not the hardware because , when the comp boots up it sais that I have 1 gig , but when I press Alt+Ctrl+Del and click on the "performance" tab it sais that my total memory is 1 gig but the accesible memory is 785 MB (or sumfink). Is it because maybe XP thinks that the 512 MB stick has only 1 side or sumfink? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 I think what you're seeing is normal. On the Performance tab in the Physical Memory section there is a 'Total' and an 'Available' amount of memory. Available is going to always be less than what you have installed since this is the amount of memory that is available to programs. The OS (Windows XP) and its processes are eating up the 'missing' memory (along with other programs utilities that are loaded). Windows has a 'cache' that eats up a lot of memory. I suggest trying out Memtest86 to see if it will detect a problem with your memory or not. Most memory tests aren't absolutely conclusive as to whether your memory and/or motherboard are actually faulty or not. So your system may pass this test, but there may still be problems attributable to hardware. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yacinator Posted July 28, 2004 Author Share Posted July 28, 2004 I run the test program Schrullenhaft. When I tested each stick separatly there were no errors. When I tested the 512MB stick and the 256MB stick together there were no errors. When I tested all the sticks together there was around 70000 errors. I noticed one other thing though, the 256MB sticks run at around 450 MB/s and the 512MB stick runs at 596 MB/s. Maybe thats the problem since the memory isn't coordinated or sumfink? P.S. Thanks for the link. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hpt. Lisse Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 Hey man, Try this forum and see if you can hunt down a solution - I've used it many times in the past with great success. web page Good luck 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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