Ram problem

[codine]

ok im pretty sure that this doesnt belong here but i couldnt find any other place to put it. Well here it is...

I have 2 ddr 512 sticks but for some reason only one works. I have them both in the computer and it only registers as one. My mainboard is a 8s658fx-rz-(-c) Sis 648fx chipset by Gigabyte. I would really like to know whats wrong with it because i really need more ram in this computer. Thx for ur time at looking at this and i hope u can help :)

[MartinLiss]

Welcome to VB Forums.

VB Forums is mainly a place to discuss software development so perhaps you might want to look for help elsewhere, but I've moved your thread to one of our forums that does talk about hardware.

[dglienna]

Welcome to the forums!

Switch the memory chip slots and see if you get the same results. That will rule out one or the other chip. It could be a speed issue, if they aren't the same speed, but it's more likely that you have a bad chip/stick.

[Hack]

I have 2 ddr 512 sticks but for some reason only one works. Welcome to the forums. :wave:

I would take them back to the store at which they were purchased, and have them test the sticks to make sure both are functioning properly. If they test out OK, then explain the issue to them and perhaps they might be able to offer some possible avenues to explore.

[thegreatone]

Well i was going to ask if it actually supported more than 512Mb RAM as some older motherboards don't. Then i found this -
http://mondoinformatico.it/schedaprodotto.asp?articoliOrder=Sorter%5Fmarca&articoliDir=ASC&articoliPage=223&codiceinterno=HARSC%2E002546++++++++
which clearly states it can take 3GB, if this ram is at different speeds to each other then it may not work.
As someone else said before try swapping the sticks round in the motherboard.

Failing that run memtest86 :)

[codine]

i swaped them around for like every combination and it diddnt work. I know the ram works, i dont know if they're both the same speed. I know that once is ddr400 ill check the other one right now.

[codine]

they are both ddr400. Also the sticks arnt bad. I can boot my computer when i only have one of them in and it works for both of them. So the sticks arnt bad, its just a mobo problem right? Or is it because they are 2 different brands? I never had any problems with different brands of ram...but that was with sdram...

[thegreatone]

Different brands shouldn't make much difference, unless they are different timings ?
Ok, i don't know how to check the timings of RAM in the BIOS or anything.
Maybe Sisoft Sandra (program) will be able to tell you, boot the computer up and run it with a sngle stick of ram, see what the timings are, if one is faster or slower than the other this could cause problems.

Other than that, your motherboard has 3 RAM slots according to its specs, maybe try bypassing the second slot and try slots 1 and 3 ?

[codine]

they are currently in slot 1 and 3, believe me. I tried every combination possible and still only ended up with 512.

[codine]

also another quick question, how much virtual memory should i give my computer. Its mostly for gaming right now so how much should i put it at?

[thegreatone]

Gaming on 512, hmmm, you'd ideally want to have your game running entirely from RAM.
I'd say give it 1Gb to 1.25Gb.
Although i'm no expert on these things.

I still think its the timings...

[codine]

umm idk if this is right. The dram timings were on auto and here are the numbers.
3t
8t
4t
4t

idk if thats right or anything, but thats what bios had in it.


ok i ran cpuz and went to memory and it said i had 1gig of ram. Windows only picks up 512. sorry about the small size, photobucket wouldnt let me get it any bigger.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/Joesomebody0000/ram1.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/Joesomebody0000/ram2.jpg

Well there it is, alot of that stuff doesnt make sense to me.

[thegreatone]

www.imageshack.us ;)
I'm running 1280x1024 so those images are TINY, so much so that i can't even read them.

The timings do sound correct though, is it the same for each individual stick of RAM ?

Which version of Windows are you running ? XP ?
It might be worth taking the ram back and get matching modules, this way they are almost guaranteed to work well together.

Other than that the only thing i can suggest is testing them in another motherboard.

EDIT: After extensive eye straining and zooming on the pictures i think i see that one stick of ram is actually operating at a different timing to the other.
If you can get a bigger picture up i can be sure.
Then we may be able to tell you how to set it up correctly.

[codine]

im using sp2. i tried it once on another mainboard of the same model and it diddnt work as well.
http://img460.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ram6rl.png

[thegreatone]

Ok, here we have a problem, thanks for the bigger image by the way ;)

At 200Mhz (400Mhz really ;)) Slot #1 runs at a Latency of 3, wheras slot #3's ram runs at 2.5.

Can you show the full screens of CPUz i want to see if the timings of the last number are the same or not, because you might have to tweak them.

Still, i would say take the unbranded ram back to the shop, keep the Xerox. (or the other way round) and get a matched pair.

[codine]

yea im taking it back, and that was the whole screen. thx anyway.

k i got 2 of the same ram now but fear still takes forever to load. Is it because of my bad graphics card thats a nvidia 5500fx?

[BobTheBuilder.]

What speed is your processor?

[codine]

pentium4 with ht 3gig

[BobTheBuilder.]

What game are you trying to run again? There are numerous reasons as to why it could be loading slow. Is it just loading slow or does it run choppy as well? A 5500fx isn't really a bad graphics card so perhaps you just have the level of detail too high.

[codine]

well it loads slow on a lot of games. But mostly for fear. It will take several minutes just for a map to load. It doesnt run choppy or anything when i play it, its really smooth. I dont know the average fps but i'd guess its around 40-60. The settings are somewhat in the mid. It doesnt have the big things enabled like shadows and dynamic lighting or whatever it was called.

[BobTheBuilder.]

If it runs smooth with 60fps I wouldn't worry about slow load times. That might be the game. I would look for a FAQ online for the particular game in question and see if anyone else experiences the same thing, or else I would send an email to tech support with your system specs if you really suspect it's loading abnormally slow.

[codine]

yea its loading very slow for some reason. My friend can load the game within seconds. He has a 6600gt though, but still.

[BobTheBuilder.]

yea its loading very slow for some reason. My friend can load the game within seconds. He has a 6600gt though, but still.


Slow loading could also be due to Viruses, Spyware, Malware, etc...there are just so many possibilities.

[dark_shadow]

bob is correct there is a good chance that there is stuff using up your resources so try makingsure all non- important stuff is running ex.messenger programs, background music (i have WMP running sometimes in the back ground) and so on also try doing a virus scan 2

[codine]

i doubt its viruses, it may be spyware and stuff like that. I whiped my computer a few weeks ago and havnt b een using the internet that much and i have AVG on at all times. My startup only has like 4 things going. I can even exit all of my programs and run that game alone and it still will load slow

[BobTheBuilder.]

i doubt its viruses, it may be spyware and stuff like that. I whiped my computer a few weeks ago and havnt b een using the internet that much and i have AVG on at all times. My startup only has like 4 things going. I can even exit all of my programs and run that game alone and it still will load slow

Contact tech support and make sure you have your exact system specifications at the ready.

Good luck, and let us all know what they say!

[thegreatone]

Could it be possible that his friends 6600GT has more Texture emmory than his 5500fx ? This would tell you why you get slow load times with the caching of maps into the graphics card itself.

Doesn't an average 6600GT come with 256MB RAM whereas the 5500fx only has 128 ?

[BobTheBuilder.]

Ah the endless debate on graphics cards. Just more memory alone doesn't mean that a a card is going to perform better. You really have to read up on benchmark testing for video cards to get a good idea on the capability performance wise. I recommend this (http://hardocp.com/) site for comparing computer hardware.

I don't mean to say that what thegreatone has said is absolutely wrong just that I don't think his graphics card is holding him back. Heck I have an old GeForce 3 card with 64 MB ram and I run World of Warcraft at good quality and regularly 50-60fps. Where as my roommate with a similar system to Codine runs at ~30fps with the same visual quality settings. His card has 256MB of ram and our load speeds are the same. *Shrug* I would just contact the game developer.

[thegreatone]

Ah the endless debate on graphics cards. Just more memory alone doesn't mean that a a card is going to perform better. You really have to read up on benchmark testing for video cards to get a good idea on the capability performance wise. I recommend this (http://hardocp.com/) site for comparing computer hardware.

I don't mean to say that what thegreatone has said is absolutely wrong just that I don't think his graphics card is holding him back. Heck I have an old GeForce 3 card with 64 MB ram and I run World of Warcraft at good quality and regularly 50-60fps. Where as my roommate with a similar system to Codine runs at ~30fps with the same visual quality settings. His card has 256MB of ram and our load speeds are the same. *Shrug* I would just contact the game developer.
I must agree my Radeon 9550 256MB in AGP 4x mode (only running at half speed) does regularly reach 50fps in Dawn Of War on high settings, with shadows on.
This is at stock speeds, as this card is not easy to overclock.

Also, the RAM type, eg. DDR, DDR2, GDDR3 could be a limiting facotr, as well as if the card supports Native DX9, also how many pipelins, shaders etc. the card has built in is a limiting factor.

Search the games forums and contact tech support, update your drivers and who knows you may end up with a card matching that of your friends 6600GT in that particular game ;)

[codine]

i have a fx5500 256mb OC. I guess it was the texture memory, but idk. I can play quake4 and doom3 on high quality at 800x600 and it loads pretty fast and it looks better than fear.

[RareX]

Here's something I suggest you try, insert the chips one at a time and run memtest86 (Found at http://www.memtest86.com/)

It has to be put on a floppy or cd and then into either drive. It will run automatically while booting.

I had a damaged RAM that was causing all kinds of problems and I found it thanks to this.