Ram trouble

[slimcan]

Ram trouble

My computer did not start, so I had replaced the hard drive and mother board. I still had trouble. Then I removed 2 ram chips I had installed a while back... the dam computer started up! To see which chip is bad I put one back at a time. The computer started. However.

If I put back both ram chips in it will not start. Just do not see how tins can be???????

[phillypa800]

hello slimcan. what are your specs? we can't help you unless you tell us what your system specs are. i'll give you something to go with for now. leave one memory module in place, boot-up, go into BIOS, advance peripherals, look for memory settings, adjust your MHz speed. since we do not know what type of memory you are running, we cannot suggest the appropriate speed so that you can potentially and most importantly in a stable state run you OS with both memory modules in place. again, system specs are very important to post if you want quick remedies.

good luck!

[slimcan]

MY OS is vista, it is a Dell Inpiron 531s
AMD athlon 64x2 dual core 3800
Came with 1 gb dual channel DDR2 sdram at 667mhz-2 dimms

This is what I did thus far. I removed one ram dimm , so now I work on the 2 original dell rams and one of mine. I can use one of mine but it will not boot if both are in.
It was all ok running on all 4 dimms for 6 months , strange how I must take one out. Note it is not the dimm because it does not matter which new dimm I use just can not use both.

Value select is the name of the dimm i purchased

[phillypa800]

beautiful. perfect description of what you have given us. one more thing. so you have 2 DDR2 dell stix at 512MB each running at 667MHz. I assume the voltage is 1.8? next, you have value select stix at what size, speed, & voltage?

since you mentioned that you had all stix running for 6 months, my next question will be, have you installed any other hardware or software recently? i would also look at the mobo manual to see what the actual memory set-up recommendation is. dual channel vs single channel. memory modules come in dual and single channel set-up.

[slimcan]

tough questions.

Let me find the voltage. I have a program that reads that type of stuff.
When I first did this you guys gave me a site to find the type of ram. The company did all the work on the specs.
Thus far I know the speed is the same as the dell dimm.
Have to run to work, I will get it all when I get back

[phillypa800]

sorry for the tough questions but this is how we techies troubleshoot. at least i do. find out exactly what each components specs are, determine compatibility, test for stability, and so forth then go from (components have to play nice together) there.

by the way, dell will only tell you what their recommendations are based on their supplies at hand. they only want to sell you their stuff. but that's a whole different thread.

i currently use this program to identify my existing modules. however, it will only pick up your installed stix and not tell you what your mobo supports. also, forget about activeX controls via websites like crucial.com. 9 out of 10 the activeX control is wrong and mislead consumers. you are 100% accurate if you either look at your mobo manual or call the mobo manufacturer directly.

finally, there are many variables when it comes to selecting memory. from size to speed to voltage to type and so on.

MEMTEST86 is a great tool to use. the software is free and it will tell you what stix is bad and so forth.

well good luck. i hope my wealth of info is valuable to you.

[slimcan]

Welcome to Corsair :: Search Results

I typed the model and the stick is shown in the site . The stick says vs512mb667d2. If I recall this you guys told me to look for size and speed and someone from here gave me a site which would help make a perect match. However, I do not recall any talk about voltage match . Voltage maybe the only thing I missed. But yet the sticks always worked well.
You did ask abut any downloads, I get many from Bill Gates. He ups my vista a lot. One time a download for vista shut my volume . As for other downloads, I get them from Cnet and firefox site. I practice safe downloading . For now I work on 3 sticks but I love to learn. Fixing something is great but if I learn something , well thats perfect.

[slimcan]

How do you guys find such great programs? The ram test program worked great and I passed. I did notice that one read " Settings: ram: 334 mhz"
I thought my stick said 666mhz. Is 666mhz just the rating of the stick?

I think I get it now. As for voltage, I read 1.1 volts using PC wizard. Voltage should not be a problem, or is it? I thought you only need something over .7 volts..

[RobRich]

333.3MHz x 2 = ~667DDR

DDR = double data rate. DDR memory transfers data on the rising and failing edge of each clock cycle.

[phillypa800]

so now that we know your stix passed the memtest86, we've isolated that your stix are not bad. we can look at the voltage settings now.

voltage regulation is very important when you up or down the MHz speed or if the manufacturer default settings is not pumping enough juice and vice versa depending on added hardware or software updates. if you don't up enough voltage this is were instability occurs and if you don't down voltage same issue. if you are able to change your voltage settings via the BIOS, go ahead and adjust according to what the BIOS has to offer. this will also help stabilize all of your stix. even though you had them running for six months, just a slight change in hardware of software can make the stix not play nice.

good luck