ebonyisland Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 I have had a Gigabyte Motherboard (NF3|5P1A3D GA-K8NPRO ATX RTL is how it looks on my invoice) with two 512mb sticks of XMS DDR PC3200 RAM since May of this year, for a total of 1gb of RAM. I wanted to upgrade to 2gb of RAM, so I called my computer manufacturer (ABS) and asked them how much can my mobo hold. I was told a max of 3gb. Since I have three slots on my mobo for memory, I assumed that meant at max a 1gb stick in each slot. Since I already had two 512gb sticks in two of the three slots, to get the 2gb of memory I desired I bought a 1gb stick of XMS DDR PC3200 RAM. I open up my computer's case and insert the new 1gb stick in the empty slot, start the computer and nothing, just a blank screen and a series of loud beeps, a few seconds apart. So I take everything out and try again (the computer is powered off when I do this) - still nothing. I take out everything and just insert the new 1gb stick and it loads up just fine. So I try putting in all three sticks, and again nothing happens but beeping. I tried moving the placement of the sticks around (I probably did not try all possible combinations) and still nothing. As it stands now, I removed the new 1gb stick and left the two orignal 512mb sticks and everything is working just fine. Why can't I have two 512mb sticks and one 1gb stick in at the same time? All the sticks are Corsair XMS PC 3200, and all must be working because if I have either the two 512s or the one 1gb stick in, the computer starts up normally. I dont get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benwicks20 Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 check that you are not mixing chips with different timings, (latency etc.) If you are then most dual channel motherboards do not like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebonyisland Posted December 11, 2004 Author Share Posted December 11, 2004 What do you mean by latency/timing - I apologize, but I dont know what that means? Both the orignal 512 and the 1gb are xms pc 3200 ddr 400mhz ram. The only discernable difference I can see is that the 1gb stick says xms3200REv3.1 where the 512s say xms3200v3.1...? Another weird thing about the RAM is the placement. Here are the working and non working setups - the CPU denotes position of CPU and the slots are the 3 RAM slots next to the CPU, "x" represents a blank slot, "1GB" represents the 1GB stick and "512" represents the 512mb stick. CPU Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 1GB x x The Computer Starts Up x 1GB x Blank Screen and Beeping x x 1GB Blank Screen and Beeping 1GB 512 512 Blank Screen and Beeping 1GB 512 x Blank Screen and Beeping 1GB x 512 Blank Screen and Beeping 512 x 512 The Computer Starts Up x 512 512 The Computer Starts Up I DONT UNDERSTAND!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMC_SAVAGE Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 You can't mix Registered/ECC RAM (the 1GB module) with the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebonyisland Posted December 11, 2004 Author Share Posted December 11, 2004 First, thank you for the quick replys. So when I return the 1gb stick of Registered/ECC RAM, what should I ask for - how do I tell if the XMS PC3200 RAM is the same as what I have or not - how do I tell if its ECC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebonyisland Posted December 11, 2004 Author Share Posted December 11, 2004 I bought the memory from monarchcomputer.com -- I need to buy unbuffered corsair memory, not unbuffered ddr2 memory, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMC_SAVAGE Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 No "R" or "RE" in the part#. You need to find out if the 512's are 3200 or 3200C2, LL, XL ect. The only 1GB modules are the 3200 @ 3-3-3-8 or the 3200C2 @ 2.5-3-3-6. This makes a big difference when trying to mix modules. There is no 3200 DDR2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebonyisland Posted December 11, 2004 Author Share Posted December 11, 2004 You're the man! The 512s are 3200C2 - So when I call monarch back, should I just ask for 3200C2 @ 2.5-3-3-6? Will that be compatible with what I have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMC_SAVAGE Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 The module you want to get is the CMX1024-3200C2. Now don't freak out if the system does'nt boot or give you problems. If it does'nt work right away you may have to tweak the settings and voltage. Post back if all does'nt go well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Gigabyte GA-K8N Recommended Modules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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