gearu Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Mobo A8n-SLI Premium I have sucessfully been running this computer with 2gb (2x 1GB Corsair Value Select VS1GB400C3, DDR-400, PC-3200, CL3, DIMM) for 3 years. I am trying to upgarde the memory of this system to have 3gb, or ideally 4gb of memory. I managed to locate another kit of the identical memory as i currently have - another 2gb (2x1GB Corsair Value Select VS1GB400C3, DDR-400). When installed the system only shows as recognising 3GB of memory. the system gives 2 or 3 BSOD errors daily. I have also tried running with just one extra stick (total of 3gb) - and have tried this with both of the new sticks and still get BSOD errors. I removed the old RAM, so that now there is only the 2GB of new RAM in the machine. memtest86+ shows no errors with this RAM. Not getting BSOD errors so far with just this memory installed. Assumption is that I do not have the memory configured correctly. I was just running with the default settings selected by the mobo/bios (I don't really know what i am doing so have left this alone). any suggestions on how i can resolve my problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Tweaker Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Mobo A8n-SLI Premium I have sucessfully been running this computer with 2gb (2x 1GB Corsair Value Select VS1GB400C3, DDR-400, PC-3200, CL3, DIMM) for 3 years. I am trying to upgarde the memory of this system to have 3gb, or ideally 4gb of memory. I managed to locate another kit of the identical memory as i currently have - another 2gb (2x1GB Corsair Value Select VS1GB400C3, DDR-400). When installed the system only shows as recognising 3GB of memory. the system gives 2 or 3 BSOD errors daily. I have also tried running with just one extra stick (total of 3gb) - and have tried this with both of the new sticks and still get BSOD errors. I removed the old RAM, so that now there is only the 2GB of new RAM in the machine. memtest86+ shows no errors with this RAM. Not getting BSOD errors so far with just this memory installed. Assumption is that I do not have the memory configured correctly. I was just running with the default settings selected by the mobo/bios (I don't really know what i am doing so have left this alone). any suggestions on how i can resolve my problem? Assuming that you are running a 32-bit version of some Windows OS, your computer only seeing 3GB of the memory is normal. Windows XP 32-bit editions (and I assume all of the other 32-bit versions) only recognizes up to 3.2GB of system memory by default. As for the BSOD'ing that could be due to an incompatibility of your new and old sticks of memory. Even though they are the same part number they could still be incompatible because Value Select memory is inconsistent in what memory chips the RAM sticks use, your old set could be from RAM IC (Integrated Circuit) manufacturer A and the new set might be from manufacturer C. Let's just say for a moment that those two manufacturer's chips have some sort of compatibility issue, if that is the case it would explain your issues. Have you tried running with one stick of the new and one of the old to see what that does? I might suggest you try that, just make sure you don't forget which stick is from which set though. Oh, I just thought of something else, which memory slots do you have which RAM in? If you put an old stick in slot 1 your other old stick must go in slot 3 and then the new ones must be in slots 2 and 4. This would enable both sets to run in dual-channel mode and might fix your other issues as well. I'd recommend you try that first and see if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imagineer Posted December 26, 2010 Share Posted December 26, 2010 Following this topic, I am also upgrading from 2gb to hopefully 4gb. I am no memory expert, but I am treading carefully to match EXACTLY if needed, the memory I intend to purchase with the 2 sticks I have. Installed are 2 sticks of Corsair CMX1024-3200PT. Additional info on each stick is as follows, (xms3200v3.1 - 0510010-0) Can I purchase any CMX1024-3200PT sticks with no problem, or do I have to match the additional info? We built this machine almost 5 years ago so finding EXACT sticks may be difficult, would it be a safer bet to purchase 4 new matching sticks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted December 26, 2010 Share Posted December 26, 2010 Can I purchase any CMX1024-3200PT sticks with no problem, or do I have to match the additional info? We built this machine almost 5 years ago so finding EXACT sticks may be difficult, would it be a safer bet to purchase 4 new matching sticks?You'd have to EXACTLY match all of that info JUSt to endure you get the same IC, and even then compatibility isn't guaranteed. Best to replace it with a 4 GB kit that meets your needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imagineer Posted December 26, 2010 Share Posted December 26, 2010 Just as I thought, Just ordered 4 matching sticks. Thanks for your speedy response! Merry Xmas & All the best for the new year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted December 26, 2010 Share Posted December 26, 2010 Was that 4 sticks from the same kit, or two kits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearu Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 so I am able to mix and match all of the 4x 1GB memory sticks that i have. As long as there is only 2GB installed, my system runs fine. but as soon as I install 3gb, or 4gb i start getting BSOD. mixing and matching tells me that the memory sticks are compatible (is this correct?) I can be running one old stick with one new stick in the parallel slots and not have problems. does this mean that I am having configuration issues? i am not sure what to do next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Test ONE stick in each slot to see if it's a bad stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearu Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 Test ONE stick in each slot to see if it's a bad stick. I have run memtest86+ against both sets (with both sticks in the 1 and 4 slots, not just one stick) and no errors were shown. so are you saying that i should put a stick in memory slot 1, and run memtest86+, and then put it in slot 2 and run the test, then same in slot 3 and 4 and to do this for all 4 sticks? is this different to testing the way i did before? I wondered if maybe slots 2 and 4 are problematic - maybe a problem with the slots, rather than the memory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Well it sounds like 1 and 4 is good (although that's an odd combo to test 2 sticks in), so I'd test one stick in slot 2, and then slot 3. Yep, sounds like a slot issue (although it COULD be a CPU issue). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearu Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 Well it sounds like 1 and 4 is good (although that's an odd combo to test 2 sticks in), so I'd test one stick in slot 2, and then slot 3. Yep, sounds like a slot issue (although it COULD be a CPU issue). Sorry, that was a typo. I have had the 2gb of memory installed in slots 1 and 3 (not 4). These are the two slots that I used to test the two pairs of memory. How would I narrow down if it is a slot error or a CPU error? I did replace my CPU at the same time as the memory (although I installed the memory first and did see a DSOD error before i had installed the CPU). Is there anything I can do if it is a slot error - or is that just a bad mobo if it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 As for slot error, test one stick in 2, and then 4. CPU - swap CPUs. If it's a slot error, yep, replace motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearu Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 As for slot error, test one stick in 2, and then 4. CPU - swap CPUs. If it's a slot error, yep, replace motherboard. What is the best kind of testing to do? memtest86 or just testing by having the memory in that slot and running the computer to see if I get the BSOD errors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Memtest86+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearu Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 thanks for the advice. I will test again and see how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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