HowToFixComputers.com

Guest

I recently purchased 1GB of DDR PC-3200 RAM.

When I plug it into my mainboard, Windows starts up and runs happily
for about 5 minutes, then the PC crashes. The crash takes one of many
forms - either the PC randomly does a complete, instant hard-reset, or
Windows just freezes completely and I get no response from keyboard or
mouse.

Before I bought the new RAM, the motherboard was using 2x256MB
Infinion PC-2700 RAM. I have tried the new memory on its own (ie
without the old RAM plugged in), and alongside the old RAM, but the
same thing happens in each case. I've tried it in each of the 3 DIMM
slots.

I don't think it's faulty RAM, as this is the second lot I've tried -
the computer shop exchanged the first lot just in case it was a
problem with the chips.

The BIOS is up-to-date as of the middle of last year. I'm using the
onboard graphics processor and am using a 64MB frame buffer size.

Are there any BIOS settings I can alter to fix this problem? As you
can probably tell, I'm a complete novice when it comes to this stuff.

Bird Janitor® · Guest

digitallifeforms wrote:
|
| I recently purchased 1GB of DDR PC-3200 RAM.
|
| When I plug it into my mainboard, Windows starts up and runs
| happily for about 5 minutes, then the PC crashes. The crash takes
| one of many forms - either the PC randomly does a complete,
| instant hard-reset, or Windows just freezes completely and I get
| no response from keyboard or mouse.
|
| Before I bought the new RAM, the motherboard was using 2x256MB
| Infinion PC-2700 RAM. I have tried the new memory on its own (ie
| without the old RAM plugged in), and alongside the old RAM, but the
| same thing happens in each case. I've tried it in each of the 3 DIMM
| slots.
|
| I don't think it's faulty RAM, as this is the second lot I've tried -
| the computer shop exchanged the first lot just in case it was a
| problem with the chips.
|
| The BIOS is up-to-date as of the middle of last year. I'm using the
| onboard graphics processor and am using a 64MB frame buffer size.
|
| Are there any BIOS settings I can alter to fix this problem? As you
| can probably tell, I'm a complete novice when it comes to this stuff.
|

You have gone from PC27000 RAM to PC3200 RAM. Obviously different timings.

You need to manually reset your CMOS (remove power from the mains, move the
CCMOS1 jumper to pins 2 and 3 for a few moments, replace the CCMOS1 jumper
back on pins 1 and 2 and restore power).

Fire up the computer (you will get a CMOS Checksum Error because you are
running at Failsafe Defaults by clearing the CMOS).

Press DEL to get into the setup screens and reenter all your settings,
starting with Load Optimized Defaults (which will detect your CPU and
default RAM timings, which you can verify in the Softmenu III Setup screen).
Be sure to set your boot devices back to what they should be and set your
customizations of the on-board peripherals. Once done, go to Save and Exit
Setup (or press F10). Allow the computer to reboot (don't touch a thing
while it reboots or you'll risk corrupting your BIOS .. don't be alarmed at
the red banner screen). Once the computer reboots, if you've entered your
CMOS settings correctly, your system should boot.

I ram my NF7-M for some time with a gigabyte of PC3200 RAM. I had an Athlon
2700+ CPU and used the onboard video, so my RAM was timed by default at
333MHz .. in sync with my CPU (which is what you want .. you cannot run your
RAM at 400MHz when using the onboard video).

Jef

Guest

On 20 Mar, 16:13, "Bird Janitor®"
<birdjanitor_REMOVE_YOUR_SHOR...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Guest

Bird Janitor® · Guest

digitallifeforms wrote:
|
| Hi,
|
| I tried your suggestion Jef but unfortunately with no success. The
| CMOS was cleared ok, the system re-booted with the checksum error
| as expected, and I loaded optimized defaults then re-entered my
| normal BIOS settings, date/time etc. Upon re-boot, the system loaded
| Windows but then crashed after a couple of minutes of operation. I
| re-booted several times but with the same result.
|
| One thing I notice when starting the computer (on the 'Press F2 to
| enter setup...' screen before entering the BIOS menu) is that the
| whole screen is scattered with random, coloured characters... does
| this suggest that the memory is faulty, or that my memory timings are
| incorrect? Or is this info insufficient to make such a diagnosis?
|
| Cheers for any help.
|

Are you running with both the PC2700 and PC3200 RAM installed in the board?

If so, perhaps running with only the PC3200 RAM in slot 2 or 3 would be in
order. Repeat the CMOS clear, Load Optimized Defaults, reset other
settings, etc., to see if the system will run stable.

If it doesn't run stable, try http://www.memtest.org/ (create a self-booting
diskette or CD-ROM image) and allow it to run through all the tests several
times. I would suspect the RAM as faulty if any errors are reported.

Might be wise to run memtest even if the system seems to run stable with the
PC3200 installed.

nForce2 boards are very fussy about RAM. I suspect that mixing RAM of
different speeds/timings, even though the faster RAM gets underclocked,
could be the root of your problem (or, as already discussed, the PC3200
stick is faulty).

Good luck and hope to hear back your results.

Jef

Guest

Wes Newell · Guest

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:59:42 -0700, digitallifeforms wrote:

Bird Janitor® · Guest

digitallifeforms wrote:
|
| Hi again
|
| I am running with just the new PC-3200 RAM installed, and getting
| the strange characters all over the screen.
|
| Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try running the memory test.
|
| The RAM is unbranded stuff and if the board is known to be fussy about
| RAM then perhaps I should shop around for a name-brand alternative.
|
| Thanks again for the help.
|

Good idea to run Memtest. If any errors, it's time to return the RAM and
exchange it for better quality. I've read many reports of folks having
problems with non-branded RAM on nForce2 boards .. and the NF7-M is
especially fussy when the on-board video is in use.

Jef

Guest

On 22 Mar, 19:10, "Bird Janitor®"

Bird Janitor® · Guest

digitallifeforms wrote:
|
| Memtest reported shedloads of errors. I returned the RAM
| whence I Bought it, and they said they'd had a few returned
| already. They exchanged it immediately, and lo and behold,
| the new RAM works perfectly.
|
| So, at the end of the day, it was dodgy RAM. I was just
| unlucky. On the upside, I learned a few things about RAM,
| motherboards, the BIOS and memory testing.
|
| Cheers for the help and sugestions.
|

Coolness! Glad to hear you got things sorted out.

While the NF7-M doesn't overclock like it's brethren (NF7 and NF7-S) when
using the onboard video, it's a great board.

But I learned the same lesson as you when I first built it: generic RAM aint
gonna fly in that board.

Good luck with your system.

Jef