New Ram - PC Won't boot.... ?

daveg

I'm using Abit BE7-Raid motherboard (http://www.digital-daily.com/motherboard/abit-be7-raid/).
I had 2 X 512MB PC3200 (200MHZ) twin mos ram which ran fine.

I've just bought 2 X 1GB PC2700 DDR 333 RAM 333Mhz 2x 1GB 2 GB G DIMM MEMORY. When I installed the new ram I turn on the PC but does not boot (monitor does not power on).

Any thoughts? Motherboard supports PC2700.

8T8

Check the manual in it's RAM section and see what type DIMM's it says are supported single or double sided & in what configuration;

Dual sided DIMM's (chips on both sides of the RAM module) only work when in slots 1 & 2 or 2 & 3 etc you get the idea.

Edit: Took a look at the manual on Abit's site and it says it supports 1GB modules in all three slots so that doesn't appear to be the problem.

Next step is to clear the CMOS so you wipe out any info stored in the bios about the previous RAM in the system.

If that doesn't resolve the problem then well my memory is foggy on this but I'm not sure if the CPU FSB is tied to the RAM speed somehow on those boards (it might not be).

Your last option is to update the bios & hope that improves RAM compatibility, be sure to clear the CMOS after the flash.

daveg

Thanks for the tips 8T8. I wonder does the motherboard support double sided dimms..

8T8 wrote:

Next step is to clear the CMOS so you wipe out any info stored in the bios about the previous RAM in the system.

Gonna try this now..

daveg

The origional RAM (which works) is dual sided so thats not the issue. Tried clearing the CMOS - No change

As for updating the Bios when my PC boots up it says the Bios date is same as the one listed as the latest on the Abit site so I don't think this will fix it (I have the latest bios).

Anti

Try booting with one 3200 and one 2700. If that dosent work try all the ram together.

Also you might want to check the specs of the new ram, ie the timings voltage ect ect.Boot with the old ram in and change the timngs and voltage to what the new ram is spec'd at. Then turn off the pc and insert the new ram.

Hopefully that will work.

stevejazzx

yeah daveg just move the ram around i.e try them both in black and then in red or whatever colours you have....even the 333mhz should work if their not supported (they probably are btw) the sytem should default them back to regualar speeds....

daveg

Will try this tonight Anti/Steve.

daveg

With 512MB stick (3200) in slot 1 and 1GB Ram in slots 2+3 it will boot as far as just before starting windows then my machine reboots. Changed every setting I could find in the Bios (related to RAM) but it will not boot. Changed:

DRAM ratio H/W Strap - By CPU, High, Low
DRAM Ratio - SPD (4.5), 1.1
DRAM Voltage - set to 2.5V, tried up to 2.6V, didn;t try 2.7V
OS select for DRAM >64MB - Non Os2, OS2
DRAM Timing selectable - By SDP, manual
CAS Latency time - tried all
ACT to % delay - tried all
DRAM RAS# to CAS# delay - tried all
DRAM RAS# to preschange - tried all

Any other ideas?

stevejazzx

daveg wrote:

With 512MB stick (3200) in slot 1 and 1GB Ram in slots 2+3 it will boot as far as just before starting windows then my machine reboots. Changed every setting I could find in the Bios (related to RAM) but it will not boot. Changed:

DRAM ratio H/W Strap - By CPU, High, Low
DRAM Ratio - SPD (4.5), 1.1
DRAM Voltage - set to 2.5V, tried up to 2.6V, didn;t try 2.7V
OS select for DRAM >64MB - Non Os2, OS2
DRAM Timing selectable - By SDP, manual
CAS Latency time - tried all
ACT to % delay - tried all
DRAM RAS# to CAS# delay - tried all
DRAM RAS# to preschange - tried all

Any other ideas?

clear cmos
then ok go into bios select load defaults
now the boring bit

try each stick alone in each slot. just 1 512 stick at a time in each slot
does it boot like this?
if it boots from 3 out of four of the slots then one slot is cabudelled

your system rebooting suggets a hardware fault or overheating
i ll rule out overheating considering you've got a cpu fan so hardware would point to incompatible ram
are they pc 3200 400mhz? by any chance?
it should boot from any slot

daveg

Hi Steve,

Will try this tonight.

stevejazzx wrote:

try each stick alone in each slot. just 1 512 stick at a time in each slot
does it boot like this? if it boots from 3 out of four of the slots then one slot is cabudelled

I have a feeling Slot 2 is fecked (only 3 slots available not 4). I say this because I cuurently have:

Slot 1: 512MB 3200 Ram
Slot 2: 256MB 3200 Ram
Slot 3: 512MB 3200 Ram

Yet my pc only shows 1024MB ram. (suggesting slot 2 is fecked). However this should not be an issue as I have put the new 1GB sticks into slots 1+3

stevejazzx wrote:

your system rebooting suggets a hardware fault or overheating
i ll rule out overheating considering you've got a cpu fan so hardware would point to incompatible ram
are they pc 3200 400mhz? by any chance?
it should boot from any slot

The 512MB sticks that work are 512MB PC3200 (200MHZ) twin mos ram. New sticks (which don;t work are 1GB PC2700 DDR 333Mhz. Would the 333Mhz be compatible with my motherboard? Maybe thats the problem?

Anti

This is what your motherboard supports:

stevejazzx

daveg wrote:

Hi Steve,

Will try this tonight.



I have a feeling Slot 2 is fecked (only 3 slots available not 4). I say this because I cuurently have:

Slot 1: 512MB 3200 Ram
Slot 2: 256MB 3200 Ram
Slot 3: 512MB 3200 Ram

Yet my pc only shows 1024MB ram. (suggesting slot 2 is fecked). However this should not be an issue as I have put the new 1GB sticks into slots 1+3




The 512MB sticks that work are 512MB PC3200 (200MHZ) twin mos ram. New sticks (which don;t work are 1GB PC2700 DDR 333Mhz. Would the 333Mhz be compatible with my motherboard? Maybe thats the problem?

Hold on the pc3200 should have a faster clock speed than the pc2700, i don't get that.
Anywyas well your mobo only supports up to pc2700 however I have found that pc3200 333mhz should default to 'slowest supported seed' as in most ram is backwards compatible either way it means that you won't be using it at its rated speed(333mhz).
I wonder if a bios update would help, you could certainly try it.
When booting up and using two sticks of ram they sometimes have to be in dual mode which is why they need to be side by side or alternating.

Anti

stevejazzx wrote:

Hold on the pc3200 should have a faster clock speed than the pc2700, i don't get that.
Anywyas well your mobo only supports up to pc2700 however I have found that pc3200 333mhz should default to 'slowest supported seed' as in most ram is backwards compatible either way it means that you won't be using it at its rated speed(333mhz).
I wonder if a bios update would help, you could certainly try it.
When booting up and using two sticks of ram they sometimes have to be in dual mode which is why they need to be side by side or alternating.

He already has the latest bios.

daveg

Thanks for the advice lads. Fixed it in the end by buying a new PC with Dell

Anti

daveg wrote:

Thanks for the advice lads. Fixed it in the end by buying a new PC with Dell

Wow, thats one way around it....