Maximum memory allowed
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From: General Mailbox on 9 Apr 2010 18:57 Greetings. Using Everest diagnostic software, under DMI [Memory Controller] indicates: Memory Controller Properties: Error Detection Method None Supported Memory Speeds 70ns, 60ns, 50ns Supported Memory Types DIMM, SDRAM Supported Memory Voltages 3.3V Maximum Memory Module Size 512 MB Memory Slots 3 I have a 512MB in slot 1 and nothing in slots 2 or 3. Is the Maximum Memory Module Size meaning per slot, or is it the most the motherboard can handle? I did experiment by placing a 256MB in slot 2 and 128MB in slot 3. It recognized the sum of all 3, but the display would go blank for 1-2 seconds every minute and ultimately the system (or at least the graphics) would freeze and I would have to do a hard shut down. Am I looking at RAM that's likely bad, or is the system not able to handle over 512MB? If it helps, my system is Computer: Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional OS Service Pack Service Pack 3 DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c) Computer Name HP8705 (hp8705) User Name Kevin Motherboard: CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 800 MHz (6 x 133) Motherboard Name Asus Pegasus Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C694X Apollo Pro133A System Memory 512 MB (PC133 SDRAM) BIOS Type Award Medallion (07/26/00) Thanks for you reply in advance. B.rgds, Kevin
From: Shenan Stanley on 9 Apr 2010 19:20 General Mailbox wrote: > Greetings. > Using Everest diagnostic software, under DMI [Memory Controller] > indicates: Memory Controller Properties: > Error Detection Method None > Supported Memory Speeds 70ns, 60ns, 50ns > Supported Memory Types DIMM, SDRAM > Supported Memory Voltages 3.3V > Maximum Memory Module Size 512 MB > Memory Slots 3 > > I have a 512MB in slot 1 and nothing in slots 2 or 3. > > Is the Maximum Memory Module Size meaning per slot, or is it the > most the motherboard can handle? > > I did experiment by placing a 256MB in slot 2 and 128MB in slot 3. > It recognized the sum of all 3, but the display would go blank for > 1-2 seconds every minute and ultimately the system (or at least the > graphics) would freeze and I would have to do a hard shut down. Am > I looking at RAM that's likely bad, or is the system not able to > handle over 512MB? > If it helps, my system is > Computer: > Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional > OS Service Pack Service Pack 3 > DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c) > Computer Name HP8705 (hp8705) > User Name Kevin > > Motherboard: > CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 800 MHz (6 x 133) > Motherboard Name Asus Pegasus > Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C694X Apollo Pro133A > System Memory 512 MB (PC133 SDRAM) > BIOS Type Award Medallion (07/26/00) Although this is a hardware question - it has nothing to do with Windows XP. You should consult your user manual or hardware manufacturer web page or both. Go here: http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/index.aspx Allow it to scan your system. What does it tell you to buy? (Agree by selecting the checkbox; download the scanner; Run it) Can it make a match? -- Shenan Stanley MS-MVP -- How To Ask Questions The Smart Way http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
From: Paul on 9 Apr 2010 20:12 General Mailbox wrote: > Greetings. > Using Everest diagnostic software, under DMI [Memory Controller] indicates: > Memory Controller Properties: > Error Detection Method None > Supported Memory Speeds 70ns, 60ns, 50ns > Supported Memory Types DIMM, SDRAM > Supported Memory Voltages 3.3V > Maximum Memory Module Size 512 MB > Memory Slots 3 > > I have a 512MB in slot 1 and nothing in slots 2 or 3. > > Is the Maximum Memory Module Size meaning per slot, or is it the most the > motherboard can handle? > > I did experiment by placing a 256MB in slot 2 and 128MB in slot 3. It > recognized the sum of all 3, but the display would go blank for 1-2 seconds > every minute and ultimately the system (or at least the graphics) would > freeze and I would have to do a hard shut down. Am I looking at RAM that's > likely bad, or is the system not able to handle over 512MB? > > If it helps, my system is > Computer: > Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional > OS Service Pack Service Pack 3 > DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c) > Computer Name HP8705 (hp8705) > User Name Kevin > > Motherboard: > CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 800 MHz (6 x 133) > Motherboard Name Asus Pegasus > Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C694X Apollo Pro133A > System Memory 512 MB (PC133 SDRAM) > BIOS Type Award Medallion (07/26/00) > > > Thanks for you reply in advance. > B.rgds, > Kevin > > HP8705 with Apollo Pro 133A chipset. The chipset is here, and appears to support up to four slots of 512MB each, for a total of 2GB. Generally, if a designer installed four slots, the memory speed would be limited to PC100. By using 3 slots only, they can handle PC133. So they "threw away one slot" on purpose. That means you can have 3*512MB for a total of 1536MB. http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/legacy/pro133a/index.jsp I recommend testing each DIMM separately. And you should be using memtest86+, before booting any OS. Install the 128MB by itself. Run memtest86+ at 133MHz memory speed. (Do two complete passes. The pass counter is on the upper right hand side of the screen. Since these are quick tests, just do two passes. If you're in a real hurry, you can just run Test #5.) Install the 256MB by itself. Run memtest86+ at 133MHz memory speed. When installing a single stick, place it furthest from the processor, in slot 3. Next, test two sticks. Install them in slot 1 and slot 3. If it doesn't work, swap the sticks between those two slots. Now, run memtest86+ again, on the 384MB total memory. Next, test the 512MB stick with one of the other sticks. Try slots 1 and 3 again. Use your memtest86+ floppy. Now, depending on how well things have gone, now fill the empty slot 2 with the remaining stick. And retest again with memtest86+. The above test sequence, is intended to highlight how "nervous" your memory bus is. If you encounter resistance at some point, then maybe it isn't happy. You can play with memory timings, or change the bus speed (that is, if the BIOS allows it). On some of the older motherboards, this was easy, as you had jumpers or DIP switches for overriding the FSB BSEL bits, or for (attempting) to change the multiplier. Most processors of that era will be locked (all mine were), so the multiplier switches never did anything for me. But I did play with FSB choices, as part of testing. In your case, you want as much memory, as tests without errors. If it simply won't run three slots at 133MHz, then just use the two sticks (512MB + 256MB). In any case, don't boot into Windows with an untested memory configuration. You should always do the memtest86+ thing first, to reduce the risk of corruption in WinXP. http://www.memtest.org The floppy package, includes a tool to write the executable to a floppy. There will be no file system visible on the floppy, once the installer is finished. The memtest program runs with no OS, and basically takes control of the machine when it runs. The program is designed this way, so that as much of the memory as possible can be tested. Less than 1MB of memory will be untested, because memtest86+ won't write to any areas marked "reserved for the BIOS". But it will test the rest of the memory. Which is better than running a memory tester from within Windows. http://www.memtest.org/download/4.00/memtest86+-4.00.floppy.zip A second (stress) tester program, is Prime95. It is for usage, once you've booted into Windows again. It is a more sensitive test of memory problems, but because it relies on the OS, it can't be run first, before booting into Windows. I run that program for four hours, and if no errors are detected, then I'm finished with testing. (Note - web site is flaky, and isn't always reachable. Be patient.) http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft When using that program, indicate you're "stress testing only". You don't have to join GIMPs to use the program. The program will run a thread on each core of a multicore processor. You can select a smaller amount of memory to test, than the default. I sometimes do that, if I'm web surfing and testing at the same time. I guess the current version is 25.11. I have 25.5 and 25.6 here. http://mersenneforum.org/gimps/p95v2511.zip The older versions are here. ftp://mersenne.org/gimps_archive/archived_executables/ ftp://mersenne.org/gimps_archive/archived_executables/p95v256.zip My old 440BX board has four SDRAM slots (for PC100). If I install 2*256MB, it is as stable as can be. As soon as I install the third stick, the graphics card operation becomes extremely unstable. But with only two sticks (doesn't matter what slots), I've run Prime95 for 16 hours on it, without error. I never did find out whether that was a chipset bug or whatever. The chipset was from Intel. The behavior is reproducible in both Windows and Linux, so it isn't an OS problem. HTH, Paul
From: General Mailbox on 10 Apr 2010 14:46 Thank you both for your replies. I'll start working on them. With hours of memtesting involved, it may take me a couple of days to get back with results. Thanks again! B.rgds, Kevin
From: General Mailbox on 12 Apr 2010 21:25
"General Mailbox" <nospampls(a)home.net> wrote in message news:ThOvn.213550$K81.177599(a)newsfe18.iad... > Greetings. > Using Everest diagnostic software, under DMI [Memory Controller] > indicates: > Memory Controller Properties: > Error Detection Method None > Supported Memory Speeds 70ns, 60ns, 50ns > Supported Memory Types DIMM, SDRAM > Supported Memory Voltages 3.3V > Maximum Memory Module Size 512 MB > Memory Slots 3 > > I have a 512MB in slot 1 and nothing in slots 2 or 3. > > Is the Maximum Memory Module Size meaning per slot, or is it the most the > motherboard can handle? > > I did experiment by placing a 256MB in slot 2 and 128MB in slot 3. It > recognized the sum of all 3, but the display would go blank for 1-2 > seconds every minute and ultimately the system (or at least the graphics) > would freeze and I would have to do a hard shut down. Am I looking at RAM > that's likely bad, or is the system not able to handle over 512MB? > > If it helps, my system is > Computer: > Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional > OS Service Pack Service Pack 3 > DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c) > Computer Name HP8705 (hp8705) > User Name Kevin > > Motherboard: > CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 800 MHz (6 x 133) > Motherboard Name Asus Pegasus > Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C694X Apollo Pro133A > System Memory 512 MB (PC133 SDRAM) > BIOS Type Award Medallion (07/26/00) > > > Thanks for you reply in advance. > B.rgds, > Kevin Greetings again. I wish to thank you both for your assistance in the procedure I needed to follow to maximize memory speed and amount. The test on-line did not come up with a match on www.crucial.com I had to try a few configuratons of the number of memory sticks and their slot locations before I came out without error. Slot 1: 512MB Slot 2: 256MB Slot 3: 128MB came up with hardware error even though none of the sticks individually tested bad. Switching slots around; Slot 1: 256MB Slot 2: 128MB Slot 3: 512MB worked ok up to 592MB active usage before system crash. Slot 1: 256MB Slot 2: empty Slot 3: 512MB tested good as a pair with memtest+86. In all tests done with memtest+86, I've allowed 2 complete passes. I did find one of my two 512MB sticks on hand with about 5 errors in test #7. So far, the system hasn't reached a crashing point, so I'm hoping that this will remaim stable. Seems that it will work with only two sticks with these types. Again, Paul, you've done a great service to me here and on my other performance issue last week. I now know the number of external equipment connected to the computer causes "memory slowness". I don't think I wish to put any more money into this system by buying 80 wire cable, but I did gain 100mhz to 133mhz fsb and added 256MB more RAM successfully. Best wishes, Kevin |