Please help on my memory issue!

[AMDAmmo]

Hi guys (and gals!),

Here are my system specs for reference:

System specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon 2200+ (1.8ghz)
Motherboard: ASUS AS7333
PSU: 350w
Memory: 1 gig OCZ Value RAM PC3200 DDR, 2x 256 Meg Crucial/Micron PC3200 DDR RAM
Operating Sys: Window XP Pro SP2

Now on to my problem!
Please be gentle with me as I am a newbie here and I am not as techie minded like you masters! Anyway my problem is this.
I have a Athlon XP 1.8 ghz and my motherboard is ASUS A7S333. It supports DDR RAM and has 3 memory slots. This motherboard supports a maximum of 3GB of memory when using PC2100 or slower memory. When using PC2700 or faster the motherboard only supports two modules at that speed for a maximum of 2GB. If 3 PC2700 parts are installed, they operate at 266 MHz.
Currently I have purchased 2 x 1 gig PC3200 OCZ value ram. When I took out my old memory (2 x 256 Meg PC3200 DDR 400 Mhz and 1 x 256 meg PC2700 DDR 333 Mhz, total memory = 768 meg), I installed my new 2 x 1 gig OCZ Value RAM PC3200 DDR400 Mhz in the two slots and left 1 slot free. The BIOS picks up the new memory at 2048 meg but it loads REAAAALLLLYYYY slow! The windows screen take a lifetime to load with the progress bar moving very slowly. I have got XP Pro SP2 installed in my machine by the way. So when I take out one OCZ 1 gig mem module and put in my old 2 PC3200 sticks it loads fine. It even loads fine only 1 gig installed as well. Any ideas why is this happening? I want to put in two 1 gig ocz sticks in my machine! Does the BIOS need updating? If so how do you do it as the manufacturers site is confusing!

Found my memory timings via BIOS. It was set to SPD and I switched it to user define. The timings for 1 gig OCZ Value RAM and 2x256 meg Crucial/Micron are as follows:
CAS Latency : 3
RAS to CAS Delay: 3
RAS Precharge time: 3
RAS Active time: 6

And the timings for only 1 gig OCZ Ram in motherboard with other RAM removed in BIOS is:
CAS Latency : 2.5
RAS to CAS Delay: 4
RAS Precharge time: 4
RAS Active time: 7

But the RAM itself advertises 3-4-4-8 on the sticker!

Please help and any suggestions will be welcome!

 

[Mondoman]

You may have a bad module or your MB may not be fully compatible w/the new DIMMs.
Do a proper test of each 1GB module by installing only it in your system.
First, find out what your memory is really running at by downloading and running PC Wizard 2006. Here's some more info on that:
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=1261103#1261103
Second, stress test the CPU/memory by running PRIME95, choosing the "stress test" setting that also tests memory.
Another, less stringent test is to run memtest86+.

If you get errors on one stick but not the other, then you have a bad stick and can get it replaced. If both sticks test out good individually, then you may have a compatibility issue with your MB. In that case, I would *manually* set the memory bus speed in the BIOS to DDR-333 with only the 2x1GB modules installed and see if that works better (your MB may not be able to handle DDR-400). You may also need to experiment with higher memory voltage and/or different timings. Your MB manufacturer and/or OCZ support web sites would be good places to look/ask for more suggestions in that case.

 

[gozer61]

I, too, am having this same problem. I've been running my A7S333 with 1/2Gb of memory for several years. Now, I've purchased 2Gb of Kingston. Individually, each one runs fine. Together, the PC is unusable as it boots very very slowly.

Did you ever resolve your problem and get both PC2700 sticks to work together?