Computer slow after RAM upgrade

[ans3r]

hi

Hope u can help me on this one..

I have an Amd athlon 64 3400+ with
3Gb DDR 333 166Mhz. Corsair (TWINX2048-3200C2PT) 400MHz/PC3200 PC Memory non-ECC unbuffered 2-3-3-6 Silver Heat Spreader.
Motherboard Asus K8N-E Deluxe further details of MB are below
4 HDD; 2 Sata and 2 IDE
And I'm running windows XP SP2

However since ive upgraded my memory from 1GB to 3GB , my computer has become very slow.

I don't know if the RAM upgrade has anything to do with it, but it seems like it. Has it started after the upgrade.

It takes ages to shut down. It stays with the blue screen for 20min at least, before eventually shutting down.
Also if i open more than one window it hangs up.
It takes ages to do anything, from opening web browser to explorer windows.
Onlywhen i re-start it works properly for a while before doing it again.

I have read in a few forums that it could be related with the paging file, however i changed the paging file to 4500 (correct me if im wrong, the paging file should be 1.5 times more than the RAM) and it still does not work properly.

Im clueless on how to solve this issue.

Any help is more than gratefull

Thanks in advance.



Details of the Motherboard:


CPU

- Socket 754 for AMD Athlon 64
- AMD64 architecture enables simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing
- Supports AMD Cool 'n' Quiet Technology
Chipset

NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb
Front Side Bus

800 MHz
Memory

3 x 184-pin DIMM Sockets support max. 3GB DDR400/DDR333/DDR266 ECC/non-ECC un-buffered DDR SDRAM memory
Expansion Slots

1 x AGP8X (1.5V only)
5 x PCI
Storage/RAID

Chipset:
?2 x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33
?2 x Serial ATA, support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, JBOD
Silicon Image Sil 3114 SATA controller:
?4 x Serial ATA
?RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, JBOD
Audio

AI Audio:
Realtek ALC850, 8-channel CODEC
Audio Sensing and Enumeration Technology
Coaxial/Optical S/PDIF out ports on back I/O
LAN

Gigabit LAN:
- Chipset built-in Gigabit MAC with external Marvell PHY supporting
- 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet
IEEE 1394

VIA VT6307 controller supports 2 x 1394 ports
USB

8 USB2.0 ports
BIOS

AI BIOS:
CrashFree BIOS 2
Q-Fan 2
Post Reporter
BIOS Feature:
4 Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3
Overclocking Features

- ASUS JumperFree
- CPU, Memory, and AGP voltage adjustable
- SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection) from 200MHz up to 300MHz at 1MHz increment
- Adjustable FSB/DDR ratio. Fixed AGP/PCI frequencies.
- ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features

ASUS MyLogo2
ASUS Multi-language BIOS
ASUS Instant Music
ASUS EZ Flash
Back Panel I/O Ports

1 x Parallel
1 x Serial
1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x 8-channel Audio I/O
1 x RJ45
1 x Optical S/PDIF Output
1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
4 x USB 2.0/1.1
1 x IEEE1394
Internal I/O Connectors

- 2 x USB 2.0 connector supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports
- CPU / Chassis / Power FAN connectors
- 20-pin ATX Power connector
- 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector
- Chassis Intrusion
- CD / AUX audio in
- IEEE1394 port
- GAME/MIDI connector
- COM connector
- Front panel audio connector
Industrial Standard

PCI 2.2 , USB 2.0
Manageability

WfM 2.0,DMI 2.0,WOL by PME,WOR by PME, Chassis Intrusion
Support CD

Drivers
ASUS PC Probe
Trend Micro PC-cillin 2002 anti-virus software (OEM version)
ASUS LiveUpdate Utility
Accessories

InterVideo WinDVD Suite Platinum
User's manual
2 x UltraDMA cables
IDE cable
FDD cable
4 x Serial ATA cables
2 x 2-port SATA power cables
2-port USB2.0 / Game module
I/O shield
IEEE1394 cable
Form Factor

ATX Form Factor, 12"x 9.6"(30.5cm x 24.5cm)

==========================================================================================================================

 

[michiganteddybear]

ok.. this is going back a ways.. but I seem to recall that the 754 socketed A64's had issues with addressing more than 4 'banks' of ram. now I am calling a bank equal to a side of a module here. At my store, we had all sorts of issues relating to memory on them chips if more than 4 sides of ram was installed.

try dropping down to 4 sides and see what happens..

That would be 2 double sided, or 1 double and 2 single sided, or 3 single sided modules

This is a CPU limitation, since the memory controller is on chip, not a mobo problem. a bios update *may* have an effect on this problem now, but didn't back then.

 

[DiscoDuck]

win xp rarely can use over 1-1.5 gig of ram. Take some out and test. 1g at full speed is much better than a 3g problem. Isnt that processor running at 400mhz(200x2)? If so runnning 333 ram is asking for trouble.

 

[rhorwitz]

Yes, this is a limitation of the socket 754 design. Regardless of the chipset, the system can only handle 4 sides of memory without slowing down.

 

[ans3r]

I have took one memmory module out, but it didnt work out as planned.
It still takes ages to shut down and still has the same problems as before.

 

[ans3r]

Is there a way of getting around this limitation, maybe with a firmware upgrade??
I use applications that consume memmory that was the main reason why I bough the extra 2GB