I used to have 4gigs of RAM in my system, and then my computer stopped booting up one day. I removed two of the sticks of RAM, trying to figure which were bad. After I removed two, the system worked fine, so i figured they were faulty. Today i bought two more sticks of RAM and installed them figuring I could get my 4gigs of RAM back. However my computer wouldn't boot. I removed the new RAM and it worked fine. I removed my old RAM and tried booting my computer with the new RAM and it also worked. So this leads me to believe that my original RAM wasn't faulty. Would this be a problem with my motherboard? Or is there something i need to change on my BIOS?
RAM or possible motherboard problem?
- Thread starter mrmatt91
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I do not know the answer to this question but i hope that somebody does and will reply. I am thinking about putting 2 more 1 gig strips in my computer as well to make 4 gigs and am hoping to avoid any potential problems by researching as much as possible beforehand.
I hope you get your answer. I am sorry that I was no help to you.
I hope you get your answer. I am sorry that I was no help to you.
Mondoman
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Having 4 DIMMs installed is pushing the design limits of the memory system -- sounds like your MB is declining a bit with age and can't support that at defaults. There are a couple of easy things to try:
1) Make sure your memory voltage in the BIOS is set to the recommended voltage spec for your specific DIMMs -- this has to be done manually in the BIOS. Each DIMM should have the spec voltage listed on it; if not, check with the DIMM manufacturer. However, if the spec voltage is 1.8V, set the DIMM voltage to 1.9V.
2) If that doesn't work, in addition try bumping up the memory controller voltage (perhaps listed as something like MCH in the BIOS) by 0.05V or even 0.10V.
1) Make sure your memory voltage in the BIOS is set to the recommended voltage spec for your specific DIMMs -- this has to be done manually in the BIOS. Each DIMM should have the spec voltage listed on it; if not, check with the DIMM manufacturer. However, if the spec voltage is 1.8V, set the DIMM voltage to 1.9V.
2) If that doesn't work, in addition try bumping up the memory controller voltage (perhaps listed as something like MCH in the BIOS) by 0.05V or even 0.10V.
Well I'm not sure how it could be declining with age, I built my computer last year, and the problem only occurred about a month after I built it. I've just kind of held off getting new RAM for awhile to try test it. I'll try what you mentioned though to see if it helps.
Well I have an Asus P5N-E SLi Motherboard, And the RAM I have is 2x1gig Samsung RAM and 2x1gig pb(I'm not actually sure of them). I also have 2 more sticks of that RAM because i thought they were faulty. But I'm not sure how I would configure this since if i put in the other two sticks my computer will not boot at all.
roadrunner197069
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Mondoman
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You'll need to know the actual model numbers of each RAM DIMM to find the spec voltage if the spec voltage isn't printed on them. Just install two sticks so the system boots, set the DIMM voltage (and if necessary the MCH voltage) as I described above, save the changes to the BIOS, shut down. Then, install the other 2 sticks for a total of 4 and see if it boots and passes memtest86+. If not, send the MB in for warranty service. The 650i-based MBs like yours have a higher rate of defects/problems, so it could very well be a MB issue.
Well I've tried what Mondoman said. I first turned my voltage up to 1.96 and just testing it, I inserted 3 sticks of RAM (3x1gig sticks) The computer booted and when I check it said I had 3gigs of RAM, which kind of surprised me because I thought RAM works in pairs. Anyway. I rebooted the computer and in the BIOS I again changed the memory voltage to 2.16 and put in my other stick of RAM making it 4x1gig sticks. The computer booted but now its only registering 2gigs of RAM. Should I up the voltage more? Or try it with 4 sticks at 1.96?
psycho@home
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- Oct 12, 2007
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Move the 2 sticks from the channel that worked into the other channel and
check to see if 2Gigs show up. If you only see 1Gig, a slot is bad. If you see
2Gigs, take them out and put the questionable RAM into the first channel and
check them. if everything is working, its probably a power issue. By the way,
unless you're running a 64 bit OS, Windows will only recognize about 3.4Gigs
of RAM.
check to see if 2Gigs show up. If you only see 1Gig, a slot is bad. If you see
2Gigs, take them out and put the questionable RAM into the first channel and
check them. if everything is working, its probably a power issue. By the way,
unless you're running a 64 bit OS, Windows will only recognize about 3.4Gigs
of RAM.
I've tried this already psycho, now after swapping my RAM around a bit I'm getting an error from windows and it's saying there is a corrupt or missing file in my system32 folder? I'm not sure how this even happened. I could fix it if I had the windows cd, except i don't have it. I'm thinking this is probably a problem with my motherboard, seeing that it is a P5N-E SLi and I've heard a lot of people have had memory problems with it. :\
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