RAM detection problem

[rococtz]

Hi,

Last year I bought 3 x Zeppelin 1 GB DDR 400MHz Bulk RAM. My computer started having problems recently and I tested the RAM using Memtest 4.20. The RAM didn't pass the test. Having 3 sticks of RAM (I will name them stick 1, stick 2, stick 3), just one of them proved to be faulty. Even though it's faulty, stick 3 is working fine sometimes, so the problem is intermitent. After removing stick 3 (the faulty one), I have the following problem.

If I plug in stick 1 only, it shows 1 GB (alright).

If I plug in stick 2 only, it shows 1 GB (alright).

If I plug in stick 1 + stick 2 together, it shows 1 GB. (which is wrong! It should be 2 GB)

If I plug in stick 1 + stick 3 (the faulty one), it shows 2 GB. (alright)

If I plug in stick 2 + stick 3 (the faulty one), it shows 2 GB. (alright)

If I plug in stick 1 + stick 2 + stick 3, it shows 3 GB. (alright)

I have 3 slots in my mother board. I tried making all the possible combination, the problem is still there, so I am pretty sure it's not a matter of choosing the wrong slots.

It's not a Windows problem as the issue is present in Memtest 4.20.

My specs:
Motherboard: EP-8K9A7I
RAM: 3 x Zeppelin 1 GB DDR 400MHz Bulk
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+
HDD: Maxtor 80GB

 

[maskills24]

hmm, that is very strange. i think you should just buy another set of 3, 1 gig moduals. They are cheap these days.

 

[maskills24]

also...i would suggest making a new build. Even a 400 dollar build would be much better than your current pc.

 

[rococtz]

Yes, I know but it doesn't help me fix the problem. It's my parent's computer and they use it for skype only, so I am not too much into spending money...

 

[raytseng]

ebay
it isn't that expensive. how much is your time worth to try to figure it out more.

 

[rococtz]

I repeat, this doesn't solve my problem. And there is no ebay where I live! I am looking for an explanation, a solution, I don't want to buy anything.

 

[Swolern]

also...i would suggest making a new build. Even a 400 dollar build would be much better than your current pc.

+1

 

[rococtz]

Is anyone here who actually knows anything about the problem?

 

[maskills24]

My guess is that your mobo might be malfunctioning or a bad ram stick. If thats the case you will need to buy a new mobo...and if you do that you should get a bit newer mobo ( atleast am2) and get yourself a duel core processor from amd for cheap. new mobo and processor will make skype work much better ;D. If it is a bad ram stick, look for the same model of ram and buy a gig module and swap out the bad stick.