I just lost RAM?

[eden]

Today the system just gave a BSOD (XP Home). Upon reboot I noticed the POST RAM test reported 384MB (in KB) rather than the 512MB I have (2*256). In Windows the same thing was reported.

I have no clue how it got lost, especially when it's the exact amount of a known RAM combination (384MB, 768, etc.)

What could have possibly happened? Some cells got fried? I have a UPS so no possible power outage can damage the system.

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[Crashman]

You could have a dead bank. You could just have a bad connection, try reseating it.

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[CrucialLabs]

Sounds like a bad module to me. If you have not found the bad one yet try running memtest86 on them. The SPD chip could have went bad or like CrashMan said you have a bad bank. Either way you can find out which one by running each one individually.

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[JustysRule]

That happened to me! My PC now has 128mb of DDR266 but has a 256mb chip, it used to say 256mb, then one day I noticed that it only had 128mb of ram. Wierd stuff.

 

[Crashman]

Not that wierd, it normally indicates the system isn't communicating with one side of the DIMM. I've solved it before by reinserting the DIMM, sometimes several times to finally get a good connection. Other DIMMs have been physically damaged on one side and reinserting them did nothing to help.

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[eden]

Well I got news for ya folks: the missing RAM magically reappeared!

POST and WinXP report 512MB, all healthy now.

What in the world could have occured? I mean, if it was down to even the BIOS itself detecting 384MB (not just Windows acting oddly), then something must have occured.

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[BrentUnitedMem]

Maybe it was something you said

 

[Crashman]

I already gave you the most likely cause, a bad contact. Now, if you're comfortable with the idea that this could happen again at any time regardless of the importance of what you're doing, fine. As for me, I'd reseat the DIMMs just to be on the safe side.

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[eden]

I'm changing the rig soon anyways. Not much important data to be worked on these days. But thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind.
And thanks to all for the help!

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[CrucialLabs]

I checked in the lab and we were able to hit 250MHz with loose timings. I can not be too sure if the -5B C were used on the older PC3200, it stands to reason that they are from an earlier lot so I think so. I am not an engineer so I can not be 100% certain. I really don't think there is too much difference between the "C" and "G" components. Sorry for the delay in posting.

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