MSI K7N420 MB memory difficulty

[divpers]

This is the MSI version of the first nForce board. It's the 420 so it has the integrated graphics. So far this motherboard has been wonderful and I've really enjoyed it. We don't have any sound problems like some people have expressed. It's extremely stable. As well we run this pc and another while playing online VGs. Our other pc runs nearly as well unless there are a great many people in one place, then we notice the power of that video card pulling through - though it has a Ge3 and an extra 256 of memory. Even with only 256 and the integrated video this mb does surprisingly well.

But we have one issue with it, and I can't seem to figure it out, at least I don't know why it's this way.

Here at home I have 4 sticks of 256DDR RAM, they are Samsung 136 - K4H280838C - TCB0. I'd like to add more than one stick to this mb... As it stands I can only have one stick in the mb or it will not boot. It won't even start booting. I have tried moving the one stick around but it only boots with it in the slot closest to the processor. As well if I add more sticks and move them around in different combinations, with swapping different sticks, the thing still won't boot.

It's never been an issue until my other pc mb (an ASUS A7M266 (which I would not wish on anyone)) had to be sent in again and this time it'll be some wait for a replacement.

Does anyone know why this is the case with the 420? Is it caused by the brand of RAM or some way perhaps in which the memory is processed, like RDRAM runs?

Might anyone know the solution to this?

Thanks ahead of time for your replies, very much appreciated.

-Ann Arbor, MI

 

[Crashman]

Wow, and only using one stick hurts the performance of this board! You will EXACTLY need two stick installed in two specific slots in order to achieve optimal results, I'm sure SOMEONE has more info on this particular board for you.

<font color=blue>By now you're probably wishing you had ask more questions first!</font color=blue>

 

[Stain]

Hmm, I'd ask you to check your D-Bracket if you have it installed the lights on this will indicate why it's not POSTing, if the second LED is green and all the rest are red then it's for sure the RAM. I have that exact board and have never had a problem with memory, I use two 256 sticks. You need to put them in slots 1 and 3 (leaving the middle empty) if your going to use two but it seems like you have would have already tried that. I would suggest changing the CAS settings in the BIOS (under Advanced Chipset Features). I don't see any reason why Auto (default) wouldn't work but for me I can't POST if I set CAS to 3.0, 2.5 causes it reset the CMOS, 2.0 works fine and so does Auto (odd, yes). If none of that fun stuff works try updating the BIOS (couldn't hurt ).

Other than that I don't know why there would be a problem. You could try asking in MSI's forum.