Memory Problems

[X-ray]

Well after getting another 'not enough memory' message in Cinema 4D on the PC, I decided to get more RAM. I have a mediocre PC: Athlon XP2200 on a now-obsolete GA-7DXE motherboard. I have XP Pro, and I was getting 'the out of memory message' even though I had 1,5gb of RAM (2 x 256mb and 1 x 1gb DIMM)

So...I got another 1gb DIMM, took out one of the 256s and put in the 1gb. Yay, I thought, now I have 2,3gb RAM. (This mobo can take 3gb, in 3 slots, according to the manufacturer's spec sheet).
Startup was okay, BIOS says the memory is okay, it all botts fine. But I got BSOD: memory management error when copying large file folders. I ran Gold Memory V6.64 (runs from a bootable floppy to exclude OS problems) and round about the 133 test mark, it spat out errors. I stopped the program when the error total reached 2300.
Put my original DIMMS back in, ran the test, all okay. Took them all out, tested one at a time, each one tests okay on its own. The two 1gb DIMMS also tested fine when used together, no 256mb DIMM. That test took almost 3 hours, so you'll forgive me if I haven't run all the possible combinations. And you can do nothing with the computer while it is running
I did however try the new 1gb DIMM with 1 256mb DIMM and that was okay, but I can't use the two 1gb DIMMS and a 256mb in here together. I should be able to, shouldn't I? I can't fathom this...any suggestions? I'm having to run this on just 2gb at the moment.

My system config: XP Pro, 4 IDE devices (2 HD, 1 CD, 1 DVD), 1 Firewire/USB2 ext HD, 2 x SATA drives (200gb each, Raid 1 striped to 376gb), 1 SCSI (ext ZIP and 1gb scratch disc). Several ext USB devices (not storage)

[blobrana]

Hum,
1) Sounds like the two memory sticks are incompatible...

(That’s one of the main reasons why they usually sell them in pairs)

2) Though it could be the synchronous / asysncronous settings perhaps in the bios..

3) those mobos are usually ok, but are you sure that they support the higher amounts without dropping down  to sd-ram (i just assumed it was DDR - and some mobos just allow one DDR)

4) could be a bios update you need - check out the gigabyte website...

[X-ray]

Dear Blobzie

I dunno what's up over here with this RAM situation. I can use any two of the three DIMMS together, no probs. But I can't use the two 1gb DIMMS with either one of the 256mb DIMMS. They are all DDR. I'm using the two 1gb DIMMS right now, but I have to leave the third slot vacant, yet originaly I had two 256mb (slot 1 and 2) with the third slot a 1gb module.

I'll look for a BIOS update.

What is the significance/usage of synchronous vs asynchronous?

[blobrana]

Yeah,
i`m now sure that when the boards came out that i gb sticks didn`t exist so that they could only have a max of 2 x 512 /1gb .


asynchronous means that information is read seperatly, improving the read/write speed by 10-20%, the data is split between the two sticks, it doesn`t work tri-syncronously (that hasn`t been invented yet)

[if your in the bios, you could try differant CAS Ratings (2 being the fastest read speed setting), try slowing it down to 3...

[X-ray]

Dear Blobzie..

I found several bios updates for the mobo (GA-7DXE) on the Gigabyte website but they are mainly there for CPU identification problems. I wanted to flash the latest one anyway but I get the 'wrong file size' error. This happens with all the updates: they are either 325k or 400k and my bios is looking for a 256k.
Also, I don't have any CAS or any other kind of sync/async options in my bios.
I'll have to go back and try some of the combinations I didn't try earlier. Sucks though: 4 DIMMS...3 slots...1,5 hours to check each 1gb DIMM and 35min for each 256mb DIMM = many possibilities and many hours testing