Is this a memory faliure?

[MichaelAbbott]

i have recently upgraded my computer.

Now the spec should be:

3800 X2 Amd
2GB ram
7800GT 256mb
ASUS A8n32 SLI Deluxe

The ram i bought, since i'm not an overclocker, was two 1GB Samsung DDr 400 (pc3200) chips.

When i fit in one of these two chips (A1 blue socket) all is fine and windows is stable (tested both all seems fine).

When i add the second one (B1 Also blue socket) the motherbord reports all is fine, but as XP loads and signs on i get a BSOD and the system crashes and restarts.

i've tried changing to using it is single channel (A2 black) but still i can get xp to be stable.

I'm now running memtest and all is fine (1.68 passes so far [1hr in])

i can leave it for a few more hours and will report back.

Does anyone have any ideas why windows would do this, i may try with ubuntu later tonight on a new partition.

thanks.

 

[jonisginger]

Put one stick in at a time in channel A
then
one stick at a time in channel B
then both sticks in channel a, then channel b
then one stick in a and one stick in B, then the other way around

write down the results of each test and come back.

 

[sailer]

Memory failure? What's that? I can't remember. What was the question again?

Ok, this sounds familiar. I have ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe boards in two of my computers and have had similar troubles. So, in order of checking what's wrong.

Try the sticks individually with Memtest. If they both test good, then try them in slots B1 and B2, individually and then together. I mean both the individual sticks and the individual sockets. If they test good individually, but not togther, go into the BIOS, go to Avanced menu, then USB configuration. Disable the Legacy USB line. Then start the computer as normal and see if the computer starts normally with both ram sticks installed.

If it still does not start, first make sure your ram is on the list of ram types allowed. This motherboard is very particular about what ram it supports. In the book that came with my motherboard, the 1 gig sticks from Samsung are not listed, only the 256 and 512mb versions appear, though you may have a newer model that does list this ram. If everything else seems to be fine but the computer will still not start with both sticks installed, you may have a bad motherboard. Alternatively, the motherboard may be fine, but tis just rejecting the ram sticks that you bought.

By the way, I, and a lot of other people, have had numerous troubles with the A8N32 SLI Deluxe board. I've had to RMA 3 of them through the past year and a half. There was a while when 4Ryan4 and I seemed to be competing as to which of us was having the most troubles. Don't know who won that contest.

 

[ZOldDude]

All the Asus MB's I have ever used failed withen or soon after the warrenty ran out.

Moved over to DFI and will never look at Asus again.

 

[MichaelAbbott]

thank you lot soo much.

putting them in B1 and B2 and its all stable

woo Half life, here i come lol.

thanks again.

 

[MichaelAbbott]

this was a motherboard returned from RMA

i had the basic A8n-e and they replaced it with this. It has a fancy heatpipe cooling system.

thanks again.

toms hardware forums are no 1!!!!!

 

[sailer]

thank you lot soo much.

putting them in B1 and B2 and its all stable

woo Half life, here i come lol.

thanks again.

Very good. Glad the trouble is solved and you can game away.

 

[MichaelAbbott]

sorry about this.

Windows now loads, i get a few "serious error messages" (all uknown lol)

but whenever i load anything taxing like a game it immediately crashes.

ideas please?

 

[Zorg]

No Asus mobos for me. Thanks for the info.

 

[MichaelAbbott]

i've loaded memtest again.

just noticed the memory is running at 401mhz, 1mhz could that make the difference?

anyway the CAS is rubbish 3-3-3-8 lol

i'll make sure i buy decent ram next time.

Do you think a bios update may help solve the problem?

thanks for being so patient.

 

[MichaelAbbott]

on windows i keep on getting memory problems but memtest doesn't find any at all.

ideas?

 

[sailer]

Running 401 mhz should not be any problem for the ram. Good ram, or at least approved ram, may help. I think the latest BIOS is 1203. Maybe off a digit there. Anyway, if you're running the older BIOS, you can try updating it. It didn't help anything for my board though, just changed the BIOS options slightly.

The next thing to do would be to test the ram in another motherboard and see if it works. If it works there, then the ram is ok.

If nothing else works, I'd suggest the same as Zolddude; try a DFI mobo.

 

[MichaelAbbott]

just tested both sticks in an MSI mobo computer and i can confirm they are faulty.

I'll get a refund.

Thanks for all the help

Michael

 

[MichaelAbbott]

as i needed to get my pc up and running (a 512mb stick isnt good enough for HL2 lol) i found only of the sticks is actually faulty.

Also even though i bought them on ebay he will give me a replacement, well we'll see about that.

i'll keep you posted

 

[sailer]

That's a potential problem with E-bay, not knowing if an electrical component is good or not. I hope the guy does replace the part, but as you said, you'll see about that. Good luck.

 

[MichaelAbbott]

eventually got the RAM back. He sent me 4* 1gb sticks instead of 2.
Well i've used in some other computers and they seem fine.
so i'm 😀 and enjoying using my desktop again!

Thanks for all your help.
Michael