Xp & memory Problems

[cwadd]

I'm having some problems and i don't know who to turn to!!

Basically i purchased some DDR Ram 266(speed) and put it in my pc, i added it to my ram that i had already and booted up my pc it saw the ram ok.

I found that lots of programs (most of them) started quitting (The usual Error Report thing) so i reinstalled XP (just to be sure)

But it still happens - I have checked for viruses and spyware also used different programs (instead of IE 6.0 i used opera)

A mate at work said it could be conflicts between the 2 ram speeds (my old one could be a different speed)


Anyway my pc is...

Chaintech Apogie Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 1700
120 gb Segate HD
Soundblaster Audigy ex

Any help is great

Cheers, Chris

[Kungfucious]

chris,

from my experience, the symptoms which you describe are most definitely (%99) to do with bad ram. not BAD in a sence that its crap. it may be the best ram in the business but most motherboards, even todays top end motherboards, do not like different ram being used. Because most ram is manufactured slightly different to each other, the cpu tries to use the same methos to access each individual stick, some sticks take longer than others to respond (due to speed or config) and therefore the full potential and stability of your system are adversely effected.

Im not sure how you actually check the speeds of memory sticks you have in your system, but im sure your bios could go some way into identifying what you have installed. My advice would be to return the memory you purchased and try and buy some which matches waht you already have in your computer.

I try not to have mis-matched memeory types in my setups. thats why i always buy a full set so that all slots are filled or buy ram which i know will still be widely available later on should i wish to upgrade.

anyway you could try aa software "RAM Test Utility" though i had trouble finding a demo version of any online.

regards

KF

[Kungfucious]

found a free mem test under the gnu license.. cd bootable!!


here

and another one, though you have to pay for this one:



here



Kf

[cwadd]

Thanks very much for your help

It is very much appreciated

I will try this when i go home and post to say how i got on

thanks again

Regards, Chris

[Cirga]

Cheers Kung. I completely agree on using identical RAM. I have had nothing but problems when I mix / match RAM in any system I have built.

I usually always go with RAM from Crucial myself.. merely because they are so widely popular and will never go out of business anytime soon.. so I can always count on their product being available.. *crosses fingers*