RAM Problems with NF7

[WickedChild]

hi,
i run a NF7 V2.0 with AXP 2500+ and 512MB of OCZ DDR400 (2x256)
im hoping to get a new comp soon but untill i do, i was hoping to add another 256mb from my older AXP1800+ machine that i dont use...
the extra memory is a Kingston DDR333 256MB...
according to the specs and everything there shouldnt be a problem so long as i run all the modules at 333Mhz (downclock the 2 400 modules which doesnt make a difference anyways) which i did and the computer continues to start loading windows (XPSP2).
but, somewhere near the actual running of the system windows gives the a blue screen saying the hardware config isnt right.
i remembered having a similar problem and solving it by turning on the Auto ESCD update if i remember it correctly... i proceeded to reboot the system many times making sure the ESCD Update was on and letting the system boot... when with only 512MB the computer starts as usual... as right now i am typing this message... but once i add the extra module the computer boots up untill windows loads and gives me the blue screen again...

anyone have any idea how i can solve this?
could it be the module placing??? in the MOBO manual it says to add the modules from socket3 to 1... maybe i should put the 2 OCZ mudules in sockets 1-2 instead of 2-3 and then add the Kingston to socket 3??? could this help?

thanks in advance, any help, guidance and ideas are welcome...

CHEERS

[dave87]

I think it might be due to the timings on the memory, go to the bios and set them by SPD, and reboot, should cure your problem

[scrandman]

Not sure about the BIOS on that board, but it could be a dual channel problem (i.e. running 256Mb on one channel and 512Mb on the other). If your BIOS permits it, try disabling dual channel memory option.

In fact, I just looked at the on-line manual and can't see any options in there, so it might be automatic.

In either case, you might want to try running memtest to make sure it is not a compatability problem:

www.memtest.org

[WickedChild]

its not the timing... when first i got the computer to start with the extra memory i tried putting better timings... this cause the computer to not even start...
so im running SPD anyways...

about the Dual... i thought of that at first as well... but i didnt find any option in the bios to disable the dual ddr... i guess it is automatic... and maybe the bios can work with the 2 modules on dual and the third not??? i dont know... but that doesnt seem to bother the computer to boot...

a friend of mine suggested i run a memory test as well... maybe my module is F***ed and im waisting time... ill also try to switch the modules placement around... see what that does...

thanks for the help guys.

[WickedChild]

problem solved!!! i guess...

i ran memtest as suggested and it almost immediatly found errors.
i then noticed that memtest was showing timings that were to low for the added module.
i figured that during the clearing of the cmos and loading the optimized defaults it put in aggresive timings or something.
i lowered the timings abit and the memory went fine through 2 passes... i rebooted and went to the bios, looking at the timing the bios showed even lower timings than i set in memtest but still i went into manual settings and put in the timings that were used succesfully in memtest. i figure the bios had trouble reading SPD from different types of modules.

anyways im up and running with the extra memory installed... thanks for the help!

Cheers m8s!

[scrandman]

Nice one! Good to see Memtest comes to the rescue (in a round about way!)