More memory, More problems?

Village Idiot

Village Idiot

The Love Butler
I just added 128 mg. more ram to my system.
Since then, whenever I play a game on a cd-rom, it shuts itself off mid-game & goes back to my desktop.

Does anyone know why this is happening?
Appreciate any advice/input.
 
You may have mixed RAM types. One stick may be error correcting, the other not. One may be parity, the other not. It's important not to mix different kinds of RAM because your computer still may work, but more often than not you'll start seeing random problems.

Also, you didn't give any information about your computer, but it's possible that you purchased the wrong type of RAM. If your computer has a 133mhz bus, for instance, you need 133mhz (PC133) SDRAM. Assuming of course that you are using SDRAM, which you also didn't mention. If you accidentally purchased PC100 SDRAM, you are running that stick at 133mhz, and overclocking it - leading to your computer getting hosed every time you do something memory intensive (such as playing a game).

Or, you could have purchased what you thought was PC133 SDRAM from an unscrupulous dealer who remarked it. That's a possibility - PC100 SDRAM (and other types, obviously) can sometimes be successfully overclocked. So this person could have run the stick of RAM at PC133, booted the computer, said "okay, that's good to go" and remarked the stick of RAM.

Like with my CPU, I can overclock it to certain speeds - and it will boot - but as soon as I do something resource intensive on my computer, it'll lock up.

Or, you could have latency issues. Maybe your original stick of RAM was set to CAS2, so that's what your BIOS is set at, but your new stick is CAS3 and can't quite make that speed.

As you can see, there are a hell of a lot of variables here. You might try another post, with more information about your computer. It also might be a good idea to just take that RAM back.
 
Thanks, Eurythmic

I have a SDRAM memory stick added. Bought it at Circuit City, told it was the right one for my system, which is a Compaq Presario.
The memory added fine, shows now as 218 mg of ram.
Your input probably has the answer to my problem in it.
Thanks for so much detail in your response.
Can I fix the clocking problem myself?
I need the extra mgs for recording on my computer.
And I believe it was a PC100 SDRAM stick I bought...

oh yeah..And I was born In Sparrow Hospital!
 
> oh yeah..And I was born In Sparrow Hospital!

Hey, cool! :)

The Presario has been made for at least ten years now, and there are a million different models, so that doesn't tell me a lot...

If it's an older computer, say a Pentium II or a pre-Coppermine Celeron (The Coppermines start at 566mhz, I believe), it could be that your computer is having trouble addressing that much RAM.

Here's what I would do: Find a problem that's predictable - something that you can create every time. If your computer is locking up every time you play a complex game, take out the new stick of RAM and see if the game still locks up. If it doesn't, take out the old RAM and put in just the new module. If the game locks up when you have just the new RAM in, I would see about getting an exchange. You may have a bad RAM module. It happens.
 
You find a lot of random, difficult to explain problems with you use OEM computer with some proprietary technology, like the computers that Compaq makes. Compaq isn't the worst - I hate Gateways in particular, and eMachines computers are so bad, I won't even work on them.

If you ever get to the point where you think you'd like to buy a new computer, it would be worth your time to learn how to build it on your own, or go to a trusted friend or local retailer. Dell computers are also nice. You pay extra, but they use little to no proprietary technology.
 
Thanks, Eurythmic:
What I have is a Compaq Presario 5345, purchased new 2 years ago.
Has an Amd-K2 processor, 98(?) original megs of ram, about a 20 gig hard drive.

I will take your advice, remove the x-tra memory, play a game I know will crash, and see what happens.
Thanks again!
 
on this note... is there anyway to find out what kind of RAM you DO have???

I only ask cuz I have three sticks... all different kinds... and it only works if they are placed in a certain order.... so I think one or two dont match the other(s).!?

ANYWAY.. If I wanted to ditch one and get it all in line..?>>..how would I know what is what?

xoox
 
Three kinds of memory in one box? Makes my head hurt....

Really memory is so cheap these days it is worthwhile to just buy it in matched sets. But if you are not having problems, don't worry about it.

Compaq is a weird case, their servers and a few of their desktops use special RAM chips which seem to serve no purpose except to allow Compaq to charge huge $$$ for them. Reason enough to avoid Compaq, but if you have one already... oh well.

As for troubleshooting, Eurythmic is 100% right. The best way to do it is to remove part of the RAM, see if your problems disappear, and then keep cycling which chips are in the PC until you find the problem child. You could have a chip which is bad at a particular address which isn't touched until a certain point in this game.

Of course there could be other issues but if everything was OK before the new RAM, I would start looking there.
 
It was the !%%Y^ soundcard.
So I'll look for a more compatible one.
Took out the xtra memory no problems playing games.

Thanks again for your help, guys.
 
RWhite said:
Compaq is a weird case, their servers and a few of their desktops use special RAM chips which seem to serve no purpose except to allow Compaq to charge huge $$$ for them. Reason enough to avoid Compaq, but if you have one already... oh well.
Click to expand...
F.Y.I. - I recently picked up a stick of SDRAM for someone else's 5000-series (recent, new) Compaq Presario from a third-party vendor, and so far there haven't been any problems. The trick was to get the Compaq OEM part number, which could then be used to locate compatible memory.

Of course it was a desktop computer, not a server.
 
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