GetOutOfBox

Hi, I read the stickies, the ram in question is a single stick of 2GB DDR2 800mhz CAS 5, and is low density. I just received it from newegg today, and promptly removed an old module and inserted the new one, making a total of 3 GB (one other 1GB stick 500 mhz aprox). Now the pc won't get past the BIOS splash screen. I removed the stick and it works again. So I tried what the other posts said and cleared the CMOS using the jumper, restored default settings and then reinserted the RAM and booted. Still wont work. I was very careful when installing I discharged static by touching a metal thing on the ground (a few metal things, just to be safe), then picked the ram up (carefully) and pushed it into the slot. I even tried pushing it in different ways (hehe...) such as makeing both clips clip in at the same time, one at a time, etc. Still won't work. I'v narrowed it down to either not enough voltage (I'm pretty sure its not the PSU, when I bought it I picked out one that should provide enough power for the future), and fried (I hope not I was very careful). My mobo doesn't seem to have a visible option to change RAM voltage, it has CPU core voltage, but I don't think thats what I want.

Specs:

Asus/Fujitsu-Siemens P5SD2-FM microATX

RAM (with problems) - G.Skill 2GB DDR2 PC800

Video card: MSI ATI 4350 PCIe

PSU: Forget the brand name, but it was not a cheapo PSU, it has protection circuitry, etc, I remember carefully deciding between multiple PSU's. Oh yeah and less than a year old. 500 watts.

PC: Custom. I ordered all the parts and assembled myself.

Thanks in advance!

GetOutOfBox

ok, update, the pc will boot fine when only the 2GB stick is in and vice versa. the both have different CAS and the other is 500 mhz instead of 800, is their a way to make them co-operate?

GetOutOfBox

can someone please help me?

wrench97

Most likely the 2 sticks are not compatible, Is the motherboard out of an OEM F/S PC?
Any chance you have the part numbers for both the new and old sticks?

wrench97

Here is a copy of the manual for the Motherboard> http://uk.ts.fujitsu.com/rl/services...5SD2-FM_uk.pdf

It does not appear to support 2Gig sticks and has a memory limitation of 2 Gig total.

GetOutOfBox

Ok, thanks! One question, I know that a 32 bit OS can only support up to 4 GB memory, and according to other posts I've read, including video RAM and bus memory or somthing, what I'm saying is if I buy a new mobo, what factors should I take into account for the amount of memory I can use, I want 3 gigs of RAM and 1GB video ram, is their any other memory I should take into account? Does sound card memory count?

wrench97

32 Bit OS's can only address a maximum of 4Gig from all devices it will not have to access or have to provide address space for all the video memory, same goes for the sound card, 4 Gig installed is plenty, we had a hardware tech who did an experiment using a Q8200 on a P965 chipset he had something like 48 programs open/running while encoding a video and ran out of CPU before ram usage got to 2.9Gig.

If you are using the OEM version of XP that came with the motherboard the license is tied to that motherboard if you upgrade the board legally, and to pass activation/validation you'll need a copy of windows, so it may be time to think about moving to 64Bit.

GetOutOfBox

ok, you were right, my mobo has a limit of 2GB RAM, once I get some money I'm going to get a core 2 rig runing openSUSE 64-bit.
by the way thanks again!