PC 2100 or PC3200

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I have an older AMD 1800 CPU and K7S5A pro motherboard. I have 2 memory sticks in it now. 1 is 128 and 256 PC2100. This board has 4 slots for memory. 2 for DDR and 2 for SDRAM. I am using the 2 DDR slots.

I am trying to get 2 PC2100 512 sticks to work in it. Won't even boot up. I learned from Crucial that PC3200 will work even though the Motherboard Manual makes no mention.
I tried 2 of the PC3200 512s and no go. Why do the 2 sticks of PC2100 512s and the 2 PC3200 512s not work?

Does SDR/DDR CAS Latency settings in bios contro this? OR CPU frequency? I am thinking I need to change a bios setting or two. I tried clearing bios, no go...

Any help is appreciated.

The manual is on the bottom of this page.

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Downloa...enuID=0&LanID=9
 
The mb manual makes no mention of pc3200 because the motherboard is before it's time. But, the 3200 should be backward compatible... it will run at the frequency of the 2100 ram. Either should work.

So it works fine with a 128 and 256. Does it work with 1 512?

If so, my assumption is that the 512 is double sided, and your board will only do either single sided, or one double and one single. You may get away with 1 512 and 1 256.

If not, there may just be a limitation on the size (though I find this hard to believe) or it just doesn't like the larger memory. In that case, see if there isn't a bios update to resolve this.
 
k7s5a has 2 banks of 1, so you can use only single sided memory.

Haev you tried only using 1 stick of the 512? and see if it is recognized? If 1 stick only works, then try and see if you can exchange/return the 512 and get a 512 single side instead.

I don't think frequency has anything to do with it, and for sure something in the 1800 generation would not be limited to 512MB. The only 512MB limitation I know of is the Pentium III generation with the intel 810 chipset. Had one, and annoys the heck out of me.
 
"The mb manual makes no mention of pc3200 because the motherboard is before it's time. But, the 3200 should be backward compatible... it will run at the frequency of the 2100 ram. Either should work." That is what I was thinking but was not sure".

When you Said did I try 1 stick of 2100 512, I thought to myself did I?
I just put one it and it booted up OK. So I stuck the other in the next slot and it started up OK with it. In System Properties it only shows 1 stick though?
 
I did not see your post Panda Bear until now... I can't return any Ram. I have had them for a few years.
The first stick is a 512 double sided. I put in the second stick single sided and then checked System Properties. It only showed 512 even though it should be 1024.

I tried starting the system with the single side stick on either slot. It won't work, only the double sided stick works.
I pulled out the second single side 512 and System Properties still shows 512 with the double sided?

Now I put have the Double sided PC2100 512 in slot 1. I put in a PC2100 256 in slot 2. It starts up and only shows 512 in System Properties. So I guess I can only run the 512? Does not make any sense.

I had the PC2100 256 and PC2100 128 in both slots before and no problems?
 
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Sorry to bring up the obvious, but do you have the sticks in tight enough? This sounds stupid, but the past 3 people I've helped with this did not have the sticks in tight enough.
 
Nothing is stupid at this point. Maybe I don't.....

I assume that they are seated when the little side clicker lock into the slots correct? I make sure they click into the ends of the memory stick.
 
The 128 and 256 I had in before both work OK.

I got the 2 512s to show in System Properties. But I now see a little hiccup in my mouse that I think is only happening for the second single sided 512 stick. I am going to swap that one back to the 256 stick to see if it goes away.
 
There is a nice 'burn-in' utility called 'Memtest' that will really stress the RAM and make sure it won't conk out at a critical time (editing a term paper). 'PC Wizard' is also a nice utility to see the characteristics of your machine and offers some benchmarking to see if you are better off with the new RAM.
 
This memory stuff can be pretty tricky. A one point I did not get one stick clicked in all the way because of switching it so many times. I got complacent and was interrupted while laying under the desk.
It seems to be running OK and showing 1 GB memory. Is it possible for memory sticks to not seat even if the little click tabs are in place? It seems like I was not getting consistant results switching the ram around?

I tried to use one of those memory test one time. I could not figure out how to deal with the file. I should say run the file.

Thanks for the help everyone.
 
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If you download the latest Ubuntu Live CD it has a memtest 86 option at bootup. Just select memtest 86, press enter and walk away for an hour or three. If you have errors, remove the suspect piece and repeat. That's a pretty simple way to do it if you'd like.

By the way, I had a K7S5A and that is a fine little board. My last big system was built on one. The only ram I ever used in mine was low density double-sided 512 and they worked a dream, but I did this out of preference for low density rather than necessity; as I remember that board can do both kinds. And yes, it has got some TIGHT ram holders or whatever those little bays are called. I thought I was going to brake them when new. And yes, it is possible to seat ram and not have it get a positive connection. When I seat a peice of ram I usually jiggle the tops of them back and forth just slightly to run the connectors and hopefully break free and 'stuck' contacts.
 
If it is now working fine, DO NOT TOUCH THE RAM SLOT AGAIN.

Sometimes electrical contacts get dusty and/or oxidized, also bad solder joints can cause instability if you push it one way but not the other.

Sometimes the MB have incompatibility issues and or RAM has different power up time when the RAM is in different generations, or the number of slots occupied can cause different load characteristics. Who knows
 
"If it is now working fine, DO NOT TOUCH THE RAM SLOT AGAIN."

Great advice! I may not know a lot, but I learn quick.

Good info guys. This was my first build that I bought when a Frys opened in Washington State 2003? I did not get a chance to put it together until I lived in San Diego.
It was my first system I built from scratch. I was so proud of myself...... But I know that I still have a lot to learn about computers.

Maybe I should have cleaned the contacts of the memory slots? I did clean all the memory contacts. The first time I put the computer together the memory slots were very tight. I thought I was going to snap the board!
I kinda heard sounds from the board that were not good.
I was chasing my tail on laptop memory about a year ago as well. This memory stuff is not real simple at times.
I might run the memory test, but I am kind of afraid to.......
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Originally Posted By: greenaccord02
Well, you know windows has it's own memory test... It's called the BSOD.
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Either way, you'll know if you have bad chips.


Unless you are running a real tests from a stress software, it is hard to figure out if intermittent failure is related to your hardware or poor software.
 
Originally Posted By: oilboy123
I got a couple of random restarts...............
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run a stress test and burn in test, leave them running for at least 24 hours.
 
Any site I can do this at for free?

I loaded Optimal Settings in the bios. It has not restarted since then. I had changed some things in the bios before the memory fiasco. I was careful what I changed though.
 
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