Memory Incompatibility?

Sorry for this long thread, but can someone help with a memory issue here? I "should" have 1 gig of memory inside my PC, but when I check my specs on My Computer, it only shows 512mb of memory. The place where I thought sent me the wrong memory indicated that the memory I ordered could be incompatible with my system.

Each stick should be 512mb, so what I did was insert one stick at a time and with each stick, it only showed 256mb.

I ordered the following memory for my PC:

Micron 512MB PC3200 DDR400. I ordered 2 sticks of this memory and my motherboard is a K8T Neo2(MS-6702E)?
AMD Athlon 64 3200+.

I used the Memory Compatibility chart found on MSI's website:
http://www.msi.com.tw/html/products...702E/memory.pdf

To be quite honest, I can't quite remember if I ordered single or dual channel memory. But it has to be single channel because in looking in the manual and trying the dual channel seedings of the memory, the system does not even post. When I put the memory in DIMMS A and B, then the system boots up with no issues. However, again, still only 512MB of memory instead of 1 gig.

Would there be a setting in the BIOS that I need to set? I noticed in the Cell Menu that there is a submenu for DRAM Configuration. Once you go into there, it has the DRAM Clock Mode and Memclock Value. I would assume the default is set at DDR200 (how it is now), but should I change this to DDR400?

Am I missing something here or did I indeed order the wrong memory? If I did order the wrong memory, would anyone have any recommendations to what memory type I should use for this motherboard? I am looking for 1 gig of memory.

Thanks...

 

Ok, I will have to do that once I get home from work, but thanks for the response and tip. I did check the memory size and the sticker indicated 512 on both of the sticks. Actually that was the first thing I did when I got them in the mail from digi4me.com.

 

Yep do as Halo suggests I also suspect also you recieved the wrong ram with a 512mb sticker on it

 

oh yes, I agree with both Doby and Halo, a label type sticker is not always accurate, the RAM memory modules themselves are usually labeled and could give you more accurate info if they are tagged that way...also be warned some smaller, sneakier online vendor do label them incorrectly and what is even worse is they give 'free' heat spreaders to cover up not only the false capacities but the false types as well! Meaning I have seen PC2700 RAM sticks being overclocked and covered with heat spreaders and sold as Ultra PC2700 RAM (costing way more) or even as PC3200!

Buy from known reputable vendors such as newegg.com or monarchcomputer.com to name a couple of vendors I like...

 

Thanks for the replies, folks! The stickers on the RAM did indeed say 512mb, however, after sending a note to MSI's technical support, they had me download a little utility called MSI Auto Update 3. Basically, its a neat little tool to be used if you want to "flash" or update your BIOS, VGA, or any other device on your motherboard.

I updated the BIOS to the latest version and BAM! There was my 1 gig of memory. I was a little nervous at first because the system rebooted by itself like 2 times so I thought I hosed the system. But after the 2nd reboot, the system appeared to be stable and working fine.

I don't want to sound like a total newb, but this was my first 'build-it-myself' PC and all mobo companies should have support and a utility like this. On my old and now backup PC, I have a ECS (Elitegroup) motherboard and I've been trying to update that BIOS for a while now. They have downloads for BIOS updates, but they just come in a .zip file... where the heck to do "drop" these files into my system??

With MSI, simply run through the wizard, it detects your mobo automatically and off you go! There are some rules to follow though, so I dont want to make it sound so easy... but easier than just downloading files that I dont know where the heck to put them! Anyways... thanks for your help everyone..

 

Good Job Grep, but I must say even though BIOS update crossed my mind, considering your mobo was MSI-K8T Neo2, it should have been able to support the 1GB RAM without any update since it is a relatively new mobo (unless the vendor sold you one with old BIOS version or BIOS itself was troubled).
I agree, newer motherboards (especially those coming from top brands) do come with idiot-proof BIOS update utilities, some done within Windows. For your ECS mobo (I have two myself), the actual BIOS file will be in a zip but you'd also need the Flash utility appropriate to the type of BIOS software the mobo is using (AWARD, AMI, etc.).
Check this link out for more info.

Cheers,
Turco

 

The MSI board I have actually supports up to 4GB of ram. Now that I got my situation squared away, for the heck of it, I am going to test all of the slots and make sure all is in working order. I found it a little strange too that updating the BIOS would've been the culprit, but when I got my message back from MSI tech support, it was pretty much cut and dry... "Upgrade your bios and use this utility"... attached was the MSI BIOS Update3 program.

Good looking out, Turco for the ECS. I like the motherboard and have had it for a while. Its still working really well, but the issue with this board was I decided to reformat my hard drive and resintall Windows XP. So, I went through the entire process of doing so. After reinstalling, it appeared that the motherboard did not recognize my AGP video card. In fact, when I look in Device Manager, it doesn't even show I have a card installed. So, someone suggested that my AGP slot got whacked somehow with the reformatting and reinstall of XP.

Would you say this is true in terms of my AGP slot? The card itself is a nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4200. Its still a decent card and this would be the last thing I need to do to have both of these PCs up and running nicely. Thanks!

 

As an addition to what Halo was suggesting: the problem as you describe sounds like a problem post POST, meaning a problem with the OS (XP). If it was indeed a problem with AGP slot or the card itself, I'd think you would
get no picture at all and possibly hear your internal case speaker (assuming you got a working on) would be beeping as instructed by the BIOS POST check.

The problem is quite possibly with:
Mobo drivers and/or Video Card's drivers (not installed at all, not installed properly, incorrect or incompatible).

 

Yes, the video card's drivers were installed... in fact, it is the latest drivers for this particular card. But what is strange to me is that, what video card am I installing these drivers for? That's my problem here. It doesn't even appear like there is any card installed.

When you look in Device Manager, you should typically see the selection for Display Adapters and that segment of DM isn't even there for me to view? I've really never seen anything like it before. Somehow, video is going through the card, but not the proper video as everything such as windows and web pages paint slow and forget about playing any games or anything like that.

This is the same card that I've had installed in this machine for about 2 years now. Initial card and driver installation went in without any problems and up until the day I reinstalled XP, the card was just fine.

Halo, sorry for the newb question, but do you mean the chipset drivers for my motherboard?

 

Let's start from scratch:
How did you install XP? Delete existing partition and re-created them?
and also reformat them? Or simply put the CD in reboot to it and started a new installation without fdisk/format steps? You do NOT have to delete the existing partitions and re-create them as some techs advise, no you do not have to! The critical step is format. I always recommend a full (unconditional) format especially if the HardDrive had any previous data on it.

If you have done everything mentioned above then read on...
Secondly, although not common, you could damage a Video Card where it still sends signal and provide picture however does not function as it should. But I normally blame this type of problem to:
1) faulty drivers (not the correct ones or not the most compatible version for the system in question, newer device drivers do not necessarily mean 'better'!)
2) improperly installed/uninstalled drivers, boot in 'Safe Mode' and check the Device Manager for 'Display Adapters' and remember the motto from the movie Highlander "There can be only one!" but also make sure it is the correct one too!
3) Resource conflict with other devices (IRQ, memory, etc.) what other cards do you have installed and what PCI slots are they in? Does the mobo have an integrated video card?
...to be continued....

 

Great! Let's continue then...

I did a total reformat of my hard drive and what I consider a "clean" install of XP. All of my "stuff" that was on my hard drive was totally wiped out and all I was left with was default Windows XP stuff. Let's move on..

1) faulty drivers
> Well, since this is an older card, I've always gone to the same place for upgrades. And that being nVidia's website. Its a pretty simple process. Select your card and download and install the drivers. I've done it plenty of times before again, mainly because my card is a little older and several updates have been created for the GeForce4 Ti 4200.

2) Safe Mode
> Haven't tried Safe Mode, but I am suspecting that it will pretty much show the same as normal boot, nothing in Device Manager. I will try it anyway and let you know what I see.

3) PCI slots
> Right now, there is a SoundBlaster Live! Gamer sound card, a ethernet port, and 2.0 USB port card. Actually checked for this and didn't notice any resource conflicts, but I will take a closer look. The mobo does not have integrated video. It does have onboard sound, but not video.

Halo -
I am suspecting that the motherboard chipset drivers DO in fact need to be installed. Just for clarification purposes, I fixed the issue with my new PC that contains the MSI mobo. The issue we are discussing here is for my old or now "backup" PC which has the ECS mobo. I'm on my new PC right now, but I am about to re-hook up my old PC and try the updates from the ECS website as suggested by Turcoloco in an earlier thread..

Dam, you guys are alright... This is the most help I've gotten in any of the forums that I've visited. If you are ever in Jersey, let me know.. I'll buy you guys some drinks.. (doesn't have to be alcohol either)

 

Grep you are killing me, how could you do a total format, wipe out everything on the harddrive but leave 'default Windows XP stuff' (what does that mean anyhow??)
(I think I am gonna need that drink now!!)
Back to reality....This is a real total format:
1) Change BIOS Boot Order to first CD-ROM drive 2) HardDisk 3) Who cares
2) Put the XP CD (assuming it is a bootable one?) and reboot the PC
3) When and if it prompt you to hit any key to boot from CD hit SpaceBar (I have looked, 'any key' doesn't exist on the keyboard).
4) XP installation should start automatically and after a short while you wil be prompted by installation options screen, previously created partition (if any) will be displayed and if you have a working copy of XP already installed, installation will ask you if you want to Repair it or ....on the same screen you will have the option to Delete existing partition/s, to make things easier do so, then format it with FAT32 or NTFS (if partition size is bigger than 31.xxGB then XP will only show the NTFS as an option, whichever you choose make sure you do NOT format do a 'Quick' format....

Halo may comment or suggest some other things but from what you wrote, I believe you have a half-baked, troubled installation due to the leftover from the previous installation....
START FRESH and CORRECT

 

LOL! sorry about that, Turcoloco. What you wrote above is exactly what I did for the reinstallation of XP. When I meant "default XP stuff", I meant after the installation, I was left with windows drivers, desktop, you know. the way it looks when you first install XP.

So, you think something went wrong with the installation huh? Hmmmm.. are you suggesting that I do what you wrote above again and see if that works? its not like I have anything on this PC installed yet... I guess it wont hurt.

 

Possible but in my personal experience a Vide Card/AGP slot either works or it does NOT, anytime I face some consistant yet random Windows errors (during the initial OS installation or using graphic heavy programs) or system entirely freezing up, the culprit has been the RAM, not necessarily saying the same RAM stick itself has to be bad either, and from what I have seen it may even work fine on another system (your mobo or its chipset might be incompatible or problematic with that paticular type RAM, etc.).

Another scenario, you install the Video card drivers, installation goes smooth as silk, no errors whatsoever, you reboot like a good user when prompted afterwards, system shutsdown, everything fires back up, OS starts loading the GUI environment, your personal settings starts to load....yikes, an error message indicating that your Video/Display settings is wrong or not been configured correctly and that needs to be done..blah blah blah...you wonder what is the deal? After you install the video card drivers XP normally and automatically sets it to a decent workabled resolution and color depth that both your monitor and Video Card can handle....so what is this?
....again, the culprit is RAM!

Going back to the title of this thread if you know what I mean, but try re-installing eveything from scratch, before clean installs it is wise to disable Video and BIOS shadowing and AGP fast write capability features before the installing the OS. After the installation is complete and system was booted fine couple of times then try turning the -applicable- fancy video settings on...if you are not too familiar with BIOS always make one change at a time, save-exit, reboot and see how things look, then do the other changes...this way you can always tell what setting is causing a problem for future reference as well...
I could go on and speculate for hours, make sure you have reloaded optimal settings in BIOS if you have previously played around with any of the settings then do the clean re-install....let's see what happens.

 

Ok, thanks for the suggestions guys... again, I really appreciate the help. You know Halo, its funny you mention those set of drivers. 44.03 driver set for this card worked the best for this card. I've been playing the Battlefield series of games for some time now and no matter how many people told me to upgrade my video drivers for this card, when I did, the performance would decrease significantly. I always resorted back to the 44.03 drivers. I actually have them saved on disc.

In any event, looks like a resintall of XP is in order here and since I have the new PC running and stable, I can take the time to do this now.

I'll keep you guys post!