Memory problems on MSI MS-7030 (v1.X) ATX Mainboard K8N Neo Series????

I hope this learned body of enthusiasts can help me out here:

The mainboard I have ( an MSI MS-7030 (v1.X) ATX Mainboard K8N Neo Series ) appears to deliver consist memory test failures regardless of whatever RAM I run on it... I have been having problems with hanging up on this board whilst trying to install XP ( different AGP cards and HDDs no differences) and resorted to the Windows Memory Diagnostic CD to see if the RAM was to blame... the autorun CD can be found here: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

The tests all work fine on all my PC3200 RAM wafers until I hit the "Stride 6" test ( see ) and all my RAM ( whether taken out of other working PCS or not) fails this test ( test either hangs or MB reboots) with the exception of a single 256MB wafer ( a Hynix PC2100U-25330 HYMD132645A(8 or B?)-H AA 256MB DDR 266Mhz CL2.5)

Is this just a distraction or something indicative of the sensitivity to particular RAM of this motherboard??????

Anything else I should be considering?

Apologies if the question is a bit simple but I am looking for a pointer here having tried lots of different combinations of peripherals and RAM in different slots and still getting the hanging/rebooting

Dr B

 

You may just be dealing with Dirty memory slots on your MOBO.
Or you may be testing ram that was not meant for your MOBO.
Check with your mobo manufacturer, so see exactly what kind of ram they recommend for that mobo.

It's well known in the RAM business, that certain brands of motherboard just don't like certain brands of ram.

Then there is the B-grade or refurbished ram.
Certain brands use a lot of this less than perfect ram. Kingston leads the way in using refurbished ram. (about 85%)
Two other brands I'd never use in my PC is PNY and Spectec.
(also known as Superman Ram, by the stylish "S" on each chip.)

Also, I've seen some ram that will constantly show a problem with certain memory test routines, while in actuality, it's just fine.

You should be testing your ram, one stick at a time, with "Memtest86+".
That's probably one of the most reliable ram test programs available.
If you don't get an error in the first pass, don't stop there, but continue testing for several more hours.

Good Luck,
The Shadow

 

#1 any way to clean the slots?

#2 touch wood an install of XP SP2 is now underway!!!! with 1GB of kinsgston RAM

dunno why it is working

JB

 

You can clean out ram slots on the mobo, with a old (clean) toothbrush.

I've actually washed them out with denatured alcohol before.

Dump the Kingston ram. See my post above.
Don't mix brands of ram on the same mobo.
Don't mix speeds of ram .......
Don't mix ram of different chip densities.

While on that same PC, go to www.crucial.com
and take their free SCAN, to determine exactly what ram you should be using.
You can even buy the very best ram available, right there on the web site.
They use only "Micron" ram..... top of the line.

Shadow :cool