hardware issue

[_arno_]

since this is a freak forum
i got pc:
winxp running

amd 2400 xp
512 ddr pc 2700
80 g hd
asus ti 4600 gf4 8460
and some more junk

now i bought 512 pc 3200 ddr with it
The salesman :| said pc 3200 wouldnt matter , but my mobo according to me can handle 333mhz
and not 400 mhz, but oke
Ive placed the ram , my pc saw this now as 1024 mb
Fine and all but now when i play games , i have some serious rendering problems since the time i placed it ( also had a format in that time i placed it in )
Fps Loss sadly
in unreal tourney engine i go from 60 ( wich my monitor can handle max) wobbeling to sometimes 30 and back to 60 , up and down
and got more game fps probs.
Well i thought , its the 512 ive entered
so previous weekend i got the latest 512 ddr out And now i still have this loss
does anyone have any idea , there must be some hardware freaks on this forum
i was planning to format it soon , to check if winxp pro gives probs.
not done YET.
does my vid card have probs ? is my other mem broke ?
motherboard issues?
what can it be.


Thanks in advance.

 

[handan2002]

I would have thought the first port of call would be driver updates. Often new hardware won't work because old drivers don't cope with things it doesn't recognise. Also, it would be nice if you can provide more information on ur comp (not just "and more junk").

oh yea, btw, freak forum...?

 

[SuBX3r0]

i should say that adding ram won't require a driver update.

firstly, it's a little unclear still, you had one stick of 512, and added another stick of 512?

what fsb are you running right now? anything higher than 166 may cause problems with your stick of pc2700.

what you can do first is do like you've already done, just try running your benchmarks and such with one stick, but this time use just the pc3200 stick. if everything goes fine then it may be that your pc2700 stick is bad or being pushed passed its limits.


with just one stick at a time run prime95 for at least a few hours, however to make sure the systems really stable run it for a day or 2 to really give it a work out.

you could also try memtest86 http://www.memtest86.com/

it'll run in dos and it willl thoroughly check your memory, i forget what the options are right now, but try to chose a test thats aggressive or will check the memory the most thorough.

i'd suggest testing one stick at a time for both though, as it sounds like you may have a bad stick, you didn't really mention overclocking or anything.

 

[_arno_]

pc:

motherboard: msi 333mhz 3ddr spots , rest i dont know
processor: amd xp 2400+
first stick: 512ddr 333mhz ( pc 2700 ) dunno brand
second stick: 512 ddr 300 ( pc 3200 ) dunno brand either bought same company
hd: IDE maxtor 80g, 7200 rpm
vid kart: asus ti 4600 gf4 8460 128mb
sound: soundblaster audigy 2 , creative Inspire 6.1 boxes
Cd-rom : dvd-rom 52 speed brand i forgot lol
burner: 16x liteon
network onboard

o/s xp pro dutch sp1
directx 9b
latest version vidcard
latest version soundcard
mobo drivers of cd-rom installed

 

[_arno_]

i forgot:
Network : 100mbit to drayteck e2200 vigor to adsl 2048/320
u want specs of my other pc to ?
never mind that


so you are suggesting i should try to get out the old mem , and place in the new ....... i will try that this weekend .....
that memtest runs for 2 days ? ugh ........but i need my pc
pc is only off at night time.
Thanks in advance

 

[GavinO]

As for the memtest taking a couple of days, the idea is to stress test the machine, so that any part that is on the borderline for failure is revealed. I wouldn't think that low-intensity work on the machine while the test is running will be that big a deal.

 

[SuBX3r0]

i forgot:
Network : 100mbit to drayteck e2200 vigor to adsl 2048/320
u want specs of my other pc to ?
never mind that


so you are suggesting i should try to get out the old mem , and place in the new ....... i will try that this weekend .....
that memtest runs for 2 days ? ugh ........but i need my pc
pc is only off at night time.
Thanks in advance

mem test runs in dos, won't take 2 days unless you want it too, do a lower intensity test, it can take a few hours if you do the right test.

besides whats in your pc, it would also be helpfull to tell us what timings your ram is running at in the bios, and if you could find out, what timings it's rated at (though you already told us you were unsure of what brand).

also what fsb are you running at? and how much voltage are you supplying to the dimms?

 

[_arno_]

my mother board runs at 333mhz , saw it in the bios sometime i think
How much voltage to my dimms ? I have no idea , i just plugged it in and it ran

"it would also be helpfull to tell us what timings your ram is running at in the bios"

i am not a hardware guru so How do i see this ?
Thanks in advance

 

[SuBX3r0]

my mother board runs at 333mhz , saw it in the bios sometime i think
How much voltage to my dimms ? I have no idea , i just plugged it in and it ran

"it would also be helpfull to tell us what timings your ram is running at in the bios"

i am not a hardware guru so How do i see this ?
Thanks in advance

http://www.cpuid.com/

dowload cpuz from that site, extract the files, run the exe, go to the memory tab, and where it says timings, tell me all the values it has in there.

 

[_arno_]

seeying it thats not good in the mean while i got the "new" ddr ( pc3200 ) out
so thats of the old one that was there orriginally

thats it :

 

[SuBX3r0]

seeying it thats not good in the mean while i got the "new" ddr ( pc3200 ) out
so thats of the old one that was there orriginally

thats it :

timings look alright.

what exactly is happeniong? just lower benchmark scores? or does it seem unstable? is thewre crashing?

 

[_arno_]

well in game the fps is lower then normal, and with that it racks further down at times of distress and goes up to the still very low level of fps
But with this particulair game i have never noticed anything of the fps when it still all worked.

lets say when i twas stable it didnt come of the 60 , now its standard 45 .and goes further down to 20/30 and goesback to 45
im frustrated by this happening

 

[SuBX3r0]

well in game the fps is lower then normal, and with that it racks further down at times of distress and goes up to the still very low level of fps
But with this particulair game i have never noticed anything of the fps when it still all worked.

lets say when i twas stable it didnt come of the 60 , now its standard 45 .and goes further down to 20/30 and goesback to 45
im frustrated by this happening

souinds software related, have you tried updating your video drivers? also have you installed any software lately that may be eating up resources in the background?

 

[_arno_]

well i had latest nvidia drivers , latest everything actually.
well im gona format soon , so then we will try
ull here from me

 

[_arno_]

Well ive formatted my disk , with the old pc 2700 ddr in it and not the other dim.
got all new drivers , and its still going like a nothing .
any other suggestions?

 

[SuBX3r0]

what all have you done to the pc when you noticed the problem? any driver updates? added anything else besides the ram? do you have your video card overclocked or anything of that nature?

 

[handan2002]

If you formatted it and used your old ram and still have the problem, then i would have thought its not a software problem then. Perhaps something you accidentally knocked loose in your case whilst installing the other ram?

 

[_arno_]

well I installed only my latest drivers of websites. and no other program else
Then a game to test it , and its still doing it
I did take out my vidcard Else i couldnt enter the Ram.
Its like scary close to each other.
But im sure ive placed it well back , because when i took it out the ram i checked if vidcarrd was well palced , it was
Couldnt get furhter in
should i get out my old ram and replace it with my new ram and see what happens ? or is this useless

 

[SuBX3r0]

yeah, you can try the new ram alone as well.

did you get this problem after updating your video drivers? some video drivers may not work as well on one machine as they do on another.

newer isn't always better. if you started having this problem after a video driver update, i would look for an older driver verssion, or look for the one you had previously installed.

i suppose motherboard drivers could also cause this problem, did you by any chance update them before all this started?

 

[_arno_]

i actually just had motherboard drivers of the cd.
i really think its a hardware issue.
I could try the old hardware drivers .. ill check it this week......
if that doesnt work ill change my ram.
If that doesnt work im gona cry