I have just bought a 512MB stick of 400MHz DDR PC3200 RAM for my comp (which already has a stick the same as just purchased) and whenever I begin a RAM intensive task like a game or 'sandra lite' the system restarts. The RAM modules are situated in a 3 slot configuration (different to the 2x2 normally found) and the new module made by PNY and the old one by Infineon (previously Siemans). Both have a CAS latency of 3.0 when running at full speed (400MHz). And I have run memory stability tests on them and they come out clean! There is absolutely no reason I can think of why they cause this problem but I'm hoping at least some of you guys will have come across this problem before and know how to fix it :) thanks in advance for any help

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For restarts I usually suspect the power supply first.

have you tried running memtest on it from a bootable cd?

Try reducing the speed of the memory to 333MHz and see if that gives you stability. If it does you can eliminate the PSU...

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Hey thx for your ideas their both things i hadn't thought of. I don't think it's the psu though because the problem only occurs when new RAM is inserted. The lower speeds do make it more stable, but only when reduced down to 200MHz which make the system overall slower and more unresponsive than when 512MB of 400MHz of RAM is in. It's a rather annoying predicament because it's the second brand of RAM (first being Corsair) that hasn't worked. So leads me to beleive I'm stuck with a measly half pint.

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Hey thx for your ideas their both things i hadn't thought of. I don't think it's the psu though because the problem only occurs when new RAM is inserted. The lower speeds do make it more stable, but only when reduced down to 200MHz which make the system overall slower and more unresponsive than when 512MB of 400MHz of RAM is in. It's a rather annoying predicament because it's the second brand of RAM (first being Corsair) that hasn't worked. So leads me to beleive I'm stuck with a measly half pint.

You may have a bad system board. You can usually get a good one on sale for about $100.

I would continue to look at the PSU idea. The additional RAM will draw more power and if your PSU is having problems, the additional RAM may push it over the limit. You can typically buy a new PSU for about $30 - $40 as long as you don't need SLi and other features.

Good Luck!

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Thx!

Paul

Is your memory voltage set correctly, what memory is it (512MB stick of 400MHz DDR PC3200) but what exactly is it , Corsair , OCZ , Crucial etc. A part number would be good and also to know what your BIOS memory voltage is set to.

Had similar problems when memory voltage was set -0.2V below spec of OCZ DDR2 DIMM - PC would run but give it anything "heavy" to do and ...... POP ! BSOD or lock up

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Is your memory voltage set correctly, what memory is it (512MB stick of 400MHz DDR PC3200) but what exactly is it , Corsair , OCZ , Crucial etc. A part number would be good and also to know what your BIOS memory voltage is set to.

Had similar problems when memory voltage was set -0.2V below spec of OCZ DDR2 DIMM - PC would run but give it anything "heavy" to do and ...... POP ! BSOD or lock up

That is an amazingly brilliant idea!!! I will try...thanks a lot!!

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I had a similar problem which was solved by people on this forum. The conflict was caused by different voltages on the two memory sticks.

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