SDRAM density: a bit of confusion

[dogdrovenorth]

Sorry for the delay. The model (and a piccy) of the motherboard:
http://www.epox.com/USA/product.asp?id=EP-8KTA2
The PC is self-build.
I'm not getting POST errors; it says the memory is PC133 and 512MB and has the right clock speed. I loaded windows just once, on its own, without errors, but then on reboot it complained. WIN32 does not have enough memory to run.

 

[RoryA]

Is that the only memory module you have installed or is it additional to one you already had?

 

[dogdrovenorth]

I'm using two modules of Mtec memory, 512 and 256. I was hoping to replace the 256 with a new 512, but the new 512 has failed to work correctly, each time being a module with a slightly different chip array and overall width.

 

[RoryA]

Most motherboard manufacturers tend to recommend that if you use more than one RAM module, you should get them from the same manufacturer, which helps to ensure that they are compatible with each other (from that website, Epox do list Crucial as a recommended supplier).
Do you have the most up to date BIOS for the motherboard?

 

[Richard Schollar]

Are you able to actually fit that (new) memory module into your existing motherboard or are there too many (or too few) pins on the new module to fit it? If you can fit it, have you tried running the computer with just the new module?

 

[dogdrovenorth]

Rory: interestingly, I looked into getting the latest BIOS update from Epox during my fourth attempt at installing XP (it took six attempts in the end) and it looks like Epox have folded and their updates have unreliable links.

Richard: the 168-pin memory I recently bought fits exactly. It won't work with the exsting memory and I don't know if it's reliable on its own because 512mb isn't enough to make the computer load windown correctly.
Emma would like to know why you've changed back to Parsnip.

Thank you both for your help. I am looking for an Mtec SDRAM to match the existing 512mb at the moment, but they're hard to come by.

 

[Richard Schollar]

512Mb should be absoultely fine to load anything under XP - it might be on the slow side for certain things, but they should still function. I would run Memtest86 on your existing memory (it's a stress test prog) to check to see if it is OK - I wouldn't be surprised if you find one or other module is wonky (even though you might currently think it works).

Back to Parsnip in view of the MS MVP award