ASUS A7V333 MEMORY problem

[silentScope]

Hi, my specs are Athlon XP 2100+ Asus a7v333,

I originally had 256 mb 333-PC2700 ram .. then i added another 256(put it in 2nd slot), and now its giving me weird problems... i can see the 512 mb perfectly fine in the bios, and in windows and everywhere it works fine... but when i play games after like 20 mins it resets by itself... it never happeend when i originally had 256 in there... I have tried returning the 256 extra ram and gotten another brand but it still happens.....

When it does reset, the startup screen that shows how much ram u have doesnt show anything..... so something weird is going on, Thanks for all your help. I have 7 days to return it, so i need some advice... tnx..

 

[mechBgon]

What brands of RAM you got there? Also, can you go into your BIOS and report these items:

• From the Advanced area: CPU/Memory Frequency Ratio
• From the Advanced > Chip Configuration area: the values for the first eight lines, which tell what timings are being used

Also, what brand and model of power supply are you using? The extra DIMM is capable of pulling another 15W under peak load, and this may be giving your system an excuse to crash.

 

[silentScope]

The CPU/Memory freq ratio is on AUto, and i have a good power supply, the Enermax 350W

The first one is by Hynix, and the second one is by Infineon.

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, Hynix and Infineon are the makers of the individual chips on the module but they are probably not the guys who made the whole module... could be a quality issue there related to the circuit boards or other SMD's. Crucial is a good brand to run if you want guaranteed compatibility.

I suggest switching the memory to "1:1" instead of auto, so it's running in sync with the CPU at PC2100 speeds. As for the rest of the timings, start with "by SPD" on the Chip Configuration page and see how that goes. If that doesn't work, try 2.5-3-3-6 with 1T Command disabled.

edit: here is more A7V333 info than you can shake a stick at, too: thread o' much info

 

[silentScope]

Im not too sure who made the module. I know about companies like crucial and stuff, but when i bought it it didnt mention which company made the module, i just looked on the chip to see who the maker was.

Do you think flashing the bios would do anything? If so, how do you do it in XP?

My ram is PC 2700, whats the ratio to put it to that? instead of 1:1 for PC 2100?

 

[mechBgon]

I would make it 1:1, yes. That results in PC2100 speeds (lower) but with less latency (faster) so it works out to the same real-world performance while taking it easier on your RAM.

Flashing the BIOS on the A7V333's is scary, and I would know... I've had a couple of flash attempts fail and had to RMA the A7V333's. If you look at Asus' BIOS remarks you kind of get the feeling that their Windows-based BIOS updater is faulty... the traditional method or else the EZ-Flash method are preferable.

EZ-Flash was incorporated in BIOS 1008 or thereabouts, and if your BIOS has it, you can press Alt+F2 at POST and update the BIOS from there.