sy 5ema+ only seeing half RAM with PC133

[SpomaMewor]

I have a Soyo 5ema+ motherboard and when I put pc133 RAM into it, only half of the RAM is showing up. I have checked the RAM and it does not seem to be a problem with the RAM. I have one stick of PC100 RAM and the problem does not seem to occur with it.
So, I stick in a 128MB stick of PC133 and it only sees 64MB. If I stick in a 256MB PC133 stick and it only sees 128MB. Does anyone have any idea of what could be causing this and what I could possible do to fix this problem?

 

[SpomaMewor]

bump. anyone with any ideas.

 

[Peter]

It's nothing to do with the speed grade, rather with size limitations of the board's chipset. So what chipset is that board using?

 

[SpomaMewor]

The motherboard says that it will take up to a 256MB stick of RAM with a total of 768MB.

Chipset Type: VIA MVP3

Memory Description
Three 168-pin DIMM soclets (8/16/32/64/128/256MB modules)
Supports up to 768MB EDO and SDRAM
1MB Pipeline Burst SRAM on board

 

[jello]

You've probably got a high density ram stick and the mobo doesn't support those. We've been seeing that a lot lately at the store I work at. Almost all pc133 ram coming in the doors right now is high density. If you can swing it try a stick that is labeled in particular for 66/100/133 and see if that works out.

 

[SpomaMewor]

The only pc133 RAM i have around is going to be all the PNY that was for sale around christmas. they all seem to be mostly the same. is there any way to get high density to work in a motherboard such as the one that i have.

 

[RobCur]

no, you have to buy a new motherboard that support 512mb per slot or 1GB and greater. either that or they are incompatible with your motherboard chipset.

Originally posted by: SpomaMewor
The only pc133 RAM i have around is going to be all the PNY that was for sale around christmas. they all seem to be mostly the same. is there any way to get high density to work in a motherboard such as the one that i have.

 

[Peter]

MVP3 has a maximum of 128 MBytes per DIMM side. So if you want to use 256-MByte DIMMs, they got to be double sided "16x8" flavor. If the shop personell gives you the blank stare, ask for "Intel BX compatible".

 

[SpomaMewor]

If I understand what you are saying correctly then the fact that the motherboard says it takes up to 256MB per slot, doesn't this mean that it must take double sided DIMMs?

 

[Peter]

Didn't I just say exactly that? 128 MBytes per SIDE, two sides per DIMM.

 

[SpomaMewor]

so this does not explain why it is not working then. the memory that i have should work.

 

[SpomaMewor]

is there any chance that a bios upgrade would allow it to read double sided RAM or this purely a buy a new motherboard thing?