CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 After looking at this thread here http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=160940 I decided to upgrade my RAM from 512mb by using 2 x 1g. The crucial program suggested that these could be installed alongside my existing RAM taking me to 2.5gb. So, the RAM duly arrived and not trusting myself I took it along to the local PC shop for him to fit them but when looking at the slots on the mother board it was obvious that there were only 2 and therefore they could only be used on their own. They were fitted and off I went comforted in the knowledge that my PC now had 2 gb of RAM - but then the problems started. Within 5 minutes of the PC running, it shut itself down. Then after starting again, the dreaded blue screen appeared with an error that said: driver_IRQL_not_less_or_equal I obviously didn't have a clue and so I restarted the computer only for it to occur again and this time with a different error message. I then took the machine back to the PC chap and after trying various things (we changed the power supply as the fan was only working intermittently) the same thing would happen again whereby the PC would either freeze completely or the dreaded blue screen would appear again. We then decided to replace the 2x1gb of RAM with my old 512mb and it is now working AOK. The PC chap is suggesting that the mother board may not be capable of accepting the extra RAM. Does that sound right to you folks? If not, is there something else he should have done to ensure the blue screen did not occur? Any help will be gratefully received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 PC chappie could well be right Col. Try to find the motherboard manual. That'll tell you how much RAM it can accept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 PC chappie could well be right Col. Try to find the motherboard manual. That'll tell you how much RAM it can accept. It is a fairly old PC my friend and so the manual is long gone. I know it is something like a Soltek - is there any way I can find out which mother board it is from the settings on my PC? Or is it a guts out job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 It's back off and look for numbers on the board then I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 My guess is one of the new sticks of ram is fooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 It's back off and look for numbers on the board then I'm afraid. Thanks Ken - I suspected as much although given that the PC is now working fine and dandy with the old RAM back in, I suspect that the mother board is the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 My guess is one of the new sticks of ram is fooked. We tried it with just one stick too and they same thing happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 even alternating them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I would lay money on the board not being compatible Scotser, especially as CJ said it's a fairly old PC with only 2 slots. CJ, if you can find the mobo number then we could look it up online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 even alternating them? To be honest, I never tried that. Maybe I should get them from the PC shop (I left them there) and just try swapping things about myself. I looked and providing all I need to do is to push them in and clip the ends then I cant go far wrong eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 I would lay money on the board not being compatible Scotser, especially as CJ said it's a fairly old PC with only 2 slots. CJ, if you can find the mobo number then we could look it up online. I am sure I had a manual somewhere but probably left it back in the UK. Failing that, I will try to get the back off later and have a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I would lay money on the board not being compatible Scotser, especially as CJ said it's a fairly old PC with only 2 slots. CJ, if you can find the mobo number then we could look it up online. I'm almost positive that if a board isn't compatible it just won't boot though. It sounds to me as if when the PC is getting used its filling in some bad area's of the ram causing the crash. This is taking approx 5 mins of resource use. I've had this in the past with a faulty stick. I would guess that even older PC's would handle 1GB of ram without incident. Yeah CJ i would get the box home and have a play. Just be very careful when pushing them in and pulling them out. They are pretty delicate. Sounds like you maybe just unlucky and have tried the faulty stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayssupra Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Maybe you should ask santa for a new computer or get yourself a bundle deal, a new motherboard and 4.2 gig processor and 2gig of ram should only set you back about 100-120 pounds. go on treat yourself ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 We had something similar with our desktop pc. We had 512mb installed and I added 2 x 1gb sticks. Wouldn't work. After faffing about for a bit I put the new memory on the slots occupied by the 512mb and moved the 512mb to the previously empty slots. Worked a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Plug em in one at a time and run memtest+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 http://www.memtest.org/ You want this one:http://www.memtest.org/download/2.10/memtest86+-2.10.iso.zip Unzip it, burn the image with something like imgburn http://www.imgburn.com/ Boot from it, select defaults and away it goes. You are ment to run it for a good 24 hours per stick but I suspect it will fail within minutes. (red stuff on the screen) This will confirm which stick is up the spout. You may find both fail, which would meen that the Ram is simply incompatible with the motherboard or unlikely both are faulty. hth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Just looked at the ram thread, is it the set I recommended? Crucial stuff is normally all right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Just looked at the ram thread, is it the set I recommended? Crucial stuff is normally all right. I bought the Crucial stuff from dabs as you recommended but the courier company failed to deliver to my old address as the tenants were never there at the right times and therefore they sent it back to dabs. I then asked to get some from the PC shop here and they suggested Kingston but after now looking at it, they have actually delivered something called NCP Platinum with numbers on it that says: ELPD7AUDR-50M48 NC 04018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Plug em in one at a time and run memtest+ I think I will take this back to the PC shop tomorrow morning and show him this thread and try that memtest thing. Just to advise - I looked at the mobo but all I can see is the word Soltek with no apparent model numbers anywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I bought the Crucial stuff from dabs as you recommended but the courier company failed to deliver to my old address as the tenants were never there at the right times and therefore they sent it back to dabs. I then asked to get some from the PC shop here and they suggested Kingston but after now looking at it, they have actually delivered something called NCP Platinum with numbers on it that says: ELPD7AUDR-50M48 NC 04018 mmmmmm shit RAM Get some kingston in there, I dont think I have ever had a problem with a budget kingston stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 OK, after doffing my Sherlock hat and much faffing about, I think I have worked out what's wrong. I have 3 mem sticks: A - 1gb B - 1gb C - Original 512mb I firstly tried stick A on its own and after running lots of crap and doing as much as i could for about 45 minutes it was working perfectly. I then tried stick B on its own and as soon as I turned on the PC it made the beeping sound that is associated with a memory problem. I checked to ensure that the stick was correctly fitted, tried again and still had the beep. I then took that out and put in stick A and stick C and as soon as I powered up I got the dreaded blue screen. I have now put back stick A on its own and all appears to be AOK. So, I deduce that stick B is fecked and that the mobo wont take anymore than 1gb. What thinks you chaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I would take the memory back and get 2gb of decent ram and give that a try. I still think it will work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 I would take the memory back and get 2gb of decent ram and give that a try. I still think it will work fine. Even though the blue screen came up with the "good" 1gb stick and the original 512mb in the adjoining slot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Even though the blue screen came up with the "good" 1gb stick and the original 512mb in the adjoining slot? Yup memory missmatch can cause that. Usually if your memory gets past the bios your board can handle it. If it can't, it will normally only recognise as much as it can or throw up an error. Your problem the whole time has been faulty memory IMO. Matched pairs are always much better than mix and match. Different motherboards handle uneven rated ram differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 That Blue screen error nearly always means a memory hardware issue. Try installing memtest from here: http://www.memtest.org/ The insert each individual ram module in and run the test, it will show if either one of them has a problem. (3 tests needed of course) If each test is okay it'll be either a timing issue with the memory settings or a timing mismatch causing one or more module to generate an error (usually overheat) There should be a sticker on each module with it part number and timing rating, can you post those up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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