Ram or Mobo Problem?

[NeoFX]

Hey... I've run into yet another problem with my now 2 year old AMD machine :rolleyes:

Recently my computer has been restarting at the oddest of times (when im doing nothing)

I noticed once after it had restarted that my ram was down from 512 to 384 (I have 2 sticks of 256) I tried reseating the sticks and nothing worked.

I purchased another stick of ram and slapped that in there after removing my broken stick. Everything worked fine and I decided to slap the broken stick in and to my surprise it was all there. I now had 768mb. Unfortunately my computer suddenly restarted and I was down to 640mb. I took out the other stick it went back to where it should be.

A bit later my computer restarted again and I was down to 384mb again. This time it was my other old chip that had gone out. Now I am stuck with a measly 256mb and 2 random chips that work at times and don't at times :confused: Is it just that both chips are dying or is it something with my motherboard that is making them 'flicker' ?

Thanks for any help!

[mmonnin]

http://www.memtest86.com

Download the CD ISO, Burn the ISO, and boot off that to test your RAM.

[stoopid]

I'm even suspecting that the motherboard is killing the memory at this stage, no reason 2 seperate sticks should see this fate...

Best bet would be to test the memory on another machine... memtester may only show you what appears to be memory issues/symptoms for a bigger motherbard problem. If the memory works fine in the other machine then you know your motherboard is dying. If they're burned, you have the problem of determining the chicken or the egg (did the memory just happen to die or did the motherboard play a part?).

[NeoFX]

Thanks guys, I'll have to stick the 2 sticks into another machine later today... Unfortunately christmas is a bit far away and I won't be gettin a new motherboard until then if its the problem :S

[NeoFX]

Well.. Still haven't had a chance to test the 2 sticks in another machine but SOON! lol. I slapped them both back in my comp today (after I set my fsb back to normal speed which is 133.. it was at 137). It booted up with 768 and restarted... back down to 640mb. No luck :(

I have a question tho... Will a Pali chip work in the ASUS A7N8x or is it only for Bartons? Same slot type right?

[mmonnin]

They are always backwards compatible. Stick a 650 duron in there and it will work.

[NeoFX]

Doubt ill do that :P lol, thanks for the answer!

[NeoFX]

Well... I figured out that there may be two problems...

I took out every stick of ram and placed the one that I thought was dead. Sure enough, I boot up and it shows 256mb like it should then when I restart goes down to 128mb. That should mean that that stick is bad right? But... then I placed the new stick and the other stick I thought was bad in together but like this | . . | (the lines being the ram, and the . being open) it worked. I have 512mb. But when I place them next to each other like this | | . . it doesn't work... Any ideas?

[mmonnin]

Beats me.

So you havent even tried testing the RAM then? Do it overnight or while you are away. You dont have to be there while its doing it.