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GF's computer has a RAM issue.

CadeCade Eppur si muove.Registered User regular
edited September 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
Okay basically girlfriend bought some new RAM to put into her computer, she made sure it was the right kind and her father even said it was as well, they're not stupid when it comes to such things. She put it in after taking out the old RAM and that's when the trouble began. The computer tends to either : 1) freeze or 2) crash 3) reboot by itself, within the next 5 minutes at best, and to have it function it might require to be rebooted 3 times until it behaves.

In the end they had to yank out the new RAM and put in the old.

So anyone have any solutions or suggestions? Any idea what it might mean.

Cade on

Posts

  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited September 2009
    Are you slotting the highest volume of RAM in the front? Also make sure it's seated properly.

    It would also help if you knew what motherboard she had and what RAM she bought.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • SatsumomoSatsumomo Rated PG! Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Some RAM modules aren't compatible with some chipsets, like some G-Skill modules don't work on AMD chipsets.

    Also, the RAM could be bad!

    Satsumomo on
  • vonPoonBurGervonPoonBurGer Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Can you give us more info? The exact model number on the RAM and the make and model of her motherboard would be good to know. You could have a problem with the motherboard chipset not correctly setting RAM timings, which can lead to system instability. For example, I know many motherboards with an Intel P35 chipset have trouble with DDR2-1066, and the best fix is usually to drop the RAM to DDR2-800 (it's not really a noticeable performance drop, and the extra stability is well worth it).

    vonPoonBurGer on
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  • eternalbleternalbl Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    If you've replaced the old ram with a new piece in the same socket your troubleshooting is basically done.

    See if there's a bios update for the motherboard because it could be a compatibility problem that's been addressed and if that isn't it the new RAM must be bad.

    eternalbl on
    eternalbl.png
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited September 2009
    eternalbl wrote: »
    If you've replaced the old ram with a new piece in the same socket your troubleshooting is basically done.

    I'm going to throw an "Uh wut?" here.

    Because unless I am completely misunderstanding your point, there is no way that remotely makes any sense.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • eternalbleternalbl Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Chanus wrote: »
    eternalbl wrote: »
    If you've replaced the old ram with a new piece in the same socket your troubleshooting is basically done.

    I'm going to throw an "Uh wut?" here.

    Because unless I am completely misunderstanding your point, there is no way that remotely makes any sense.

    If op replaced the original RAM with a completely new stick in the same socket, the socket is known to be good and the fault can only lie with the new RAM.

    eternalbl on
    eternalbl.png
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited September 2009
    eternalbl wrote: »
    Chanus wrote: »
    eternalbl wrote: »
    If you've replaced the old ram with a new piece in the same socket your troubleshooting is basically done.

    I'm going to throw an "Uh wut?" here.

    Because unless I am completely misunderstanding your point, there is no way that remotely makes any sense.

    If op replaced the original RAM with a completely new stick in the same socket, the socket is known to be good and the fault can only lie with the new RAM.

    Okay, I better understand what you mean in that sense... but that doesn't mean your troubleshooting is over. There are various reasons why the new stick is not working, and several that don't necessarily mean the new stick is defective.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • theSquidtheSquid Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    No one has suggested memtest86+?

    Try memtest86+. You'll have to put it onto a bootable device first, like a CD or USB. It's on all Linux discs, I think Windows discs have something like it too. Leave it running for a while (i.e. after it's passed several times)

    theSquid on
  • SatsumomoSatsumomo Rated PG! Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Memtest takes hours to complete several times, I use it as a last resource.

    Satsumomo on
  • eternalbleternalbl Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Chanus wrote: »
    eternalbl wrote: »
    Chanus wrote: »
    eternalbl wrote: »
    If you've replaced the old ram with a new piece in the same socket your troubleshooting is basically done.

    I'm going to throw an "Uh wut?" here.

    Because unless I am completely misunderstanding your point, there is no way that remotely makes any sense.

    If op replaced the original RAM with a completely new stick in the same socket, the socket is known to be good and the fault can only lie with the new RAM.

    Okay, I better understand what you mean in that sense... but that doesn't mean your troubleshooting is over. There are various reasons why the new stick is not working, and several that don't necessarily mean the new stick is defective.

    Which is why I suggested updating his BIOS. Apart from updates adding support for different RAM timings or voltages, it would come down to either being completely incompatible or just plain defective.

    I guess I could be missing something?

    eternalbl on
    eternalbl.png
  • theSquidtheSquid Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Satsumomo wrote: »
    Memtest takes hours to complete several times, I use it as a last resource.

    Mans gonna sleep sometime. And when he does... memtest bitch.

    theSquid on
  • SatsumomoSatsumomo Rated PG! Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Then again I don't do it because I pay for my own electricity bill, and my computer pulls a whole lot :P

    Satsumomo on
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