HELP! Having trouble with memory and bus speed

Ok, here's my problem:

I have a Biostar M7VIG Pro motherboard
(http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails...odel=m7vig+pro). I just replaced
the AMD Duron 1.2 ghz CPU I had with an AMD AthlonXP 1800+. My system memory
is two 512meg SDRAM modules. The system bus is set to 100mhz. My OS is
Windows XP Home.

When I had the Duron installed, if I attempted to change the bus speed to
133mhz, the computer would just beep at me when I turned it on. I found out
that this Duron did not support 133mhz bus speed. When I installed the
Athlon, I expected to be able to up the bus speed to 133mhz. When I did
this, the computer appeared to be loading just fine, but just before it got
to the user login screen (I have 2 profiles - 1 for me and 1 for my wife),
it freezes up at the Windows XP logo screen (the little green bar that is
moving from left to right stops moving).

I attempted to install two 1 gig DDR modules when I upgraded to the Athlon.
When I boot up (remember, we're at 100mhz bus speed), I get a ton of memory
errors and unstable performance to the point of the computer rebooting
itself. I got the same results with the Duron. I understand that I may need
to buy a better quality memory module, and I understand the registered vs
non-registered aspect. The modules say "1GB DDR333 Module 16C G37 Y34" and
have what I can only assume to be a part number (since they both have the
same number) under the barcode on the memory's label: 00020040628.

So here are my questions - can you think of any reason why the computer
wouldn't accept the 133mhz bus speed? Other than buying registered memory,
can you think of any other reasons for the erratic behavior of the memory?

"Andy in NJ" SHORECOGS at COMCAST DOT NET wrote in message
...
Ok, here's my problem:

I have a Biostar M7VIG Pro motherboard
(http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails...odel=m7vig+pro). I just
replaced
the AMD Duron 1.2 ghz CPU I had with an AMD AthlonXP 1800+. My system
memory
is two 512meg SDRAM modules. The system bus is set to 100mhz. My OS is
Windows XP Home.

When I had the Duron installed, if I attempted to change the bus speed to
133mhz, the computer would just beep at me when I turned it on. I found
out
that this Duron did not support 133mhz bus speed. When I installed the
Athlon, I expected to be able to up the bus speed to 133mhz. When I did
this, the computer appeared to be loading just fine, but just before it
got
to the user login screen (I have 2 profiles - 1 for me and 1 for my wife),
it freezes up at the Windows XP logo screen (the little green bar that is
moving from left to right stops moving).

I attempted to install two 1 gig DDR modules when I upgraded to the
Athlon.
When I boot up (remember, we're at 100mhz bus speed), I get a ton of
memory
errors and unstable performance to the point of the computer rebooting
itself. I got the same results with the Duron. I understand that I may
need
to buy a better quality memory module, and I understand the registered vs
non-registered aspect. The modules say "1GB DDR333 Module 16C G37 Y34"
and
have what I can only assume to be a part number (since they both have the
same number) under the barcode on the memory's label: 00020040628.

So here are my questions - can you think of any reason why the computer
wouldn't accept the 133mhz bus speed? Other than buying registered memory,
can you think of any other reasons for the erratic behavior of the memory?

Well first you state that you are running SDram, then you say later you
install DDR modules? So the board supports both? Or one or the other? As
far as your SDram modules are concerned, they are 100MHz I assume and then
what you were doing was effectively "overclocking" the memory modules by
going to 133Mhz which they could not handle so you started to get the
freezing.

As far as your DDR goes...buying registered most likely will *NOT* fix
your problem. Are these modules used? Is it possible they are actually
damaged?

-Chris

--
73! de Andy KC2SSB
http://shorecogs.tripod.com
AIM: shorecogs
"Chris Stolworthy" wrote in message
...

"Andy in NJ" SHORECOGS at COMCAST DOT NET wrote in message
...
Ok, here's my problem:

I have a Biostar M7VIG Pro motherboard
(http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails...odel=m7vig+pro). I just
replaced
the AMD Duron 1.2 ghz CPU I had with an AMD AthlonXP 1800+. My system
memory
is two 512meg SDRAM modules. The system bus is set to 100mhz. My OS is
Windows XP Home.

When I had the Duron installed, if I attempted to change the bus speed
to
133mhz, the computer would just beep at me when I turned it on. I found
out
that this Duron did not support 133mhz bus speed. When I installed the
Athlon, I expected to be able to up the bus speed to 133mhz. When I did
this, the computer appeared to be loading just fine, but just before it
got
to the user login screen (I have 2 profiles - 1 for me and 1 for my
wife),
it freezes up at the Windows XP logo screen (the little green bar that
is
moving from left to right stops moving).

I attempted to install two 1 gig DDR modules when I upgraded to the
Athlon.
When I boot up (remember, we're at 100mhz bus speed), I get a ton of
memory
errors and unstable performance to the point of the computer rebooting
itself. I got the same results with the Duron. I understand that I may
need
to buy a better quality memory module, and I understand the registered
vs
non-registered aspect. The modules say "1GB DDR333 Module 16C G37 Y34"
and
have what I can only assume to be a part number (since they both have
the
same number) under the barcode on the memory's label: 00020040628.

So here are my questions - can you think of any reason why the computer
wouldn't accept the 133mhz bus speed? Other than buying registered
memory,
can you think of any other reasons for the erratic behavior of the
memory?

Well first you state that you are running SDram, then you say later you
install DDR modules? So the board supports both? Or one or the other? As
far as your SDram modules are concerned, they are 100MHz I assume and then
what you were doing was effectively "overclocking" the memory modules by
going to 133Mhz which they could not handle so you started to get the
freezing.

As far as your DDR goes...buying registered most likely will *NOT* fix
your problem. Are these modules used? Is it possible they are actually
damaged?

-Chris

"Chris Stolworthy" wrote in message
...

Well first you state that you are running SDram, then you say later you
install DDR modules? So the board supports both? Or one or the other? As
far as your SDram modules are concerned, they are 100MHz I assume and then
what you were doing was effectively "overclocking" the memory modules by
going to 133Mhz which they could not handle so you started to get the
freezing.

As far as your DDR goes...buying registered most likely will *NOT* fix
your problem. Are these modules used? Is it possible they are actually
damaged?

-Chris

The motherboard has 2 slots for DDR and 2 slots for SDR. Only 1 type can be
used at a time with support for up to 2 GB of ram. The SDR is 133mhz. The
DDR is new memory and were tested prior to shipping.

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 12:00:24 -0400, "Andy in NJ" SHORECOGS at
COMCAST DOT NET wrote:

Ok, here's my problem:

I have a Biostar M7VIG Pro motherboard
(http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails...odel=m7vig+pro). I just replaced
the AMD Duron 1.2 ghz CPU I had with an AMD AthlonXP 1800+. My system memory
is two 512meg SDRAM modules. The system bus is set to 100mhz. My OS is
Windows XP Home.

When I had the Duron installed, if I attempted to change the bus speed to
133mhz, the computer would just beep at me when I turned it on. I found out
that this Duron did not support 133mhz bus speed. When I installed the
Athlon, I expected to be able to up the bus speed to 133mhz. When I did
this, the computer appeared to be loading just fine, but just before it got
to the user login screen (I have 2 profiles - 1 for me and 1 for my wife),
it freezes up at the Windows XP logo screen (the little green bar that is
moving from left to right stops moving).

Any time system has FSB or memory bus increase OR DECREASE (since
memory timings may drop as a result) it is very helpful to run
http://www.memtest86.com for several hours prior to booting the
OS. Booting OS while system has memory or other errors may
corrupt who-knows-what and at best you'd then realize it and
reinstall whole OS, but at worse the problem was intermittent and
much data was corrupted, even parts replaced beyond those causing
the problem.

After determining if memtest86 shows errors, you can procceed
from there. Also check bios health monitor (and if you have a
multimeter, the power supply plugs) for voltage levels, and CPU
temp.



I attempted to install two 1 gig DDR modules when I upgraded to the Athlon.
When I boot up (remember, we're at 100mhz bus speed), I get a ton of memory
errors and unstable performance to the point of the computer rebooting
itself. I got the same results with the Duron. I understand that I may need
to buy a better quality memory module, and I understand the registered vs
non-registered aspect. The modules say "1GB DDR333 Module 16C G37 Y34" and
have what I can only assume to be a part number (since they both have the
same number) under the barcode on the memory's label: 00020040628.

So here are my questions - can you think of any reason why the computer
wouldn't accept the 133mhz bus speed? Other than buying registered memory,
can you think of any other reasons for the erratic behavior of the memory?


1) It's a Biostar motherboard - not known for quality and not
too many bios updates to resolve issues like memory compatibility

2) You're trying to run more than one double-sided module on a
KM266 chipset, the integrated video derivative of a KT266A, which
itself isn't particularly stable... hence Via releasing
essentially same thing later as KT333 and KT400 which improved
stability.

Other issues could be (as briefly mentioned to test above) that
system power supply is insufficient. Perhaps not, but often I
see poor power supplies paired with these all-integrated low-end
motherboards. Ignoring CPU and memory, even motherboard itself
will tolerate poor power better at the lower 100MHz FSB rate.

GIven you have all this memory and the two CPUs, I suggest
building a second system... use the Duron, PC133 memory and
Biosstar board for one system, and buy another motherboard for
the Athlon XP1800, perhaps an Nforce2 board.

In other words, just because a chipset can theoretically suport
"X" amount of memory, it doesn't necessarily mean any given
motherboard can really run that memory stabily, especially if the
memory is only "standard" grade instead of premium memory running
far underspec, which is a horrible value since a more modern
board could cost less than the price difference for really good
memory. Even a cheap board (like a Biostar) nForce2 might have
no trouble running your two 1GB modules, though I've never tried
that specific configuration and it'd depend on the specific
memory too... then again, your Athlon does only need DDR266 FSB,
there should be enough of a margin to do it.

"kony" wrote in message
...
Any time system has FSB or memory bus increase OR DECREASE (since
memory timings may drop as a result) it is very helpful to run
http://www.memtest86.com for several hours prior to booting the
OS. Booting OS while system has memory or other errors may
corrupt who-knows-what and at best you'd then realize it and
reinstall whole OS, but at worse the problem was intermittent and
much data was corrupted, even parts replaced beyond those causing
the problem.

After determining if memtest86 shows errors, you can procceed
from there. Also check bios health monitor (and if you have a
multimeter, the power supply plugs) for voltage levels, and CPU
temp.

I'm not sure I understand you. How will running memtest60 tell me if the DDR
memory that I have will work with my motherboard?

Other issues could be (as briefly mentioned to test above) that
system power supply is insufficient. Perhaps not, but often I
see poor power supplies paired with these all-integrated low-end
motherboards. Ignoring CPU and memory, even motherboard itself
will tolerate poor power better at the lower 100MHz FSB rate.

I had thought about the power supply issue. I'm just not sure how to test
how well my power supply is working. My other components a ATI Radeon
9600 pro video card, Santa Cruz Turtle Beach sound card. I also run a number
of USB devices (such as a wireless keyboard/mouse). How could I determine if
my power supply is insufficient?

GIven you have all this memory and the two CPUs, I suggest
building a second system... use the Duron, PC133 memory and
Biosstar board for one system, and buy another motherboard for
the Athlon XP1800, perhaps an Nforce2 board.

Unfortunately this isn't an option right now, which is why I'm trying to
improve on what I have.

In other words, just because a chipset can theoretically suport
"X" amount of memory, it doesn't necessarily mean any given
motherboard can really run that memory stabily, especially if the
memory is only "standard" grade instead of premium memory running
far underspec, which is a horrible value since a more modern
board could cost less than the price difference for really good
memory. Even a cheap board (like a Biostar) nForce2 might have
no trouble running your two 1GB modules, though I've never tried
that specific configuration and it'd depend on the specific
memory too... then again, your Athlon does only need DDR266 FSB,
there should be enough of a margin to do it.

I appretiate you taking the time to write the reply. It's very informative.

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 13:19:53 -0400, "Andy in NJ" SHORECOGS at
COMCAST DOT NET wrote:

"kony" wrote in message
.. .
Any time system has FSB or memory bus increase OR DECREASE (since
memory timings may drop as a result) it is very helpful to run
http://www.memtest86.com for several hours prior to booting the
OS. Booting OS while system has memory or other errors may
corrupt who-knows-what and at best you'd then realize it and
reinstall whole OS, but at worse the problem was intermittent and
much data was corrupted, even parts replaced beyond those causing
the problem.

After determining if memtest86 shows errors, you can procceed
from there. Also check bios health monitor (and if you have a
multimeter, the power supply plugs) for voltage levels, and CPU
temp.

I'm not sure I understand you. How will running memtest60 tell me if the DDR
memory that I have will work with my motherboard?

Quite simply, in theory the memory IS supported, but in practice
it may not run stabily. Testing the memory is the way to
determine if it's stable, before booting to OS, risking any
files/data manipulated while you might have memory errors.



Other issues could be (as briefly mentioned to test above) that
system power supply is insufficient. Perhaps not, but often I
see poor power supplies paired with these all-integrated low-end
motherboards. Ignoring CPU and memory, even motherboard itself
will tolerate poor power better at the lower 100MHz FSB rate.

I had thought about the power supply issue. I'm just not sure how to test
how well my power supply is working. My other components a ATI Radeon
9600 pro video card, Santa Cruz Turtle Beach sound card. I also run a number
of USB devices (such as a wireless keyboard/mouse). How could I determine if
my power supply is insufficient?

I already suggested taking voltage readings.
What make/model power supply is it?
Some generics may seem fine for a time, but rapidly degrade, such
that "right now" you might only notice the problem when trying to
upgrade the system, but with more time, further degradation of
the power supply "could" make even the base, original system
config instable. These are things we have insufficient data to
determine.


GIven you have all this memory and the two CPUs, I suggest
building a second system... use the Duron, PC133 memory and
Biosstar board for one system, and buy another motherboard for
the Athlon XP1800, perhaps an Nforce2 board.

Unfortunately this isn't an option right now, which is why I'm trying to
improve on what I have.

A nice theory, but if you simply can't get it to work, you'll
have no alternative... if the board simply won't run the memory
stable there is no magic bullet that will fix that, except
possibly buying premium memory and running it at relaxed timings,
which as i already mentioned, may end up being more expensive
than the new motherboard.



In other words, just because a chipset can theoretically suport
"X" amount of memory, it doesn't necessarily mean any given
motherboard can really run that memory stabily, especially if the
memory is only "standard" grade instead of premium memory running
far underspec, which is a horrible value since a more modern
board could cost less than the price difference for really good
memory. Even a cheap board (like a Biostar) nForce2 might have
no trouble running your two 1GB modules, though I've never tried
that specific configuration and it'd depend on the specific
memory too... then again, your Athlon does only need DDR266 FSB,
there should be enough of a margin to do it.

I appretiate you taking the time to write the reply. It's very informative.

You might also see if bios allows manually setting slower timings
(higher numbers) at same (133MHz) memory & FSB speed.

"kony" wrote in message
...
I already suggested taking voltage readings.

You're speaking greek to me. Take voltage readings?

What make/model power supply is it?

Not sure. Next time I open it up, I'll look. It came with the case (custom
computer).

Some generics may seem fine for a time, but rapidly degrade, such
that "right now" you might only notice the problem when trying to
upgrade the system, but with more time, further degradation of
the power supply "could" make even the base, original system
config instable. These are things we have insufficient data to
determine.

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 18:17:28 -0400, "Andy in NJ" SHORECOGS at
COMCAST DOT NET wrote:

"kony" wrote in message
.. .
I already suggested taking voltage readings.

You're speaking greek to me. Take voltage readings?

Yes, if you have a multimeter, take measurements at the ATX
connector while system is on. If not, see what the bios hardware
monitor screen and/or windows hardware monitor utility reports
(for voltage levels, particularly 3V, 5V, & 12V).



What make/model power supply is it?

Not sure. Next time I open it up, I'll look. It came with the case (custom
computer).


Usually "unknown, came-with-case" power supplies are pretty low
quality. However, it is less common for only memory to have
errors from poor or insufficient power, if your bios allows
setting asynchronous memory speed, you might see if the system is
stable with FSB @ 100MHz but memory at 133MHz, or vice-versa, FSB
@ 133 and memory @ 100. This would tend to isolate the faster
bus somewhat. Even so, better to first test with memtest86, and
see if relaxing the memory timings or changing FSB speed lower
eliminates errors (assuming there are errors reported by
memtest86).

"kony" wrote in message
...
Yes, if you have a multimeter, take measurements at the ATX
connector while system is on. If not, see what the bios hardware
monitor screen and/or windows hardware monitor utility reports
(for voltage levels, particularly 3V, 5V, & 12V).

Well, I don't have a multimeter. Here's what Everest gives me on voltage:

Voltage Values
CPU Core 1.76 V
+3.3 V 3.22 V
+5 V 5.00 V
+12 V 12.34 V
-12 V -12.12 V
-5 V -5.20 V
+5 V Standby 4.85 V
VBAT Battery 3.26 V