Can adding more RAM actually slow a system down? Is there a way to test it?

[David D]

I have just added an extra stick of 667 Kingston RAM 1Gig to my Asus
M2NPV-VM motherboard last night. I was running on one stick, but now
I am up to 2 GIG and for some strange reason, the system seems to
actually be running slower? Is there a way to check on speeds,
benchmarks and so forth for ram?

The system has 3800+ X2 A2M, 2 gig kingston 667 ram, IDE 80 gig
master, 250 Sata slave.

 

[Paul]

I have just added an extra stick of 667 Kingston RAM 1Gig to my Asus
M2NPV-VM motherboard last night. I was running on one stick, but now
I am up to 2 GIG and for some strange reason, the system seems to
actually be running slower? Is there a way to check on speeds,
benchmarks and so forth for ram?

The system has 3800+ X2 A2M, 2 gig kingston 667 ram, IDE 80 gig
master, 250 Sata slave.

You probably put it in the wrong slot. Dual channel mode uses matched
pairs of slots.

I just looked in the downloadable Asus user manual. The manual does
a poor job of explaining this.

1) A matched pair of sticks can go into A1 and B1
2) A matched pair of sticks can go into A2 and B2

That is why the slots are colored. Matched DIMMs go in slots of
the same color. And that is to get dual channel mode. The machine
will function with the sticks in any slots, but certain slot
combinations will work better than others (single channel versus
dual channel operation). If your two sticks went into A1 and A2
for example, then you'd be running on a single channel (the "A" channel)
and getting only half the bandwidth.

If you get a copy of memtest86+ from memtest.org and use the
program to prepare a floppy or CD, you can test the new memory.
An added bonus, is there is a "bandwidth indicator" on the memtest86+
operating screen, and you can compare the performance of the memory
that way. You should be using memtest86+ as the first thing you
boot after a memory change, to see whether everything is OK or
not.

If memtest86+ is not showing any errors coming from the memory,
then you can boot back into Windows. A program like CPUZ from
cpuid.com can help you review your RAM settings. Check the memory
clock and timings, and see if they have changed for the worst,
when the new memory is added. You may need to manually intervene
in the BIOS, and fix it. There is an example of the CPUZ memory
tab in this picture. You can run this before your memory upgrade,
and then after, and compare to see what the BIOS is doing:

http://doobs.free.fr/Images/Cpuz_Memory.JPG

Paul

 

[Guest]

I also have an Asus (not the same model), but in order to take full advantage
of DDR speed, you have to place the sticks in slots 1 and 3. If you use
slots 1 and 2, you'll have defeated the purpose of using more ram and negated
to advantage of DDR.

 

[David D]

Well, mine are in the right slots. It might be something else slowing
it up, maybe a virus checker or somethinmg.

 

[Paul]

Well, mine are in the right slots. It might be something else slowing
it up, maybe a virus checker or somethinmg.

Did a "before" versus "after" check with CPUZ reveal any differences ?

Paul