P4S533-E and new memory

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Impala68

Hello, I am trying to add more memory to my comp to reduce the lag in my
online game (World of Warcraft).

My system stats:
P4S533-E mainboard
P4 2.4 Ghz processor
Onboard sound
Onboard LAN
Geforce4 MX 420 (64mb ram)
1 gig of PC2700 ram (2 512mb in first two slots)
using Windows XP Pro with current updates

I have tried to add a 1 gig PC2700 stick of ram into the 3rd slot. My comp
boots up and recognizes that I now have 2 gig of ram. When I log in and
play my comp will freeze up shortly after starting to play.

So far I have tried swapping the 1 gig stick with a known good one (I have
another identical system with the exception of the video card. The memory
works fine.)
I have also tried the 1 gig stick in the first of the 3 slots.
I have run memtest86 v 3.2 and no errors were detected.

I am not sure what else to try. I would appreciate any help you could give
me.

Thanks in advance
 
Impala68 said:
Hello, I am trying to add more memory to my comp to reduce the lag in my
online game (World of Warcraft).

My system stats:
P4S533-E mainboard
P4 2.4 Ghz processor
Onboard sound
Onboard LAN
Geforce4 MX 420 (64mb ram)
1 gig of PC2700 ram (2 512mb in first two slots)
using Windows XP Pro with current updates

I have tried to add a 1 gig PC2700 stick of ram into the 3rd slot. My comp
boots up and recognizes that I now have 2 gig of ram. When I log in and
play my comp will freeze up shortly after starting to play.

So far I have tried swapping the 1 gig stick with a known good one (I have
another identical system with the exception of the video card. The memory
works fine.)
I have also tried the 1 gig stick in the first of the 3 slots.
I have run memtest86 v 3.2 and no errors were detected.

I am not sure what else to try. I would appreciate any help you could give
me.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
I have a P4B533-E. If i recall correctly, u can only put a single sided
DIMM in the third slot.
HTH
NBK
 
"Impala68" said:
Hello, I am trying to add more memory to my comp to reduce the lag in my
online game (World of Warcraft).

My system stats:
P4S533-E mainboard
P4 2.4 Ghz processor
Onboard sound
Onboard LAN
Geforce4 MX 420 (64mb ram)
1 gig of PC2700 ram (2 512mb in first two slots)
using Windows XP Pro with current updates

I have tried to add a 1 gig PC2700 stick of ram into the 3rd slot. My comp
boots up and recognizes that I now have 2 gig of ram. When I log in and
play my comp will freeze up shortly after starting to play.

So far I have tried swapping the 1 gig stick with a known good one (I have
another identical system with the exception of the video card. The memory
works fine.)
I have also tried the 1 gig stick in the first of the 3 slots.
I have run memtest86 v 3.2 and no errors were detected.

I am not sure what else to try. I would appreciate any help you could give
me.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

The P4S533-E can take three DIMMs, but the manual says
"only four banks of PC2700 are supported".

Four banks is two double sided DIMMs. That means, to run
at DDR333, you could use two 1GB sticks. If you somehow
turn down the memory bus clock to DDR266 rates, then all
three sticks would work. Since you have the 1GB stick in the
other computer, try 2x1GB and see if it works.

With 1GB modules, you have to be very careful when shopping.
There are a number of different ways of making a 1GB module,
If you take a look at this page of products, many of them
contain a warning or restriction as to which motherboard
supports the memory. That is a subtle way of saying the
construction of the DIMM is not JEDEC approved. Sure, the
modules are cheap, but many motherboards may not drive them
properly.

Home of the scoundrel:
http://www.pricewatch.com/h/prc.aspx?i=33&a=4922

To get proper modules, go to Crucial, Kingston, Corsair, and
get modules that are constructed with x8 chips. As a general
rule, the major brand name companies will not ship unapproved
formats of DIMM, which should yield better compatibility.

Using a proper module will not change the results of your
experiment, as there is still the restriction of three
double sided DIMMs running at DDR333 being marginal. So,
either change your config to 2x1GB at DDR333, 1GB+512MB+512MB
at DDR266, or use some of those super-expensive 512MB
single sided modules, to do 1GB_DS + 512MB_SS + 512MB_SS
at DDR333. I really think 2x1GB is the right answer, using
whatever brand works for you. If your chipset is listed on
one of the Pricewatch adverts, then even some "Las Vegas
gambler RAM" is worth a try (that really depends on your
tolerance for problems and returning/exchanging RAM).

As for the best slots to use for the RAM, with two sticks
try slot 1 and slot 3. It is possible signal integrity
will be slightly better that way, than slot 1 and slot 2.
You could try both and see which config is better.

Paul
 
That motherboard has an SIS chipset, NOT an Intel, and I do not believe it
is stable with 2 GB of RAM.
 
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