Switch to 184 pin RAM, now no video

[ell]

Hi, I'm puzzled here. I ran a scan at crucial to see what ram i could put in. It turns out this old desktop has 4 banks, 2 fit 168 pin ddr and 2 fit 184 ddr. A friend could use my 168 pin and i have lots of 184 sticks laying around, so i swapped them out, however i get no video with the 184's, something i have to change in the bios maybe? I tried several sticks.

 

[schwags]

could you let us know the model number or motherboard model?

 

[ell]

could you let us know the model number or motherboard model?

this is it http://www.fryssupport.net/p4vxasd2.cfm

 

[14049752]

That uses some old school DDR ram. My bet would be that the ram you have laying around is probably too fast and won't clock down to suit the motherboard.

 

[ell]

That uses some old school DDR ram. My bet would be that the ram you have laying around is probably too fast and won't clock down to suit the motherboard.

I put in the stuff Crucial said was compatable, plain old 184 pc2700 ddr.

 

[14049752]

PC2700 = DDR333.
The board takes DDR266, which is PC2100. (or DDR200, which is PC1600)

The ram you have doesn't necessarily clock down to match the board.

 

[ell]

PC2700 = DDR333.
The board takes DDR266, which is PC2100. (or DDR200, which is PC1600)

The ram you have doesn't necessarily clock down to match the board.

I wonder why the Crucial scan said it would work, don't know if I have any that slow, thanks for your input

 

[14049752]

Memory is *supposed* to be backwards compatible. You should be able to buy PC3200/DDR400, and it should work in a system that supports DDR200. That's not always the case, though. I don't know why, but in my experience, the older boards don't always work with the newer ram. I say "it won't clock down", but in reality I really don't know.
I've had several older systems that wouldn't post with newer ram, but when I bought new slower ram, they worked fine.

 

[ell]

Memory is *supposed* to be backwards compatible. You should be able to buy PC3200/DDR400, and it should work in a system that supports DDR200. That's not always the case, though. I don't know why, but in my experience, the older boards don't always work with the newer ram. I say "it won't clock down", but in reality I really don't know.
I've had several older systems that wouldn't post with newer ram, but when I bought new slower ram, they worked fine.

AGH! ok, I just put in a pc2100, no go either!!???

 

[ell]

it boots up fine, no beep codes, seems ok, just no video

 

[Blues]

Can you boot into BIOS? Does the POST show the amount of RAM you installed?

 

[ell]

Can you boot into BIOS? Does the POST show the amount of RAM you installed?

that would be great if i had video.

 

[Rider]

Have you tried putting the original memory back in? Maybe something gave out while you were making the change and it's not related to the memory at all. Put the original memory in just to make sure it's a memory issue.

 

[ell]

Have you tried putting the original memory back in? Maybe something gave out while you were making the change and it's not related to the memory at all. Put the original memory in just to make sure it's a memory issue.

Yes, every time I put the 168 pins back in video comes on fine, too weird. I checked the 184 pin slots for dust too. Why would the mobo have 184 pin slots if they don't work???

 

[Flyingbull]

Since the video is built in, you might need to check the bios and see if there is option for the video that needs to be checked. I know that Intel video used to be a reall pain in the ass when it came to memory/video.

 

[Rider]

Have you tried it with the old an new memory in at the same time?

 

[ell]

Have you tried it with the old an new memory in at the same time?

Yes, beeped at me argrily, and stayed black. Crucial says to use one or the other types. Must be something with the video driver i suppose, I have a nice new dell 19" LCD hooked to it via vga connector, could that effect it?

 

[ell]

Since the video is built in, you might need to check the bios and see if there is option for the video that needs to be checked. I know that Intel video used to be a reall pain in the ass when it came to memory/video.

what option would that be? What would I change it to? I have played around with the bios before, Its a Amibios ver 1.21.12

 

[Flyingbull]

I used to have to change the video bus speed, when I changed the video. It said clearly under the advanced, Video. It had two speeds to choose from.

 

[ell]

I used to have to change the video bus speed, when I changed the video. It said clearly under the advanced, Video. It had two speeds to choose from.

stuff like this drives me crazy, I went into the bios and set it to optimal settings, 4X AGP, put one stick of pc2100 in and still no go, funny I don't get any beeps, I don't hear it booting though, just fan running, must be something else too.