Bios update for: 06/09/2000-694X-686A-6A6LJL1AC

[ajzchips]

I've seen boards with the same chipset take 1GB DIMMs, but since the 512MB versions are simpler to find, you'll roughly get support for 512MB x Number of DIMM slots.

[Denniss]

VIA 694X chipset should not have any problem with 512MB memory sticks if they are double sided. There might be a problem with the newer single sided 512MB sticks.

Dearest Denniss and ajzchips,

really thank you very much for your answers.

The reason for my help request is that last year I put one stick of 256 Mb Ram onboard (in addition to the two-128 Mbs already installed), but it was not recognized. I tried every possible combination, put nothing worked. Frankly speaking, now I do not remember if it was sigle or double sided. The fact is that my motherboard manual ("Image World", Lucky Star...?) says on one page that maximum amount of Ram permitted is 256 Mb, and some pages further it says that maximum amount of DIMM-SDRAM installable is 384 Mb... How should I behave? Someone told me that it was a BIOS-upgrade problem, so I searched for it.

Does any upgrade for my motherboard's BIOS exist? What do you suggest to do?

Thank you again for your help.

Filippo

[ajzchips]

I have a VIA-694T based PC, and I can guarantee that it won't recognize a large percentage of SDRAM sticks out there. It has nothing to do with capacity; it simply dislikes certain brands/models/architectures.

What I would consider is:

1) Maybe the board does not accept the capacity you are trying to use. Try large capacity modules on their own to start with, and for larger sized modules you may require double sided memory.
2) Use good quality memory. I have used PQI, which I don't consider amoungst the best quality memory but it seems to be OK. Usually I request Kingston or Hynix (Hyundai) which I consider to be amongst the better/best quality memory. I hear that Crucial is also very good, but I do not recommend it because I have not had experience with it myself.
3) Remember that the further you push a mainboard, the more stringent the board's requirements may become of the hardware before it accepts it.
4) Perhaps consider contacting the manufacturer explaining to them what size modules you would like to install, and ask them for a recommendation of brands and double/single sided recommendations you should use. Remember the info may or may not be accurate - the board may accept the same or more or less of than what they tell you.