Page 1 of 1

Memory upgrade hell

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:18 am
by caroline81
Windows XP
256 mb RAM
40 gb HD
Pentium 4 2.0 ghz
Motherboard: PC Chips M925 - Socket 478
4 memory slots: 2 DIMMs for PC133 SDRAM, 2 DDR DIMM for DDR266 SDRAM (PC2100)
Memory expands up to 2 gb

I bought 2 memory chips today: Kingstone DDR PC2100 256MB each. Took the old chip out (SDR PC133 256MB, some generic brand) and put the new ones in. I have almost no experience in this, but of course I put them in the correct slots. I make sure they're in place and turn on the PC. Nothing. It starts up a bit but then it dies. The monitor won't turn on. I unplug the PC, restart it a couple times, check the chips again just in case; still nothing happens. So I take the new chips out, put the old one back in and it works perfectly as before. I did all the process as carefully as I could, I don't think the new chips are damaged. Could someone give me some advice on this? I'm thinking of just exchanging the new chips for a SDR PC133 512MB but first I would like to know if maybe I'm doing something wrong; someone told me it may have something to do with the BIOS. Thanks in advance!

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2003 3:27 pm
by NickS
Did you change all the jumpers ? Check your manual The manual for M925 V1.3 mentions voltage selection, (JP1) and memory type selection (J2A/B/C/D, J3 A/B/C/D). The "memory type selection jumpers" are long blocks of jumpers that actually connect the terminating resistors required by DDR; if they are not present you'll have fun finding some. On the M925 V1.3 they are right at the front of the board near the memory (just like my Syntax KV266A) and if you're lucky they will be hanging on one of the two rows of pins they connect. If not you'll have to look for them....