Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Need help - Bus speed and RAM

Aug 28, 2004 3:45PM PDT

Ok, here's my problem:

I have a Biostar M7VIG Pro motherboard
(http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.asp?model=m7vig+pro). I just replaced the AMD Duron 1.2 ghz CPU I had with an AMD AthlonXP 1800+. My system memory is two 512meg SDRAM modules. The system bus is set to 100mhz. My OS is Windows XP Home.

When I had the Duron installed, if I attempted to change the bus speed to 133mhz, the computer would just beep at me when I turned it on. I found out that this Duron did not support 133mhz bus speed.

When I upgraded to the Athlon and switched the bus speed to 133mhz via a jumper, the computer appeared to be loading just fine, but just before it got to the user login screen (I have 2 profiles - 1 for me and 1 for my wife), it freezes up at the Windows XP logo screen (the little green bar that is moving from left to right stops moving). This is with my 1 gig of SDR RAM.

I attempted to switch out my two 512meg SDR modules for two 1 gig DDR modules when I upgraded to the Athlon (I have 2 SDR slots and 2 DDR slots). When I boot up (remember, we're at 100mhz bus speed), I get a ton of memory errors and unstable performance to the point of the computer rebooting itself. These are the results with the Duron too.

The DDR modules have "1GB DDR333 Module 16C G37 Y34" printed on a label on them and have what I can only assume to be a part number (since they both have the same number) under the barcode on the memory's label: 00020040628.

So here are my questions - can you think of any reason why the computer wouldn't accept the 133mhz bus speed (this is the more important of the two)? Can you think of any reasons for the erratic behavior of the memory?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re: Need help - Bus speed and RAM
Aug 28, 2004 4:28PM PDT

Assuming that the memory is properly seated, and recognized correctly by the bios, I would start here to check for problem memory. hcidesign.com/memtest/download.html

- Collapse -
Re: Need help - Bus speed and RAM
Aug 28, 2004 4:58PM PDT

Hi just a guess here but perhaps it does not like the incompatible ram. Your machime takes either pc 100 or pc133 and not 333. You might try the other ram??

- Collapse -
Using one mem stick at a time run the
Aug 29, 2004 12:55AM PDT

this memory test from a floppy.

Does your BIOS allow you to increase the memory bus speed manually from 100 up in 1 MHz steps?

Some of the earlier mobos could not support all possible versions of memory chips. Some couldn't handle sticks with chips on both sides. Hope that you got lifetime warranty on the memory for any reason.

Interrogate Biostar. Does Biostar show a list of compatible memory chips for the mobo?? Many mfrs do.


http://www.memtest86.com/

Run the test for hours / overnight. NO errrors.

- Collapse -
Re: Need help - Bus speed and RAM
Aug 29, 2004 6:24AM PDT

Using memory that is not supported by the motherboard(PC 2700) will only lead to problems. Try to stick with what is known to work. Reread the manual and get the correct RAM.

- Collapse -
Re: Need help - Bus speed and RAM
Oct 27, 2004 3:54PM PDT

Hello,

i have this Stick too "1GB DDR333 Module 16C G37 Y34", and my RAM is Burned, can you tell me the company so i can have it replaced?

Thx!

- Collapse -
Re: Need help - Bus speed and RAM
Oct 29, 2004 4:47AM PDT

bios settings must be set for that bus speed.
there is a program you might want to try called CPUFSB. it changes the bus speed thru windows without hardware changes.

if the bios is not set to the speed that matches yours, you will have issues.

- Collapse -
Re: Need help - Bus speed and RAM
Oct 29, 2004 7:14AM PDT