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Old 10-15-2007, 03:30 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Default Why is this Asus motherboard rejecting RAM?

I was running the following with no issues:

Motherboard: ASUS A7N266-VM/AA ACPI BIOS Rev 1006 SOCKET A (462)
Motherboard Features: 2 x 184-pin Dual In Line Memory Module sockets
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (1.8 Gigahertz)
Random Access Memory: 768 megabytes (256 megabyte PC-2700 Mushkin and 512 megabyte PC-3200 Super Talent)
Power Supply: GigaCase 200 Watt, 12 Volt
Operating System: Windows XP

Whenever I would try to swap the 256 megabyte stick out that came with the system and switch it with a 512 megabyte PC-3200 RAM stick it wouldn't work. The motherboard speaker would start beeping and the system would not boot up. I tried four different sticks of PC-3200 512 megabyte memory (three different brands) with the same results. These memory sticks would work in the second slot for memory but not the first.

Crucial.com states that this motherboard accepts PC-3200 memory and has a maximum capacity of 1 gigabyte of RAM with a maximum of 512 megabytes per memory slot. Why is this motherboard rejecting all memory in the slot closest to the processor except the stick of memory it came with?
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Old 10-15-2007, 03:50 AM   #2 (permalink)
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The max speed supported for the micro atx model there is 266mhz not 333mhz as you would see with PC2700 memory. DDR400 memory won't always backclock two speeds but only down to 333 to then run at 333mhz.

Mushkin is a great brand for the older Asus boards since it does backclock from 333 to 266mhz easily. Plus going from 333 down to 266mhz is only one speed backwards not two as seen with DDR400 memory. The information seen at Crucial is apparently off!
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Old 10-15-2007, 04:16 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PC eye View Post
The information seen at Crucial is apparently off!
That is first time I have seen wrong information at Crucial.com. Thanks for information.

Edit: So would 1 gigabyte of PC-2700 memory work in this motherboard?
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Old 10-15-2007, 05:00 AM   #4 (permalink)
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The specifications show 200/266mhz meaning PC2100 not PC2700 is the fastest supported. You've been trying to run faster memory and this where the problem is since you are trying dimms that are two speeds faster then the board supports.

With varying makes and model boards as well as brands and types of memory some simply won't backclock that far on some boards. Plus you have neen mixing memory there not knowing the actual timings for each dimm. Your best move is to match a pair of PC2100 512mb dimms by the same brand for the best results.
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Old 10-15-2007, 05:18 PM   #5 (permalink)
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if the module works in the other dimm slot, then the board must somehow support it.

how many chips do you have on the 512MB module?
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Old 10-15-2007, 10:35 PM   #6 (permalink)
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The nForce chipset will support both single and dual sided dimms. You just can't mix the two types there either. The Mushkin dimm is actually DDR266 while the Super Talent and others are DDR400. The Mushkin is running at the speed the board supports since it came with the system. It's either backclocking the one speed slower or is PC2100 memory not PC2700.
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Old 10-15-2007, 11:39 PM   #7 (permalink)
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http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...odel=A7N266-VM

says max density is 256Mb. To fit 512MB into that, you'll need a dual ranked module with 256MB in each rank
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Old 10-16-2007, 12:06 AM   #8 (permalink)
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I know the Mushkin memory is a 256 megabyte PC-2700 stick in the motherboard. It says it on the label and when I ran CPU-Z it identified it as PC-2700. On boot up it also identified it as DDR 333 memory.

The Mushkin 256 megabyte PC-2700 memory module came with the system when I bought it from Totally Awesome Computers around the year 2002. I would like to try a 512 megabyte PC-2700 in the board sometime and see if it works.

Thanks for the information.
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Old 10-16-2007, 12:19 AM   #9 (permalink)
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For that board I would stay with the Mushkin so you would see it backclock to the 266mhz max the board supports. On the old Asus A7N8X Deluxe the matched pair of Corsiar xms series DDR400 PC3200 dimms would backclock to 266 when the fsb was lowered down from 200 ro 133 in the bios.

The other memory here is lower quality and not worth the hassle. First take a look at the 256mb Mushkin to see if that is a single or dual sided dimm. Some older boards simply won't run a dual sided dimm. That's a dimm seeing a row of ic chips on both sides of the dimm itself.
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Old 10-16-2007, 03:14 AM   #10 (permalink)
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I just looked at the Mushkin memory module and it is double sided. I think it has to be because the motherboard was made for PC-2700 memory.
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