my new ram aint workin :(

H

hexagramer

New Member
hey...i just bought new ram for my desktop pc and, well as the topic states it aint workin for some reason

i ordered new ddr 266mhz 2x 1gb sticks of ram off ebay and got them this morning.
i went to plug them in and when the windows welcome screen (loading windows xp) was loading...well it doesnt load, i left it for 2 hours and when i came back it was still loading.

i started again in safe mode and it loaded fine but very slow. the graphics where all set to the worst settings and unchangeable, and the processing was horribly slow, the symptoms of a typical infected pc kinda thing goin on.

so i took out 1 stick of 1gb and and the same problem happened.
then i put the stock ram of 256mb that it came with in with a 1gb and it wouldnt even show anything at all. not even msdos

i put the stock 256mb ram in and everything was back to normal, windows loaded fine at the start screen thankfully.

i have an emachines desktop 420 around the 2003/04 mark windows xp. i done some research before i bought anything and apperntly from different websites like crucial and memoryten my motherboard ram 184pin slots are upgradeable up to 2gb ram otherwise i wuda got more.

i also ordered 2gb 400mhz from ebay accidently but after taking out the stock ram (256mb) i assumed my computer was pc2100 (also predicted by the websites) and also assumed it takes 266mhz cos thats what it said on it. so thats what i ordered this time round but im having the same problem.

is there something im doing wrong or is there something i dont know about??

can anyone give help or advice?
 
You are apparently ordering the wrong memory. If the system came with a 266mhz dimm and that was the standard installing DDR400 won't work being two speeds faster. The faster memory simply won't work. On older systems especially eMachines one speed over the standard msy simply backclock to the system default like DDR333 PC2700 would run at 266mhz.

The only listing a 420 desktop model shows one model seeing a Celeron 420 as seen at http://www.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=W3622

If you have a little more information as to the model series the specifications can be looked up for older models at http://www.emachines.com/support/product_support.html
 
oh no im sorry, i typed that wrong

the first time round i bought a pair of 400mhz and realised they were the wrong ones so i just got in a pair of 2x 1gb pc2100 ddr 266mhz. and its these that im having the same problem with.

where would i find the exact model number of the motherboard on the net for an emachines 420? thanks for all your help:o
 
One free tool might be the winner for that called System Info for Windows(SIW) found at http://www.gtopala.com/ That shows not only the hardwares like board and cpu as well as how much memory but a detailed breakdown of the softwares installed as well.

At eMachines you can go through the type of system like desktop or laptop as well as the C, D, E, L, etc. series and look at the few model numbers listed in each to see the specifications while their information seen there is rather limited.
 
right iv downloaded SIW and iv gathered the following information as follows, i just copied and paste in:


Property Value
Manufacturer TriGem Computer, Inc.
Model Imperial
Version 1.02
Serial Number xxxxxxxxxxxx

Chipset Vendor Intel Corporation
Chipset Model 845G/GL/GE Brookdale Host-Hub Interface Bridge (B1-step)
South Bridge 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Interface Bridge
SMBus Intel Corporation 801DB/DBL SMBus Controller (ICH4/ICH4-L B0 step) @1880h

CPU Intel Celeron
Cpu Socket Socket 478 [WMT478/NWD]
Processor Upgrade Slot 1

System Slots 3 PCI

OnBoard devices
Sound (Disabled) ALC202A

Memory Summary
Location System board or motherboard
Maximum Capacity 512 MBytes
Memory Slots 2
Error Correction None
Use System memory

Warning! Accuracy of DMI data cannot be guaranteed

any thing else i can get for you?
 
That will do it alright! This is why knowing the precise model number or using a tool like SIW can show you what you need to know. The largest dimm you can run in either memoory slot is 256mb in size. The 1gb dimms simply are over what the board was designed to run.
 
thanks guys, we resolved my issue,

anybody wanna buy ram lol??

:(:(:(

hmmm...does anybody know where i can buy an emachines motherboard that will take up to 4gb ram memory??
 
Any new board would come from eMachines since those are ordered in bulk strictly for their systems sold retail. Plus you would need to see a total upgrade with a new board + cpu bundle and likely faster memory since a newer board that took DDR memory if found at this time would support PC3200 memory as well as seeing the 3-4gb max.

You'll most likely end up looking at a newer DDR2 or 3 board at some point. I think you now will know enough to look over specifications before ordering the next time. Start a thread in the Computer equipment for sale section in case someone is looking for 2gb of DDR400.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top