RAM upgrade

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

Well, my RAM is faulty, so i'm going to buy some better stuff.

It's a retail PC, and here is the motherboard:

Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9-TA (Targa Edition)
nForce4 Chipset PCI Express
1x PCIE (16x) / 2x PCIE (1x) / 3x PCI;
4x SATA 2x PATA 1xFDD
Free slots: 1x PCI-E(1x) and 1x PCI; 3x SATA, 1 x PATA and 1xFDD

I checked on their site and the RAM that I have is 184 pin.

And here are my proposed options:

Corsair XMS Platinum Series - memory - 512 MB - DIMM 184-pin – DDR (x2, so 1GB)

Corsair XMS ProSeries - memory - 512 MB - DIMM 184-pin – DDR (x2, so 1GB)

How much difference would it make between each option? And would they be compatible?

Or are there any other products that you would reccomend?

Thanks

EDIT: See last post please.

 

[Yusaku Jon III]

From my experience, you'll also need to know the exact model of RAM sticks that your motherboard will support. My current P4 system supports 184-pin DDR SDRAM, but only up to the 133-MHz PC2700. The manager of the shop which built the system for me told me that I wouldn't have been able to put PC3200 sticks in without messing something up (I can't recall whether he said that the mobo would burn up or if it just wouldn't run). Yours, on the other hand would support higher-speed RAM such as the 266-MHz models.

Aside from this, there might be some more experienced PC-builders on the message boards who'd give you some better advice.

 

[Sadan01]

According to this page (note the motherboard and RAM used only), you need PC 3200 (DDR 400) DDR RAM. So search for PC3200 RAM and you should be okay. Check your motherboard manual for more information on what RAM types to use.

Edit: Oops! Cross-posted with The Person

 

[The Person]

Since your mobo has PCI-Express, I guess it is new enough to tackle at least PC3200. You said that your mobo supports 184-pin RAM, and that's what you're looking at.

But you haven't mentioned your free RAM slots, so I can't say for sure.

Edit: Sadan beat me to it.

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

Well, I have enough slots free, so that should be ok.

Is ther much of a difference between each of the models?

 

[King Alexander]

If your mainboard supports PC3200 RAM, go for it(higher MHz), and you should be OK.

If you can afford 2 512MB RAM sticks, so the better(1 GB RAM stick is a bit expensive).

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

Yes, it can support PC3200, and yes I am getting two 512mb sticks.

But which ones? I guess that the more expensive one would be better, as they are by the same manufacturer, but how much of a difference would there be?

 

[King Alexander]

I haven't read what the company says for the pros' of each of their RAM's. I may check it.

On the 2 links you posted, the only difference I can see(apart from the small deifference on their price), the ProSeries mentions " x 1 Industry standard", but I don't know exactly what this mean. The official Corsair site might sure tell more details about it.

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

I looked on their site, and couldn't see Platinum one at all.

As for the other, there appear to be two versions of it, but I can't see anything that tells me which one I am looking at.

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

I went ahead and got a gig of the Proseries model (2x 512).

I found them for £5 cheaper than anywhere else...

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

Well, we got the new RAM today...

My dad thought to put it in, and followed all of the instructions.

Before that, he had removed the wireless network router (that is not needed anymore).

When the PC was booted up...

It just beeped for about 2 seonds, every 3 seconds.

And there was no signal to the monitor.

The RAM lights came on.

So he tired putting the old RAM back...

Same results.

Now, the only things that were done were:

Wireless router removed.
RAM put it.
And we noticed that one of the back panels had came slightly loose, and was slightly touching the motherboard (it looked like it was anyway, it was partially obscured).

That is all I know, sorry.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Or is it time to call in a technician?

.

 

[The Person]

Did he touch the metal part of your cabinet to discharge his static electricity before he opened the RAM package? If he didn't it might be that your RAM got fried when he touched it. Electronics are very sensitive to static electricity.

Since your back panel seems to be touching the mobo, it might be that it has short-circuited the mobo, probably frying it.

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

Did he touch the metal part of your cabinet to discharge his static electricity before he opened the RAM package? If he didn't it might be that your RAM got fried when he touched it. Electronics are very sensitive to static electricity.

Since your back panel seems to be touching the mobo, it might be that it has short-circuited the mobo, probably frying it.

1) Yes he did, he was very, very cautious of that.

2) That's what we thought.

If that's the case, does that mean that a new mobo is in order? Or is there anyway to fix it (professionally as well).

And could that cause damage to any other parts of the computer?

Thanks.

 

[The Person]

1) I would guess that buying a new mobo will be cheaper than having it fixed. And most probably you can't fix it.

2) I don't think so, but I'm not sure. Maybe someone with more experience with computer hardware can answer that better than me.

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

OK, cheers.

This RAM upgrade has suddenly became a lot more costly than expected .

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Lozzy_Ozzy,

first of all you do have the right type of RAM. Corsair and OCZ are the best. Alot of the differences in high end ram have to do with their overclocking ability which probably doesn't concern you. The pro series cost more because of those led lights which aren't necessary. But think that you might be buying them seperately. For the best peformance you want to use a pair of dual channel ram sticks packaged together. The model you chose also comes in that configuration. So for 1gb ram don't use a 1gb ram stick or 2 seperately packaged 512mb sticks. Get the (512mb x 2) matched pair. For 2gb ram you would use (1gb x 2) matched pair. The other way will work but will be slightly slower.

From what you described your ram is not fried especially if the ram LEDs came on. Thats just not likely to happen. Did your dad bump one of the power supply connections to the motherboard, hard drives or video card during installation? Usually when your monitor doesn't come on after messing with components it has to do with one of your power supply connections. If your case fans or cpu fan doesn't come on when you press power then its very likely one of the power supply connections isn't plugged in correctly to something in the case. If your motherboard had electrical problems from that rear panel you probably wouldn't get any beeps or led lights. If the motherboard is damaged you would need to get a new one. If you go to the Gigabyte website you can find the mobo manual and see what the beeps mean.

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

Lozzy_Ozzy,

first of all you do have the right type of RAM. Corsair and OCZ are the best. Alot of the differences in high end ram have to do with their overclocking ability which probably doesn't concern you. The pro series cost more because of those led lights which aren't necessary. But think that you might be buying them seperately. For the best peformance you want to use a pair of dual channel ram sticks packaged together. The model you chose also comes in that configuration. So for 1gb ram don't use a 1gb ram stick or 2 seperately packaged 512mb sticks. Get the (512mb x 2) matched pair. For 2gb ram you would use (1gb x 2) matched pair. The other way will work but will be slightly slower.

So, I should of got it in dual channel configuration?

I thought of that when I checked it out, but I couldn't see it on any of the sites (unless you are meant to do it yourself ).

From what you described your ram is not fried especially if the ram LEDs came on. Thats just not likely to happen. Did your dad bump one of the power supply connections to the motherboard, hard drives or video card during installation? Usually when your monitor doesn't come on after messing with components it has to do with one of your power supply connections. If your case fans or cpu fan doesn't come on when you press power then its very likely one of the power supply connections isn't plugged in correctly to something in the case. If your motherboard had electrical problems from that rear panel you probably wouldn't get any beeps or led lights. If the motherboard is damaged you would need to get a new one. If you go to the Gigabyte website you can find the mobo manual and see what the beeps mean.

Ok, thanks, I will give that a look tonight.

Cheers .

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

We checked all of the connectors...

They are all in firmly.

And the fan, HD, and all of the other components that you can physically see running (as far as I know) are running...

 

[GrandAdmiral]

So, I should of got it in dual channel configuration?

I thought of that when I checked it out, but I couldn't see it on any of the sites (unless you are meant to do it yourself ).

Ok, thanks, I will give that a look tonight.

Cheers .

Yes you want a dual channel configuration because it has double the bandwidth. One stick of memory is a big no no on a dual channel motherboard. Even if you wanted only 512mb of total memory you should use 2 - 256mb ram sticks or your just forcing all the data through one bottleneck instead of 2.

If you look at the picture of the two pro series memory sticks in the link you provided they are in dual channel configuration. It might vary with each motherboard but your board does support it and you may have already installed them in that configuration. Usually one stick is in the first slot and the other is in the 3rd. If they are in slots one and 2 then its usually in single channel configuration. To take full advantage of dual channel memory you want a matched memory pair of ram sticks. Here is an example.

What I'm not sure about is if you bought the two 512mb sticks in 2 separate packages or in the same package as a pair. A matched pair are manufactured and tested together so they are closer to being identical. Usually when you buy them seperately it is to upgrade using existing memory or for single channel configuration. Unmateched pairs will still work in dual channel configuration just not as efficiently.

If you can't find info on the beeps in your motherboard manual here is a beep code list for common bios's. Hard to tell without being there. You could get a technician, it just sucks when its something really simple. I have a few computers so I can test each component in other systems to see if one of them is fried. I have had similar problems when I was overclocking and had to reset the motherboard but your not overclocking. I have also had that problem when I accidently plugged in both power connectors on my motherboard. It had an option of using an old socket to connect to the power supply or the new one but I used them both. If you do have to replace your motherboard its about $100 usd.

 

[Rik Meleet]

Q1: is exactly the same beep-pattern present when no memory is put in ? (Empty slots) ?
Q2: in DDR mem the hole is nearly in the middle, but not exactly the center. They can be put in incorrectly. Are you sure that they weren't put in the other 2way around ? They will "fit a bit" if put in wrong, but it will cause destruction that way.