Windows 7 RAM Upgrade and error/bluescreen

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lompocus

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Jul 5, 2009
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Hi, I've been using the RC for a while now and it's been completely, 100% stable, so I'm sure the RAM is causing the problem.

I bought two more sticks of ddr2 800 ram (1 gig each) for a total of 4 sticks and 4 gigs of ddr2 ram on my computer. These are both from the same supplier (Transcend) and are totally identical sticks (however, one has the memory modules on one side only, I don't think that matters.

I recieved a bluescreen on installing the new ram. I restarted and was asked to repair win 7's startup, which didn't work. I tried taking a stick out and repeating the process, which gave me a bluescreen w/ PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA as an error. Afterwards I raised the voltage from 1.8v to 1.85v, then to 1.9v, then back to 1.8v, and still nothing (though right now the two 1Gig sticks are running fine at 1.85v, so the voltage shouldn't be the issue either).

Afterwards I changed the RAM timings in the BIOS to 5-5-5-15-20 just in case there was some discrepency in the timings. This didn't work and I got the same error. The new sticks are NOT defective, since I removed the old sticks and replaced them with the new sticks (so I'm still at 2GB). Win 7 works if I do that. The memory diagnostic built into win 7's admin tools found no errors with either set of RAM.

So, ideas? I'm pretty sure the motherboard isn't the case since it allows for up to 4 GB of DDR2 RAM up to 800mhz. Someone told me I might have to change jumper settings or clear cmos ram. I'm totally lost right now.
 
Solution
M
Lompocus, if one type is single-sided and the other is double-sided, they are not identical.

Have you tried each pair separately? You only mention taking a single stick out in your OP.

The correct troubleshooting procedure would be to take out the original sticks and try it with just the new. If it still crashes use just 1 stick of the new. If it still crashes use the other new stick. If it still crashes, that particular part # may not be compatible with your mb. In which case you would simply return the memory and exchange it for something else (hope you kept your receipt).

If you get it to work with one stick of the new, consistently, then you likely have a bad stick of ram.

If it works with either pair, but not with both...
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Well,, You can check for a BIOS update also.

When you ran the Memory Diags, did you let them run for long?
All Memory Diags should run for no less than 4 to 6 hours (depending on amount installed)
For the Windows memory Diags, you want to hit "t" to run the extended tests.

One or Two passes with no errors is not sufficient enough time to test the full capacity of memory.

They could still be mismatched modules, and not fully compatible. I have never heard of Transcend (that I remember).
I stick with Kingston mostly anymore. it's cheap and very reliable from their value ram to the HyperX. It's all I use for myself.
 
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I've updated the BIOS. It was the first thing I did after installing Win 7. As far as contacting ASUS for support, well, that's out of the question considering they reign in offering the worst customer service on the face of the planet. That, and their forums for my motherboard (P5N32-SLI Premium Wifi AP....it's a horrible mobo) are A) dead, B) have nothing pertaining to memory issues, and C) have threads that are rarely if ever responded to.

Now something I did come upon (for a similar mobo based on 680i instead of 590, those #'s are nvidia chips) suggested changing ACPI to S-2 or something, and changing my voltage to 1.9V. Every other thread seems to point to ASUS's mobo's lack of support for 4GB+ of RAM in some older mobo's that state 8GB supported RAM.

Oh well. I needed to get a new mobo anyways. Any suggestions on my old mobo? (Recorded ASUS target practice?)
 
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I have had both ASUS and ABIT in the past. I now pretty much stick with actual intel branded boards. They are reliable.
I haven't looked at the newest boards so I don't know if they yet support SLI, I know they were supporting Crossfire on a couple.

If you are looking to overclock and all that jazz then you need to get the extreme boards.

I am not up on my hardware, what's good, what isn't, what supports what etc. Stick with name brands though.
 
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Lompocus, if one type is single-sided and the other is double-sided, they are not identical.

Have you tried each pair separately? You only mention taking a single stick out in your OP.

The correct troubleshooting procedure would be to take out the original sticks and try it with just the new. If it still crashes use just 1 stick of the new. If it still crashes use the other new stick. If it still crashes, that particular part # may not be compatible with your mb. In which case you would simply return the memory and exchange it for something else (hope you kept your receipt).

If you get it to work with one stick of the new, consistently, then you likely have a bad stick of ram.

If it works with either pair, but not with both, then the mismatch between single- and double-sided might be an issue with your mb. Again, trading the new (single-sided?) for something that was an exact (brand and part #) or close match (at least brand and same-sided) to your original (double-sided?) might do the trick.

And, you are installing them in matching banks, aren't you? The mb should be color-coded, and normally you would use the first and third slots for Bank0 and the second and fourth slots for Bank1.

Also, is the new memory Non-ECC, Un-buffered memory?
 
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Solution
Did the memory come with any packaging with recommended timings and voltages?
I had to bump my north bridge slightly when I went from 4 to 8 GB, you could try that.
Have a look at Memtest86 there is a free download. I used this to test my memory when I have problems.
 
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