QDI Explorer II Won't Recognise 64Mb SDRAM Chip

[pwebb]

Hi. I have a QDI P5i430VX-250DM Explorer II motherboard, and I have just added a 64Mb SDRAM chip. The system has 32Mb of EDO in the second EDO bank, and now that I have added the 64Mb chip it reports that it has 48Mb of ram instead of the 96 that it should have.

If any body knows how I can make the system recognise that it actually has 96Mb of ram I would be grateful.

Thanks in advance.
Paul.

[mjc]

Try just the 64MB strip and see if it recognizes it as 64MB.

Do you have the manual for the motherboard?

It would have whether or not it supports a 64MB strip and it would also have how the strips need to be installed.

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mjc
To ME or NOT to ME....

[Paleo Pete]

Yep, look up a motherboard manual. Many will not support SIMM & DIMM/SDRAM memory at the same time, and the i430VX in the specs you posted means it's the Intel 430VX chipset, which will only cache 64MB. Add more than that and you'll slow the machine down considerably.

Pull the EDO entirely and forget about it. It's reporting the wrong size because either the board doesn't support both types at once, or if it does, the EDO is in the wrong bank. Put the EDO in the proper bank and it should see the correct amount, if the board does support both types at one time.

This problem is very fresh in my memory, I had the exact same thing 2 days ago when I upgraded this machine. The diagram of the SIMM banks in the manual was backward, so when I put it the 2 SIMM chips, it reported less than the 64MB it already had in the DIMM slot. (The board does support both types at the same time.) I knew what was up and moved the SIMM's to the other bank, and it works perfect now.

With the above board though, even if it does work, adding more than 64MB will slow it down, my advice is pull the EDO and leave it at 64MB. Then send it to me! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif (Just kidding)

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[pwebb]

Originally posted by Paleo Pete:
This problem is very fresh in my memory, I had the exact same thing 2 days ago when I upgraded this machine. The diagram of the SIMM banks in the manual was backward, so when I put it the 2 SIMM chips, it reported less than the 64MB it already had in the DIMM slot. (The board does support both types at the same time.) I knew what was up and moved the SIMM's to the other bank, and it works perfect now.


Hi. I tried pulling the EDO out, but it then said that it only had 16Mb of ram, the motherboard manual saies that it supoorts use of both dimm and simm at the same time, and that the dimm socket supports 64Mb of SDRAM, and so do other web sites that have the specification for the motherboard, but I got an email back from QDI technical support, which said that it doesn't support 64Mb.

The extra 16Mb makes the system a bit more zippy, but having the extra 48Mb would be a bonus.

Any way, thanks for your advice.

Paul.

[BigBlue66]

Hey,

I had exactly the same problem with my motherboard, which incidently has the same chipset.

The problem lies in the SDRAM module itself. The SDRAM is no doubt newer than the motherboard will support. I got an email reply back from my motherboard manufacturer that said with my motherboard, it was designed for 2 clock SDRAM, or something like that. Nowadays, SDRAM is 4 clock?, so that explains why it only registers as 16mb. Damn, I wish I hadn't deleted that email. Maybe Pete can decipher what I am saying about the old vs. new SDRAM. It's 1 or 2 something, versus 4 something. Maybe it's cycle?

You might be better off sticking with the EDO. Get yourself another 32mb stick of it. My motherboard won't support bigger than 32mb sticks of ram either. You might try 32mb sticks of SDRAM, but you already have 32mb of EDO, so that will run some money, unless you can sell the EDO. As Pete mentioned, the chipset will only cache 64mb of whatever kind of RAM you put in. I know, I tried to install 128mb and my system crawled after that.

So here's a summary: Either take the 64mb SDRAM stick back and trade it for a 32mb stick, (if in fact the mobo will support both types), or take the 64mb SDRAM stick back and trade it for a 32mb stick of EDO. In any case, you can't put more than 64mb total in the machine.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66

[BigBlue66]

Whoops, update to previous post: Make sure that if you are going to use SDRAM, that it's 2 clock. Might be hard to find nowadays, since the standard is 4 clock. Again, that's why your 64mb SDRAM is only reading as 16mb.

With the difficulty of finding 2 clock SDRAM, you might consider using strictly EDO, although it's somewhat slower. Additionally, make sure you use no larger than 32mb sticks, and a maximum of 64mb ram.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66