Bad RAM?

[RAID]

i recently bought some memory from eBay for my second (wife's) desktop. the computer works fine, i just wanted to add some memory to the existing 512MB (2 x 256) DDR-333. i bought 1GB (1 x 1046) DDR-400. the motherboard supports both DDR-333 and 400.

i left the existing DDR-333 sticks in their slots 1 & 3. i installed the DDR-400 stick in slot 2. after powering up, the computer instantly gives me 3 beeps and no video.

i then tried moving the new stick to slot 4, no luck. i removed both the DDR-333 sticks and installed just the DDR-400 stick in slot 1 and still got the beeps. i tried it in the other 3 slots and still bad.

i took out the new stick and reinstalled the DDR-333 sticks and the computer started normally. so there's obviously a problem with the memory stick i bought. i looked up the bios beep codes and this is what i found:

2 Short Beeps Your computer has memory problems. First check video. If video is working, you'll see an error message. If not, you have a parity error in your first 64K of memory. First check your SIMM's. Reseat them and reboot. If this doesn't do it, the memory chips may be bad. You can try switching the first and second banks memory chips. First banks are the memory banks that your CPU finds its first 64K of base memory in. You'll need to consult your manual to see which bank is first. If all your memory tests good, you probably need to buy another motherboard.

3 Short Beeps Basically the same thing as 2 beeps. Follow that diagnosis above.

so my question is if there is anything else i could do to check if the memory is really bad before i go back to the seller and tell him he sold me some bunk RAM. i checked to see if my mobo would support DDR-400 and it supports up to 4GB total. when the bad ram is installed, there is no video so i can't even get to bios or try to start up any programs. any help is appreciated, thanks

Mat

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by RAID

so my question is if there is anything else i could do to check if the memory is really bad before i go back to the seller and tell him he sold me some bunk RAM. i checked to see if my mobo would support DDR-400 and it supports up to 4GB total. when the bad ram is installed, there is no video so i can't even get to bios or try to start up any programs. any help is appreciated, thanks

Well, I would try running Memtest86 for a couple of hours and see what exactly, if anything, is wrong with the RAM. Then from there, if errors are detected by the utility, you can either do one of two things:

1) Try to find out if your RAM is under warranty with the manufacturer and try to RMA it.
2) Contact the seller on eBay and let him know that he sold you faulty RAM.

In the end, I would discourage you from buying any kind of RAM off eBay in the future. It is much easier getting customer satisfaction and up front customer service via manufacturer RMA or a store's return policy than having to go through someone via eBay.

In either case, here is the Memtest86 website LINK 1 and a direct link to download the .ISO image of Memtest86 v3.3 for burning on a CD-ROM disc: LINK 2. This is a zipped download for Windows OS.

[One4yu2c]

If he's getting beeps right from the get-go, he'll never get far enough to run Memtest. That's pre-POST behavior he's dealing with.

RAID, given the steps you've taken (isolating the RAM), there's not much more to do except conclude it's bad and contact the seller.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

If he's getting beeps right from the get-go, he'll never get far enough to run Memtest. That's pre-POST behavior he's dealing with.

Whoops!

[Yellowhello]

Yup, bad RAM.

[stinger608]

Something else that occurs to me about this. What motherboard are you running? Does it have DIP switches on the motherboard to switch between 100, 133, 166, and 200 FSB???

Of course most RAM will at least go backwards one step, IE DDR 400 will back up to 333, and 333 will back up to 266. But some will not, not sure why, but I have had that issue before.

[Yellowhello]

What are the specs of the wife's computer?

[RAID]

Mobo: Intel Bonanza D875PBZ
CPU: Intel P4 2.66
RAM: 512 (2x256) DDR-333
GPU: Visiontek 9600XT
HDD: Seagate 150GB