Game Freezes since I increased ram

[danny721]

<p>I recently upgraded the amount of ram in my computer from 1 GB to 4GB.  I was hoping the extra ram would speed up zoning times and possibly minor lag issues.  When I first logged onto EQ2 after installing the new ram I was getting way better zoning load times and less lag but 5 minutes after logging on my computer froze up to the point where I had to shut the computer down by holding in the power button.  It has done this every time I try to log on.</p><p>My computer is old and I can't afford to but a new one at the moment.  I'll have to put the old memory back into the computer if it comtinues but wanted to check to see if there was a solution here first.  I'd rather have some lag and long zone times rather than no game at all.</p><p>Computer specs:</p><p>Dell Dimension 8300</p><p>Pentium 4 3 GHz</p><p>NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 128 MB VRAM</p><p>4GB DDR RAM PC3200 400 MHz</p><p>Edited to add:  So far the only time the computer freezes is when running EQ2</p>

[Wuvvy]

<p>You need to both A, Download a memory test to make sure the RAM you got is working properly, and B, go to download.com and download Speedfan and check your core temps. Please post both of the results.</p>

[lameforumhandle]

<p>Hmm... personally I would try running the PC with one stick of RAM in at a time. See if perhaps this could be an issue with one of the new sticks- i.e. if it works on stick A but lags on stick B you have found your culprit- I'm assuming you went 2x2gb.</p><p>eta- redundant, I posted the same time as Wuvvyen</p>

[danny721]

<p>This is what I got from speedfan, not sure if this is what you're looking for.</p><p>Win9x:NO  64Bit:NO  GiveIO:YES  SpeedFan:YESI/O properly initializedLinked ISA BUS at $0290Linked Intel 82801EB ICH5 SMBUS at $EDA0Found nVidia Geforce4 4200TI 64MBLinked nVidiaI2C0 SMBUS at $3D403E3FLinked nVidiaI2C1 SMBUS at $3D403637Linked nVidiaI2C2 SMBUS at $3D405051Scanning ISA BUS at $0290...SuperIO Chip=LPC47m172Sensor's Base Address : $0C00Scanning Intel SMBus at $EDA0...Scanning I2CNVidia SMBus at $3D403E3F...Address $2D appears to be WRITE ONLY...Address $2E appears to be WRITE ONLY...Address $48 appears to be WRITE ONLY...Address $49 appears to be WRITE ONLY...Address $4C appears to be WRITE ONLY...Address $50 appears to be WRITE ONLY...Scanning I2CNVidia SMBus at $3D403637...Scanning I2CNVidia SMBus at $3D405051...Found WDC WD1600JD-75HBB0 (160.0GB)End of detection</p>

[danny721]

<p><cite>lameforumhandle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Hmm... personally I would try running the PC with one stick of RAM in at a time. See if perhaps this could be an issue with one of the new sticks- i.e. if it works on stick A but lags on stick B you have found your culprit- I'm assuming you went 2x2gb.</p><p>eta- redundant, I posted the same time as Wuvvyen</p></blockquote><p>Being an older computer the largest stick I could find was 1 GB, therefore i'm using 4 x 1GB</p><p>I will try your solution</p>

[danny721]

<p>Something else I noticed before I try one stick at a time.  When I went to control panel then system to check how much ram it said i had it says 3.62 gb and not 4 gb.  Not sure if thats important or just the way the computer reads it.</p>

[danny721]

<p>With one stick in there it worked fine, slightly better than with my old ram and no freezing, trying another</p>

[lameforumhandle]

<p>Cool, you might just have a bad stick them. If for some reason the PC does not act funny with any of the four sticks, try putting them all back in and starting.</p><p>One of my PCs has a picky RAM slot, and I sometimes have to reseat it after moving then it runs like a champ. If you're lucky that might be your only issue <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[danny721]

<p>Ok so far I've tried eq2 with 1 then 2 then 3 gb of ram and no problems, gonna try 4 gb again and if it freezes i'll settle for 3 gb.  Was told by someone in my guild that the reason the system settings only detect 3.62 gb is because of my OS (windows xp pro)</p>

[Wuvvy]

<p>Here is why, danny. Windows XP is a 32 bit operating system , therefore, it can only support 3 gigs of RAM. What you are seeing from the 3.62 gigs is your RAM + your VRAM from your video card added together. Your 4th stick of RAM doesn't actually effect anything. If I were you, I would do as I said before. Swapping RAM is a huge waste of time when you could easily just run a memory test. Gives you the same test with less stress, quicker and more accurate results. What I was looking for from speedfan is your temps. You did not post your temps at all, so try running the program again and post your temps please.</p>

[danny721]

<p>Well I was able to play w/o any troubles on 3 gb last night (in fact the performance was greatly increased, who knew <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />).  So I'm just gonna leave it like that, thanks all for the help.</p>

[TSR-KenC]

<p>If it works, it works! Good to know - I'd just wonder if that last stick was faulty at all or it was just a gig of unusable RAM added in that Windows didn't like.</p>

[lameforumhandle]

<p>Glad it worked for you <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>