How do I know what RAM my crappy and unknown motherboard can take? - Hardware & Software

As you can tell I aint the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to PC building, but i'm looking for some new decent RAM that will work on my computer without my shitty motherboard throwing a fanny fit. The motherboard : Packard Bell BV MCP73PVT-PM (lol) Current RAM (I believe if faulty or something) : 4.00 GB Single-Channel DDR2 @ 399MHz I dont have a manual anywhere and typing it into google gets no helpful solutions, so i'm pretty much stuck at this point. If anyone was to tell me how I can know what RAM my motherboard will accept then I'd be grateful, also can someone pick out some decent RAM for me? Thank you from a PC simpleton.

How many sticks of RAM are in it? And how many slots are there? What you want to do is get DDR2 800 mhz RAM with the aame voltage as your current RAM, if possible. Is there a reason you are looking for more RAM?

The motherboard in your PB system is a cut down OEM version of a retail ECS board (which are already crap by any standard.) Since your motherboard only has two RAM slots, I'm pretty sure you're maxed out at 4 GB. Very few desktop motherboards are able to accept 4GB DIMMs, especially rotgut cheap boards. The only way you're going to get more RAM is by getting a better motherboard.

Any idea what motherboard I should save up for then? Operating System MS Windows 7 64-bit SP1 CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz Yorkfield 45nm Technology RAM 4.00 GB Single-Channel DDR2 @ 399MHz (6-5-5-17) Motherboard Packard Bell BV MCP73PVT-PM (CPU 1) Graphics N20WB (1680x1050@60Hz) AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series Hard Drives 625GB Western Digital WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B0 ATA Device (SATA) Optical Drives HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH15F ATA Device Audio Realtek High Definition Audio Best motherboard that would suit that setup? If someone points one out i'll start saving up.

What's wrong with your RAM anyways? it seems to be pretty OK!

[QUOTE=tratzzz;32271244]What's wrong with your RAM anyways? it seems to be pretty OK![/QUOTE] 400mhz is ok now, is it?

I'm getting hangups and memory errors and shit, It might not directly be the RAM but I'm after a new one anyways. Cant seem to be able to run as many processes as I used to a few weeks back without it kicking off.

[QUOTE=Chubbs;32271606]400mhz is ok now, is it?[/QUOTE] 400MHz x2 is 800mhz. Fuck I can not explain this to you correctly atm. Also, Have you tried reinstalling windows? It gets cluttered and can help you alot! Run something like memtest+86 and see if it gives you and RAM related errors.

I reformatted only a month ago. I'll try that memtest in a bit, thanks.

Shameful bump instead of a new thread, I'm getting BSOD's more common now. I got one in RO2 involving a 'watchdog.sys' and now I'm getting 'BAD POOL HEADERS' just browsing. Could this be faulty ram or something more expensive? I seem to have a never ending stream of problems for this PC.

Write down the error code for the BSOD when it happens. Should look something like: 0x0000000

I'll get right on that. In other news, plugging in the cable to dual screen makes my internet cut out. what.the.fuck? Pc royaly flipped the fuck out this morning, bsod's while browsing. SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION STOP 0X0000003B (0X00000000C0000005,0XFFFFF800030CC8B6,0XFFFFF88059F4D70,0X0000000000000000) That was the first blue screen, were it froze loading the dump files. Then I had trouble starting my pc again, it would hang on the boot screen or wouldnt start windows normally, the logo would appear then it would just restart my PC. So I then try startup repair, only for it to freeze halfway through, then eventually another BSOD appeared. DRIVER_IQRL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. Didn't have time for the number shiznaz, anyone got any idea what is causing my pc to flip out? Just got another BSOD involving MEMORY_MANAGEMENT.

Great now I'm freezing everywere, i'll post this on the tech forum.

Did you run Memtest?

I'm going to try that once I find a disk, not too sure on how to use it though. The blue screens are very common now, ones like 'CDD' or something. Freezing in RO2 and startup repair sometimes causes a blue screen. I'm getting really fustrated.

Your HDD might be going bad as well, try to download HDTune or something, and run a error scan. Just burn the .iso to a CD and boot from it. Pretty straightforward from there.

I think its my HDD and RAM like you said. Memtest results are in, I stopped it after a few hours because it was hopeless due to 5 MILLION ERRORS BOOYEAH.

Without being an expert on the matter, I'd unprofessionally say that it seems like your RAM just [i]might[/i] have gone bad. Try booting with only one stick, run Memtest, then boot with the other alone, and do the same.

Again, instead of a new thread. Also a little update. After opening it up and poking round the PC is acting as good as new for some reason, less hangups and it hasn't BSOD for a week, or just shut down. Hopefully it was something to do with heatsink. Anyhow, my computer is getting outrageously hot at the back were my GFX card is, It's running fine but it hurts to touch it, and i'm worried about it melting at some point or something. Can someone recommend me a fan/cooling device from here? [url]http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=57[/url] GFX card is 66 degrees idle :/ Just come off Dead Island, it was on 88... Anyone? :(