I have a memory problem, with a complicated overall picture. My PC is an Athlon 2400 on an ASUS A7V8X MoBo running XP home For years, I have been using a 512M PC2700 memory card in memory slot 1. I recently put a 512M PC3200 card in slot 2, and all seemed to be well, although I did not test comprehensively. I replaced the processor fan, but maybe failed to make good thermal contact on first attempt, and PC shut down instantly. After replacing original fan with new HS compound, the PC failed to boot, giving recycle beeps indicating memory failure. The situation is now: If either card is in slot 1 I get reycle beeps Either card works in slot 2 Only the PC2700 works in slot 3 (Windows crashes during load with PC3200 in 3) PC3200 in 2 and and PC2700 in 3 gives Windows crash during load PC2700 in 2 and PC3200 in 3 allows windows ro boot, but system crashes all the time -with this last configuration I ran a DOS memory soak test (docmem) for 14 hours with no reported problems. I have used the utility from the ASUS site to flash my BIOS with the latest update, which it carried out successfully, but did not give me the option of touching the boot block. This has made no difference. The situation could be worse, as I can still use my PC with one memory stick or the other, but does anyone understand what might have happened to my first memory slot, and why the system has become so picky? Is there something I can reset, or do I have a hardware problem on slot 1? As I said at the beginning, the two modules seemed to be working happuly together, although not tested exhaustively. Sorry This is so long by the way: 330 MHz CAS latency 2.5T RAS to CAS 3T RAS prech 3T ACT prech 7T 1T disabled bank interleave auto Richard

You have a CPU that runs at 133MHz (266FSB)...regardless of whether you have PC2700 or PC3200 installed, it should also be running at 133MHz (DDR266). There's no advantage to running your RAM at a higher bus speed than the CPU...it may actually hinder overall system performance. I don't know if my BIOS options are similar to your's (I have an A7N8X-X), but change the Memory Frequency setting to either 100% or SYNC (whichever you have)...it's probably set to "BY SPD" now. Change your Memory Timing to "USER DEFINED", then tweak the timings to something like 2-2-2-6. Disable all Spread Spectrum settings. Set the Graphics Aperture to 128MB & change the AGP Frequency from AUTO to 66MHz. This space for rent

Thank you, jam, for getting back so quickly with a very helpful reply. I changed the setting to 266 MHz and all seems to be well with the memory in slots 2 and 3. Slot 1 is still a dead duck, so I guess it must be a hardware fault. No matter, as I have no plans to add any more memory, Thanks again Richard

"No matter, as I have no plans to add any more memory" you will want to eventually to be sure; if you have been around for any amount of time you know that as time goes on PC software requirements jump, requiring subsequent upgrades of current systems or purchasing of new ones, and i personally think that if you can upgrade the current system instead of getting a new on it is good to do try getting a can of compressed air and aiming it concentrated into the memory slot that is seemingly "dead"

Thanks, Tech-Dude. Under a lens, there is certainly a lot of dust in the socket. I'll give it a blast as soon as I get a chance. Richard

From what I've gathered from my own experience as well as others that I've talked with, having different memory speeds in your computer will cause problems with your system. I thought that might have been the problem at first when I started reading your post. I know a few friends of mine have made that mistake in the past, used PC2700 and PC3200 memory in their system and sometime later, something happens and their system keeps giving them problems shutting down. The PC3200 won't help your system and I'm surprised if it doesn't hurt it in the long run if not now, since it only has a 266 FSB. Good luck.