Is it memory or the motherboard that's causing this...

[oddtoad]

Hi,

I just built a new computer and it runs, but is really unstable. I've been able to install a Linux Xanros distro, but the box doesn't always boot to a runnable state. I have two memory strips. One of the strips appears to be bad because whenever it is installed I don't get a display.The good memory strip only seems to work out of one slot. If I move it to different slots I don't get a display.

The MO is a Gigabyte M59SLI-S5 F3, CPU is Athlon 64 X2 4200 and memory is Corsair xms2 DDR2.

Can anyone tell me how to determine what is causing the problem.

Thanks,
Mike

[flanzig1]

What is the brand and size of the PSU? If you got a bad PSU, you could have trashed the mother board and ram already. It does sound like you have a bad ram slot which may have taken out on of the sticks of ram.

[oddtoad]

Thanks for responding. I am assuming PSU is short for the power supply, if not please set me straight.

The PSU is an NZXT 400 Watt, it was included with the case. The system always starts, it's just that sometimes it doesn't boot to a screen. It seems ultra sensitive to any changes.

As I mentioned earlier I was able to install a 32 to bit version of Xandros. So I'm not sure how a problem could be caused by the power supply.

[glc]

NZXT uses low quality power supplies and they are DEFINITELY not certified for use on a SLI motherboard.

Test your ram, one module at a time.

www.memtest.org