Simviation Forums

..... got hold of some more pc2100 ram like I aready have .... the system says its there but when I try fs9, or any other game, after a few secs the whole pc crashes and re-boots ..... what have I done .... or not done?

The ram just snaps in, kinda hard to do it wrong.

The fact that it boots up and reads the ram means it is installed correctly.

Maybe it's a bad stick that fails under load ?

I'll just refer you to the info and specification I listed in your

.... no it was from a mate, and I'm going to pop it out and try it without this evening, and I supose that I might of disturbed something to do with the graphics card or other wires as I fitted it under the desk .... lazy boy! .... it was the realisation that  ram was relatively cheap after him giving this away that is leading me to  the cpu upgrade.

You can test the RAM with either Memtest86 or Windows Memory Diagnostic. Either test will detect errors -- which would indicate a bad stick. 1 error detected means a defective stick. Test each stick one at a time.

Memtest86: http://www.memtest86.com/
Win Mem Diagnostic: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp#top

Also check your RAM timings and compatibility. RAM timings need to be set for the slowest stick. Compatiblity relates to what your motherboard will accept. Some motherboards will only work with certain brands and not others. Inquire with the manufacturer for compatible RAM modules

If you dislodged the AGP card when installing, then your PC would not display or boot, so that's probably not an issue. But, it wouldn't hurt to pull and reseat everything in their slots to test.

.... well I got the tester downloaded, took all the ram out put the new 512 pc2100 ddr266 stick in slot 1 and did the test? ... no problems, fired up the pc and fs9 was fine ..... added the two 256 pc2100 ddr266 sticks in slots 2 & 3, run the test again .... no problems? .... fired up the pc again and everthing is ok ? ?   fs9 performing flawlessly, good fps with sliders well up  ..... I hate things like that ! .... but thanks for the help anyway .... just wait till I change the cpu and go to pc2700 memory and need to flash the bios !  :D