installing more ram than MB supports

[dirtwarrior]

I have an ECS MB K7S5A. It supports up to 1 gig of ram. Is there a way to get it to support more ram? The MB is doing good so I dont want to replace it just to get it to support more ram.

[ripken204]

lol, if it can only support a certain amount of ram then thats it.

[Andromeda43]

lol, if it can only support a certain amount of ram then thats it.

ECS mobo's are extremely low in quality. If it even runs, count your blessings and don't mess with it.

Having only room for one gig of ram pretty well Dates it.....don't ya think?

Good luck with it, by the way......

B)

[bledd]

i'm guessing you're on sdram still?

the prices of bundled am2/ddr2/motherboard 's has come down loads now, a cheapish powerful upgrade could be at hand

i've never had any luck with forcing an old motherboard (or a new one at that) to use more memory than it's supposed to, if it has say 4x slots, its likely they're 256mb each slot (i'm guessing your spec here tho)

[weEvil]

Update the BIOS from the Manufacturer's website. Sometimes adds support for other hardware. Check their changelog bundled with the BIOS files to see what updates they made.

[dcyphure]

if your willing to buy more ram, mobo's are fairly cheap but it all depends on what you need. if you feel you need more ram, then you need a new mobo, simple as that. forcing more wont do anything, likely it just wont read all of it if it works at all

[Bigbrit]

As mentioned above MB and AM2 Single and Dual Core are very cheap.

DDR2 is about half the price of DDR and SDRAM.

It would be nearly as cheap to buy 4 gigs DDR2 and a new Mobo/CPU as it would to "upgrade" your memory.

I like Asus - GigaByte, Asrock seems pretty good.

Just a few thoughts

[nmX.Memnoch]

Update the BIOS from the Manufacturer's website. Sometimes adds support for other hardware. Check their changelog bundled with the BIOS files to see what updates they made.

I've never seen a BIOS upgrade increase the amount of supported RAM. The amount of support RAM is usually a chipset limitation (hardware) and not a BIOS (software) limitation.

[weEvil]

I've never seen a BIOS upgrade increase the amount of supported RAM. The amount of support RAM is usually a chipset limitation (hardware) and not a BIOS (software) limitation.

Me either... but I figured its worth a shot. Updates add support for CPUs so I assumed RAM too.

Guess he has to get a new (and non-garbage) board this time.

[DonDamm]

The reason a bios upgrade won't change anything is because the amount of RAM supported is controlled by the chipset, usually the North bridge. This brings up the old question about whether to upgrade or just build a new machine. I've run AMD chips for years with great success, but just built three new Core 2 Duo machines. I paid just over 90 for the Asus P5B boards (P965 chipset) and my next one will be a P35 chipset board. I've fit two of the machines with 2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 CL4 which I found here for 67. That's amazingly cheap compared to just a month ago or so. Toomorrow I'm picking up 2GB of MDT same specs for 68 (the Corsair sems to be sold all over Austria and into Germany).

At those prices it's pretty hard to justify trying to retrofit a board outside of specs, don't you think? Get a good quality board and it will last you for 3-5 years or more by which time you'll want a new one anyway! :^)

[DysfunktinaL]

I agree with the above statements. If it supports 1g, and you want more, then I'd assume you are looking to get 2g total? Also assuming you are still on SDRam (PC133), the only 1g stick I see on NewEgg is $268.49 (Link). Now, that is just for 1g, and (again assuming) you want 2? Thats $540 with tax and shipping! Rediculous!

I'd say get a new CPU/Mobo/Ram combo. Also keep in mind that with a new combo you'll need a power new supply as well. Any good board you'll get these days is 20+4 pin power, and all the older boards are 20 pin. You could always get a 20pin to 20+4pin adapter, but I would highly advise against it. I killed a $160 Asus MVP Deluxe board like that (it's still sitting in a box at home, R.I.P.)

Also, you'll want a video card as MoBo's with onboard video are not that common these days. Assuming you don't want to keep your old PCI card you have in your old board, assuming you even have one and are not just using onboard.

So.... new mobo, cpu, ram, gpu, and psu.... for less then $500.... I'll give you a quick spec, feel free to shop around though.

AMD-

MoBo: (99.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813136019

------- DFI INFINITY NF570-M2/G Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 MCP

CPU: (73.50) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103733

------- AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz

RAM: (83.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231098

------- G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

GPU: (47.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102078

------- SAPPHIRE 100192L Radeon X1050 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16

PSU: (94.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341010

------- OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W

Total: 400.46 + Tax/Shipping

You could even get it about $50 cheaper by lowering the GPU, but as I said, I burned a $160 board with a bunk GPU. The key to a powerful system, is a powerful Power Supply. You could get cheaper memory too, but I'd recomend G-Skill, and that kit has hundreds of reviews while maintaining 5 Egg's rating.

Intel:

MoBo: (129.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131142

------- ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI

CPU: (114.50) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115013

------- Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz

RAM: (83.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231098

------- G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

GPU: (47.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102078

------- SAPPHIRE 100192L Radeon X1050 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16

PSU: (94.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341010

------- OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W

Total: $471.46

Notes: Again, you can drop off $50 by switching the PSU a bit. You are going to pay a little more for an Intel board, but it is technology that will be around for a while, as it is still fairly young. You could get a different board, and the memory, like I said on the AMD build, but these 2 components are rock solid, with lots of awsome reviews, and high ratings.

All in all, you'll see that buying new parts for the technology of 1999 is going to be more expensive then getting low end technology of 2007. Welcome to the next decade of computing.

((Side note, with either of these builds, you are going to notice a TREAMENDOUS boost in the power of your computer. Either of these will be more than capable of running XP, and well within range of running a smooth Vista.))

Edited June 6, 2007 by DysfunktinaL