RAM MEMORY AMOUNT

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I have an older system that has two 72 pin SIMM slots and 2 168 pin DIMM slots. It has two modules in the SIMM slots and it reads that it has 64 MB memory. I put in a 64 MB DIMM module and the memory then showed 80 MB. I removed the DIMM and it went back to 64 MB. The mother board manual states “each bank supports 4M, 8M, 16M and 64M.” Is it possible that I am getting an false report on the amount of memory in the SIMM slots. Is there a way to double check the amount of memory?

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AAre you sure that you can use both types of memory in the motherboard? Typically dusl-memory type motherboards require that setting to be enabled in the BIOS, if it’s allowed at all.

Take the SIMMs out and test with the DIMM only – see if you get the correct number. What appears in the BIOS POST screen is the most important.

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Yes – the manual is very clear that you can have both SIMM and DIMM modules. And when I put in the 64 MB DIMM, the BIOS POST screen changed to 80 MB. I will try removing the SIMM and leave in only the DIMM to see what I get for a reading and let you know.

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I’ve got a similar board, with 2 DIMMS, and 4 SIMMS…

I needed to have my “bigger” simm memory in the ‘2’ and ‘3’, not ‘0’ and ‘1’ slots to work properly. I don’t quite understand why, but that’s the way it works on my system.

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Go to http://www.simmtester.com and download DocMemory.

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From my personal experience (such as it is), I have an older system with a board that has slots for both DIMMs (2) & SIMMs (4) and the documentation clearly states that both types can be installed and be used together. The system came with a memory upgrade from 32mb to 64mb using two 32mb SIMMS. Two weeks after I got the system I got a great deal on 128mb DIMM memory modules and bought & installed one in one of the 2 DIMM slots. The system saw all the memory but almost immediately began behaving strangely and crashing with increasing frequency. I tried every conceivable configuration of the modules in the slots (short of putting the DIMMs in the SIMMs & the SIMMs in the DIMMs) until the system simply refused to boot up and run Windows no matter how I mixed the modules. It would only run when one type of memory or the other was installed. I finally contacted the manufacturer (Premio) and they grudgingly acknowledged that the system indeed would not run properly with both memory types installed and agreed to do an even swap of my two 32mb SIMMs for one 64mb DIMM and there were no further problems with the memory or the system.
I don’t believe that there are any dual memory systems manufactured any longer. So I guess it’s fairly safe to assume that it was a bad idea from the start.
Anywayyy…. that’s my on the subject.
~Doc

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