RAM-can I have 2x8MB & 2x16MB cards?

[jom]

I have a PC that initially had two 8Mb ram cards. I put in another two 16Mb cards, expecting to get 16 + 32 = 48 Mb RAM.

I only get 32 Mb.

What happened to the initial 8Mb?
Is it not possible to mix card sizes?

Thankyou in advance.

 

[franklin97355]

You can mix memory but your motherboard may not be able to support the bigger sticks. Check the manual and also see if there is a bios upgrade for the mobo.

 

[Halfcan]

Sounds like you have a pretty old system. Yes normally you can mix RAM sizes, your problem most likey is your motherboad specs. Some motherboards max out, or refuse to recognize more than a predefined amount of ram. Compaq does this. I have a Compaq P-200 that maxes at 48 MB.
Read your motherboard book to see if there are Max Ram limitations.
Andy

 

[mainegeek]

Try the 8's in banks 0 and 2, 16's in 1 and 3

 

[jom]

Hi All,

Thanks everyone for the quick replies.

I don't have the motherboard manual - is there a way I can interrogate the system to see it's limit?

Following mainegeek's suggestion, I've played around with the arrangement of the four modules. Some arrangements won't boot up at all. I can't tell which is slot 0. But through trial and error, i think they have to be installed in identical pairs and the system won't see motre than 32Mb. I can get it to see 8, 16 and 32, but not 24 or any other value.

I think the suggestion that the motherboard is limited to 32 might be the answer. It's a '97 Pentium.

Never mind, I'll get by. Thanks again.

 

[mainegeek]

Also one pair may be FPM and the other EDO and your mobo might not support both at once.