SLOWER after adding 4 GB RAM?!

I hope you guys can help. I recently installed 4 GB of OCZ 667 mHz RAM into my Macbook Pro. I run Vista 32 bit for gaming. It tells me there's 4 GB of RAM installed (tho I know 32 bit OS can't use all the RAM). However, when I run games like Company of Heroes and Command and Conquer 3 I find that the game starts to lag a lot after a while, which never happened before with my original 2 GB of RAM (this happens even in single player mode so I know it's not my internet connection). I find that tabbing out onto the desktop and tabbing back in seems to speed things up...but then inevitably it starts to lag again after a while. I end up having to tab out numerous times during a game. Any ideas on what's going on? Is there something wrong with my RAM?

Thanks for any help!

 

Do a memory test like Memtest86+, Windows Memory tool and your BIOS diagnostic RAM test

Could it be a mac issue?

 

Using 4GB of memory on a 32-bit OS is not recommended, as it can cause problems just like using a hard drive larger than 32GB on a chipset that can only address 32GB is not recommended. There is more hardware than addresses and the system "trips" over the unaddressed hardware. Will it work? Usually. Problems? Yeah, sometimes. I would only go to 3GB at max on 32-bit.

 

Thanks, I've tried the Mac version of Memtest and there doesn't appear to be any problems. I'll give Windows Memory tool a try, but Macs don't use BIOS.

Is there any RAM stress test that can simulate a game conditions? Maybe that would help diagnose the issue.

Thanks for the input. Do you have any sites, etc. that could explain this more? I never ran across this issue while researching the use of 4GB of RAM in 32 bit Vista. If it really is a problem of too much RAM, I may have to upgrade to Vista 64 bit...which will be a huge undertaking, so I need to know for sure...thanks!

 

it wont work good.

Because of 32 bit limited addressing it will lag for some reasons.

It's not something really bad bit it annoying and makes you angry.

 

+1 ^^ Using 4GB ram with a 32-bit OS never caused any problems for me. The left-over 0.5-1 GB ram just becomes invisible to the OS. (So why would it cause any problem?)
I know nothing about MACs, but you could try a clean install or upgrade/update the OpenFirmware/BIOS equivalent-thing (if it has anything like that), if it is possible or try swapping the memory module's slots or maybe it is a chipset limitation (if MBPs have chipsets ).

Also check out the Task Manager for ram and cpu usage.

 

Do you notice any hard drive thrashing when the game start lagging? If not I think that you'll have to look elsewhere for the source of your problem.

 

The 2 GB of RAM you had before, is it 1 + 1 GB sticks? If yes and if you still have them, try doing a 3 GB (2 + 1) and see if there are any differences.

 

I agree with stewie. Try that and report back. Other than that, check your temperatures. You might be heating up, downclocking, and a tab to the desktop eases up on the GPU for a bit so it cools down some, then tabbing back puts the stress back on. You can use HWMonitor to read your temps.
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

 

Thanks for all the replies!

I'm not sure what you mean? I never hear my hard drive anyway as it's always really quite.

Thanks, I'll try the 3 GB of RAM tonight. In terms of temps, they've always been high (sometimes running 80C+ according to HWMonitor) but I never noticed the slow-downs before installing the 4 GB of memory...tho I'll continue to keep an eye on the temps.

So the general consensus is that this is most likely not a defective RAM issue?

 

Run that memtest to find out! Just start the test then go watch a movie or go to bed, it'll take a while.

 

There should be a light on your notebook (front) that lights up when accessing HDD. You would not really want to see that very active as HDD is relatively slow.

I don't have the answer. But if I was having this issue. After memtest confirmed RAM is working. I would use CPU-Z to look at Timings? Speed? See if recognized correctly? I would use something like SiSoft Sandra and test the bandwidth. Should be about 4,000MB/s I would guess. If I had the old RAM I would test it's bandwidth also. This is all for peace of mind likely will show no problems.

Did you buy two new DIMM's? Brand and mixing is not supposed to matter but on a few notebooks it is a known issue.

What GPU? 8xxx? Have you always had SP1 installed or something new?

I think the general consensus is we don't know yet.

 

Powerpack, thanks for your post. Answers below:

Unfortunately, no such luck on the HD light.

In terms of CPU-Z, what exactly should I be looking for? Sorry, noob here.

Yes, the new 2 x 2 GB DIMMs are the exact same RAM.

GPU is 8600M GT (I hope it's not crapping out...lol). I've had SP1 installed even before the lag started (and before I installed the 4 GB of RAM), so I don't think that's it...

Thanks again!

 

#1 You are not getting HDD hits or you don't see a light?

#2 third tab over "Memory" just see if speed is running at correct speed and for example I would guess your CL is 5 so is it five. Really a formality. The SiSoft bandwidth would indicate a problem and more useful. I said around 4,000MB/s I would guess if you see 2,000MB/s you have an issue.

#3 Really a stretch on my part as the problems I mentioned demonstrate in for example failure to boot.

#4 8600 not what I wanted to hear. Likely not the issue. I am guessing you have not installed any software relating to the current issues? DeLL for example is offering such for some and not others. To clear up any confusion I do not believe this because of differences in the cards per se but more to do with the cooling solutions of the different models affected and not affected. All the 8600's are susceptible to heat.

If you put you old RAM back in and runs fine you can rule out much and determine it is a RAM issue or not. I think you need 3 test set ups.

2x1GB tells something with the new RAM.

1x2GB could tell if the new RAM is at issue.

As suggested 1x1GB and 1x2GB to give 3GB same as before but uses both slots, if this was fine also would indicate for some reason 4GB's is causing issues.

 

Thanks for the responses! Here's my report back on the suggested tests. In short, I found a huge amount of memtest errors on BOTH new sticks of RAM....

Last night I ran the 3 GB (1 x 1 GB old Samsung stick + 1 x 2GB new OCZ stick) while gaming and didn't seem to notice the slowdowns. However, when I ran Memtest86+ 2.0.1 I started getting lots of errors...so I switched to just 1 x 2GB new OCZ stick and ran it last night for about 5 hours and found 3206 errors after 7 passes!

I then tested the other new stick of 2 GB OCZ RAM and after 37 minutes (1 Pass) I found 802 errors at which point I just stopped the test.

I also tried moving the sticks of RAM to the other RAM slot (just in case it's an issue with the slot) but when errors started showing up almost immediately I stopped the tests.

In terms of the other stuff, I ran CPU-Z to check the settings and they are 5-5-5-15 timings @ 1.8V. Also, I don't have an HD light.

Any idea if this is bad RAM or just bad settings for the RAM? I can't believe both sticks are showing so many errors...

 

Try running Memtest86 on your old RAM to see what that shows. If that shows up loads of errors then maybe there's something amiss with your hardware. However, that's very unusual.

AFAIK, Memtest86 is a widely accepted accepted test. If it says your RAM is bad then it's bad. Notebooks don't normally let users fiddle with the settings for the RAM. The 5-5-5-15 timings are coded into the module (they are on CPU-Z's SPD page).

John

 

You can also try the Vista Memory Diagnostic Tool:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...y-using-windows-vista-memory-diagnostic-tool/

If that shows errors also, then your sticks are bad and should be returned or get them replaced under warranty.

 

I actually thought of that as well...and oddly enough, when I tested the original RAM, I also got lots of errors! I hope it's not my MBP's hardware that's at issue...how likely is it to have 2 bad RAM slots? The weird thing is I never noticed any major problems (no regular BSODs or the Mac equivalent)... Another possibility is that memtest86+ isn't compatible with Macs...I'll have to ask in the Apple forum which memory tests are compatible (or perhaps a mod could move this thread to there?)

In the meantime, I'll also give the Vista tool a try...

 

I have had problems with Macs only accepting specific memory before (DDR days)
I took out some Mac DDR (2*128MB) and swapped it with 2*512MB from another computer. The other computer would boot and BSOD after a while, and the Mac did not work at all. Put the memory back and had no problems. This was also a desktop, but I guess seeing as even dell had a BIOS update that did not allow systems to use anything but their memory, it's possible that this is the issue.

Is your original 2x2GB from Apple? If so, then I'm with you on looking for a different method of testing.

 

Yes, the original RAM (2 x 1GB sticks) are stock from Apple.

I ran Vista's Memory Diagnostic Tool, which found no errors (on the original RAM -- I haven't had a chance to run it on the new RAM yet).

Any further suggestions? Thanks again for all the posts.

 

Keep testing!

 

Don't forget the MemTest86+ tests. You will run to run the test continuously, at least 5 or 6 passes for a minimum of 4 hours (8 preferred).

 

Use 3gb ram

 

If the original 2GB also reports errors, then maybe it's the motherboard that's defective.
Asside from that, use apple certified ram for apple hardware. But don't buy it off apple, they'll rip you off by x2.

 

Excellent advice! I ran the full Apple Hardware Test (on the advice of someone in the Apple forum) and it spewed out a long error code about my "video controller"! It looks like another NVIDIA 8**** card may be biting the dust...I'll have to call Apple tomorrow about it! Fortunately it's still under warranty but the stupid thing is I need my computer for the next month to study with!

Edit: I Googled the error code, and this HUGE thread came up on the Apple Support Forum. Apparently I'm not the only one getting this problem! So if anyone else is having sluggish graphics or blank screens on their MBPs, run that Apple Hardware Test!

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1478474&tstart=0