Only showing 256Mb i have 512Mb

[spiritedandy]

hi all just getting second system up ..

pc chips m870 with 3000+ semp

i have 512mb ram 1 stick ...but mobo only shows it as 256mb ...ive tried three different sticks but the same thing even tried 1gb but still reads it as 256 ??? im at a loss any help pleeezzzz

cheers andy

[kmrivers]

update your bios. if that doesnt do it... RMA.

[Enablingwolf]

Another happy PCChips user. I had some really bad times with them, the support used to be horrid! I gave up even thinking about that brand a long time ago. Since you need help I will lend some advice I learnt.

If you still have a warranttee use it now. Two boards I have had had controller issues. They are very bottom end boards. Even the top end or not so great. I rarley if ever say this about computer parts. This is one of the few times I do.

You will notice the site for the brand is made by chimps and not fun to naviagte. If you have shot an Email, good luck getting a reply. I tried 9 Emails to the brand using the site, 0-9 replies.

If you can get a replacment board or RMA that one, you might have the same issues I had with the memory controllers. I suspect you noticed the BOIS is still on the 1.0Crev. If you have an older one try that out. There is a known issue with Semprons and memory sizes. BIOS update (http://www.pcchips.com.tw/PCCWeb/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?MenuID=0&LanID=0&DetailID=345&DetailName=BIOS)

I would even take a guess the memory slots are defective.

Myself I would just replace the board and try it agian. I appologize for the negative comments, but you might just feel the same way after a few head bangs.

[spiritedandy]

cheers all for replys

yip bios flash worked 1.0c all well and running fine :cool:


thanx again :) :)

[Enablingwolf]

Glad to hear it is working and in order. :D


Word of freindly advice from a past user of the brand(2 seprate models and both died shortly afterwards, one was an RMA too. Total of 3 boards). Next upgrade try and find another board brand.

I see it like this. This is a newer board(2 prior rev for the BIOS). The Sempron is an older chip now. There should be no issues with the BIOS detecting memory on one chip class. It solidifies my negative comments on the brand. You have what I would consider a very common pick for that brand and CPU combo. This issue should not be there.

Not limited to one of the only brands I actually do not like(Cyrix is the only other brand). It is the quality of the product. You spend your money and expect a good product. PCChips, lacks much in the end product and how it is produced. The brand ThermalTake produces a better product. I can't think of anytime bieng on this board were I mention words like this to another member. I do not just bash products without reason. The product is even sub-par for the budget sector. To top it off, PCCHips is not friendly in the BIOS. I had stabability issues on all the boards under this brand. That is my biggest warning to you. All bashing aside of the brand. They make unstable products that will eventually make you nutty. I can provide testimonials to others I know who have had stablility issues on the brand also. Maybe since Elite Groups(ECS) has dumped some cash into the brand they have/will improve.

BTW great chip for OC'ing. :thup: I hear them Sempron can give some nice results for the money.

[RoadWarrior]

I have insane luck with the crappiest hardware, and the worst luck with theoretically good brand names.

Therefore I seem to have a bit of a soft spot for PC Chips boards. I've always found that they can be tuned up to be fast and stable. I think some of the problem is that they don't have very sensible default settings or something. I guess I wouldn't recommend them per se, but somehow once you get the hang of the PC Chips way of doing things, you can get them running quite nicely and jumping through hoops.

Sometimes whether by pure accident or just the law of averages, they actually manage to trot out a board that becomes a bit of a classic in it's own way. These tend to get user supported unofficial homepages that list mods and tricks for squeezing the most out of them. Examples I can think of off the top of my head are the M537DMA the M571 and the M810LMR. Usually these spring up a year or so after the boards are released, so you might want to google every so often to see if your board(s) get a homepage.

One thing that is kind of nice about PC Chips boards is that although they are made real cheap, or maybe because of it, they don't go out of their way to prevent the board being useful with another generation of chips. Some manufacturers seem to deliberately restrict upgrade options because they want to sell you another board. PC Chips seems to want to get maximum production lifetime out of a board, and doesn't deliberately make things diffucult, it just does it accidentally, or through neglect. User patched BIOSes, or user originated mods often cure the neglect aspect.

Anyhoo, just trying to say it's not the end of the world to have a PC Chips board, to me, those that fall into my hands are fun to screw around with, but they wouldn't of course be my first choice for a main rig.

Road Warrior