HELP! Problem with a new Computer (ECS K7S5A/Tbird 1Ghz/DDR)

[mark]

Hey guys,
I am building a new computer for a friend, it has the ECS K7S5A, AMD TBird 1 GHz/266FSB, 256 MB of DDR Ram, 64MB AGP Video, CDRW, and CDRom drive.
I have put everything carefully together, checked it all over, and tried to boot up.
The first time it gave me the single beep and loaded up, then FROZE at the 'checking NVRAM..' part. I have the CDRom as Master on the Secondary IDE, and the CDRW as slave. I noticed that the read light on the CDRom drive was on. So I hit the reset button, and it did the same, then I unplugged it, checked everything over.
I tried again and it stuck at the same place, so I shut it off, and had a smoke break. I turned it on and this time it went past the NVRAM check and showed that the 256MB ram is installed. So I hit 'DEL' to get into the bios and have it look for my HD, set the info, and rebooted, and now it's stuck at 'checking NVRAM..' again.
I need help before I kick the computer.
Please post any help ASAP.
Thanks,
Mark

[Yodums]

IS the ram in tight?

If you really have some time off your hands.

Take everything out and stuff and rebuild it completely.

Try disconnecting all the IDE Cables removing all the PCI ports so basically its only the mobo, chip, psu and AGP and ram booting up.

Yodums

[mark]

OOPS, The Motherboard is a PC Chips M830LR
http://www.pcchips.com.tw/M830LR.html
Not an ESC K7S5A (but they are the same board)


argh,
I just did a cmos clear and rebooted the computer, now it's showing the cpu as 750mhz.
and stops at the checking NVRAM.

I rechecked the ram, and it's in fully.
someone HELP!!!!!

here it what i am looking at.

[mark]

dang, ok welp, i tried re-seating the ddr ram, tried the other slot.
and the mb i have (same as the k7s5a) has 2 ddram slots and 2 sdram slots. so i found 256mb sdram (pc133) and put it in (after removing the ddr ram) and it booted just fine.
here is what I don't understand though..... one time after i had a smoke break the computer booted with the ddr ram, and i even got into the bios, but I can't get it to boot again. unfortunatly I cannot check the ddr ram in another system, as i only have this 1 ddr board.

now i am used to running sdram and I know they have High Density, Low Density, Generic, brand-name and whatever.
do DDR boards have problems running different memory as some SDRam boards do?
(the DDR Ram I have is 256mb Generic Grade)
this is where i got the ram at
Generic 256mb ddr ram
and ohh crap, i payed $53.00 +s/h for it on 12/28/01) and now they have it listed at $73.00 +s/h
Do I need to get brandname RAM????
mark


oh yeah it was PC2100


now here is my new question....
how much faster will it be if I run 256mb ddr ram compared to
256mb pc133 sdram??
AND If I install the OS, set the computer up while running PC133 ram and want to install DDR ram down the road does it automatically detect it, (do i need to reinstall OS, or anything?)

[bigbenji]

download SiSoft Sandra and run the ram benchmark--you'll be able to compare your system with others of alike cpu's and different types of ram

[Caffinehog]

Had similar problems with a motherboard. I think it was a K7s5a, as well. First, it wouldn't boot because my HSF did not send a signal telling the computer it was running... a safety measure. Had to put on a new one that allowed monitoring of the fan speed. Then, I needed a bigger power supply. 250 didn't cut it, generic 300W just got by.

[diehrd]

Are the jumpers for the ram ??Or is it auto detecting the type ??