Don’t add more than 4GB of RAM

[Yoeddy1]

I always like to challenge the technology, but this time it didn’t go anywhere.  I tried to plug in 2 4GB sticks of RAM into my G23.  Upon doing so, it started beeping at me, the monitors wouldn’t come on, and the CPU didn’t post.  Ok no biggie, I’ll stick the old RAM back in.  Same thing.  Ugh!  Switched the original RAM around…same problem.  I was stuck. 

I noticed a jumper next to the CMOS battery, and silkscreened on the board is “Clear CMOS.”  I changed the jumper to pins 2 and 3, and left it for about 10 minutes.

Put everything back together, and boom, everything came back to life…CPU post, monitors, etc.  I even tried putting in the ekey7 and the diag drive…it was toast.

Just a little of nugget of info to share if you get stuck.

Thanks,
Jason

[Retro tech repair]

Hold on you got it working again or no. The mainboard should not be damaged by sticks that are too large if they are incompatible they can cause ram error or if faulty they can cause damage.

[ChrisColumbus]

I always like to challenge the technology, but this time it didn’t go anywhere.  I tried to plug in 2 4GB sticks of RAM into my G23.  Upon doing so, it started beeping at me, the monitors wouldn’t come on, and the CPU didn’t post.  Ok no biggie, I’ll stick the old RAM back in.  Same thing.  Ugh!  Switched the original RAM around…same problem.  I was stuck. 

I noticed a jumper next to the CMOS battery, and silkscreened on the board is “Clear CMOS.”  I changed the jumper to pins 2 and 3, and left it for about 10 minutes.

Put everything back together, and boom, everything came back to life…CPU post, monitors, etc.  I even tried putting in the ekey7 and the diag drive…it was toast.

Just a little of nugget of info to share if you get stuck.

Thanks,
Jason

We have followup questions. So you just reset the CMOS and reinstalled the old ram stick and the main board was fine?  Now you say "toast" on the ekey and diag.  do you mean it fried them or just would not work and now they are fine when you reset the CMOS and put the original RAM back in?

[Yoeddy1]

Sorry guys.  Yeah, so with the original RAM back in, I cleared the CMOS, letting it sit with the jumper on pins 2 and 3.  After about 10 minutes, I moved the jumper back to pins 1 and 2.  I reinstalled the CPU back into the game, and everything fired back up again and is working fine.  The ekey and diag key would not work when the system wasn’t working.  After clearing the CMOS, both keys were fine again.

The system is 100% again.

Thanks,
Jason

[ChrisColumbus]

Sorry guys.  Yeah, so with the original RAM back in, I cleared the CMOS, letting it sit with the jumper on pins 2 and 3.  After about 10 minutes, I moved the jumper back to pins 1 and 2.  I reinstalled the CPU back into the game, and everything fired back up again and is working fine.  The ekey and diag key would not work when the system wasn’t working.  After clearing the CMOS, both keys were fine again.

The system is 100% again.

Thanks,
Jason

Ok thanks. We just wanted to make sure noting got fried for good! Vincent and I were just talking about this for like an hour and then you posted this. HAHA just needed to make sure!

[Stayouttadabunker]

You stuck a full-blown 427 Hemi motor into a Ford Pinto!
What we're you doing?
Trying to promote faster game switching?

I'll be honest...I stuck larger memory sticks into an IGT Vision computer once...thought I fried everything too.... 

[Retro tech repair]

You stuck a full-blown 427 Hemi motor into a Ford Pinto!
What we're you doing?
Trying to promote faster game switching?

The hardware is technically compatible with 8gb ram the 32bit version of linux used for the family 14 os is only compatible of 4gb the 64bit windows os used with family 20 however is compatible with more. The same files i use with my fam 20 show chips has been tested working with with 4.0 brain boxes running 8gb ram.

[Stayouttadabunker]

Good info on memory capalbilities Retro! 

I sat at an AVP machine in a casino once for ten minutes waiting for a game to come on because I switched it.
Called some floor help to come over and they said "Yeah...that one takes long to load up" 

[Yoeddy1]

You stuck a full-blown 427 Hemi motor into a Ford Pinto!
What we're you doing?
Trying to promote faster game switching?

The hardware is technically compatible with 8gb ram the 32bit version of linux used for the family 14 os is only compatible of 4gb the 64bit windows os used with family 20 however is compatible with more. The same files i use with my fam 20 show chips has been tested working with with 4.0 brain boxes running 8gb ram.

So Fam20 on a 660 box…then 8GB would be supported because of the change to an x64 Windows OS? 

Thanks,
Jason

[ChrisColumbus]

yes because fam14 uses QNX platform which is 32bit and has a limitation of 4gb RAM. even with that limitation, some hardware, ex motherboard still has even more limitations. I had an old computer that MAX Ram was 3 GB even on a 32bit system. It was because of the motherboard limits. I put 4GB RAM in and the computer would only map 3GB. 

Fam20 uses windows based 64bit so in theory, it should support over 4GB

[Yoeddy1]

In the case of Fam20 in a 660 CPU though, even if it supports 8GB, the games aren’t going to run any better though right?  They may load faster, but the graphics and sound stuttering are due to the limited abilities of the video card and processor speed, right?

That’s the reason why I abandoned the Fam20 project with my G23.  But if 8GB RAM would run the games smoothly, I might revisit it in the future.

Thanks,
Jason

[Retro tech repair]

I have 8gb detecting in my fam20 660 not sure if its a bit faster to just placebo effect.

[Yoeddy1]

I have 8gb detecting in my fam20 660 not sure if its a bit faster to just placebo effect.

If you have the brand and specs on these 8GB memory modules please share!

[Stayouttadabunker]

I have 8gb detecting in my fam20 660 not sure if its a bit faster to just placebo effect.

That's easy enough to test I would think?
All you'd need to do is pull out 4GB of sticks and see if it takes longer to load up a game? lol

[ChrisColumbus]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/354201856415?var=623583325548


These are the ones I purchased for the project for Vincent to try. They support AMD and INTEL processors.  There are some out there that only support AMD and had horrible reviews, so i didn't try those.

[Matt411]

I feel like ram is only helping if multiple things are loading + running at once... more processes at one time. At least from a windows experience, the thing that's going to make the biggest difference is the graphics card / running on a SSD especially when it comes to game performance. Games may load slightly faster with more ram tho IMO.

[Retro tech repair]

I feel like ram is only helping if multiple things are loading + running at once... more processes at one time. At least from a windows experience, the thing that's going to make the biggest difference is the graphics card / running on a SSD especially when it comes to game performance. Games may load slightly faster with more ram tho IMO.

Once im done moving i plan to time it with 4 and 8 gb

[Yoeddy1]

If someone can test 8GB of RAM on a FAM14 CPU, and have it post successfully, I’d love to know the specs of the RAM.

Thanks,
Jason

[Retro tech repair]

If someone can test 8GB of RAM on a FAM14 CPU, and have it post successfully, I’d love to know the specs of the RAM.

Thanks,
Jason

4g limitation in family 14 is because the software is 32 bit

[Yoeddy1]

If someone can test 8GB of RAM on a FAM14 CPU, and have it post successfully, I’d love to know the specs of the RAM.

Thanks,
Jason

4g limitation in family 14 is because the software is 32 bit

That’s what I figured.

Jason