Undeadlord
05-07-2001, 08:46 AM
First,
Can RAM make a system's power supply die? I recently added some RAM to a system I was putzing around with. It ran fine and RAM counted up as it should. That was friday, Monday I came back to work, I had left the machine on and on monday it was off. Smelled like burning ozone smell and the machine was dead. Power supply had been burnt out. Tried a bunch of things motherboard and powersupply new even get power. So could it be the RAM I put it? Or was it just a bad coincidence?
Second,
I have some RAM I found and pulled out of other computers. Is there a site that will tell me the compatibliyty of the RAM or what the specs are on it, if I know a serial number or somthing on the RAM? I know I can plug it in and test it. But after the inncident I had above, I am not so keen on that. Thanks for all your help.
Undeadlord
Steve R Jones
05-07-2001, 10:43 AM
bad coincidence
could have been cpu fan quit
power spike
etc...
Bovon
05-07-2001, 10:58 AM
Sir Undeadlord.
As with all replies I am not pretty sure of, let me say that 'I don't think so'.
Personally, I have stuck ram in machines that I didn't have a clue what it was, or if it was compatable or not...if it fit the slots, I stuck it in. That was back in SIMM days, mostly.
When DIMM became the norm, there is/was 5 volt and 3 volt (3.3?V) anyway, it is my opinion that it was time for the machine to go. Maybe the supplys regulators went kaput, and the output voltages increased, and took the mainboard with it on its way to the grave.
I suppose, if your machine was old enough to need the 5 volt version, and you put the 3.3 volt type in..there would have been a voltage mismatch..too high, and the ram died/shorted, and that may have resulted in causing the powersupply to go belly up..and in turn, zapped the mainboard in the process.
This seems to me to be a bit far fetched, but stranger things have happened. As I reread your note, I'm not positive the mobo went west or just the power supply...in any case, I kinda doubt the ram had anything to do with the failure if it booted and ran after installing the unknown ram.
To my knowledge, there is no one site that would have data on all kinds of ram. If you can determine who made it, and have the chip numbers off of the chips, and can find that manufacturer (assuming they are still in business) you may be able to get what you need from there.
There are certain specifics about ram that will allow you to narrow it down, such as 72 pin SIMM, or 168 pin DIMM, ect. Then you can count the number of chips on a module and reasonably determine if it is parity (ECC) registered, ect.
Say for instance, you have an unknown module of 168 pin DIMM. If your mobo was made within the last 5 years, it will require the 3,3 volt variety. Sticking a 5 volt module in there, it probably won't boot...it may, but won't like it. If the ram is of the correct version, ie...3.3 volt, but is parity (ECC) and your board does not support ECC, it probably won't boot. A mainboard that requires ECC is rare anymore, except for boards designed for server use.
Undeadlord
05-07-2001, 07:20 PM
Thanks for all the replies,
The RAM I was testing was SIMM's so I wasn'
t sure if the party was an issue or something, I think the system that blew is fine except for the power supply, atleast thats my theory gonna have to get a new power supply and teast it http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif Lets hope for the best!
Undeadlord