Maximum speed and amount of RAM for m7664x

[sandmant]

I am using 64 bit Windows 7 Professional.  I figure I need 64 bit to utilize the 8GB memory.

I have the old BIOS version: 3.10  12/13/2006

I too have no idea why the BIOS cares about the OS.

Off subject a bit, before I upgraded memory, I installed an SSD drive (Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III) - $99 around Christmas.   As part of the upgrade, I also went from Windows XP to Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.  The speed improvement was drastic, but I don't know how much was the SSD drive and how much the fresh OS.  The box had become so slow I was considering replacing it.  I was not sure if the SATA III SSD would even work, and I'm sure it's limited by the HP's SATA bus, but it seems to help a lot. 

The memory was just icing on the cake - I don't think I really needed it. 

[ScooterB]

Thanks so very much.  This is the first confirmation I have seen for this level of RAM on Win 7 64 bit.

I think one or more of my current RAM cards have bad again. PC keeps stalling with some simple photo editing in Irfanview and jumping up to 100% processing even with no other programs running.

I'm going to try some of those Crucial RAMs then.

[ScooterB]

I'm assuming with the 8GB being the max and  being on only two cards that you have to leave the other two RAM slots empty (4 RAM slots on MOB).  No complaints b/c I still double my RAM over the original OEM limits.

Does it matter at all which two slots you put them in and which two you leave blank?

They appear thicker (perhaps double packed on each card) so I'm not sure if they only fit with a space between them or if they should fit and be installed in the first two slots.....

Just ordered a set from Amazon as I couldn't find any locally.

[sandmant]

Each Crucial CT2KIT25664AA800 4GB Kit is actually 2 cards, each 2GB.  So for 8GB you need 2 kits, which is 4 cards.

[ScooterB]

Shoot,  I don't know what I was thinking.  I have bad brain fog from a severe sleep disorder and am always getting things mixed up.

I'm not sure which of my four cards might be bad if any but my performance issues are similar to the last time I ended up having some cards go bad.  They still passed Memtest back then but had the cards tested at a repair shop I trust.

Either way I guess the two 2 MB cards I got will have the same amount of memory with two slots that I had with four 1 MB cards.  If these work then I can order two more.

Now where to get my brain some replacement parts...

[ScooterB]

Well I just installed the exact same Crucial brand and model RAM but again I only get the infernal beeping from the MOBO can't even get a blue screen of death or boot from a Memtest CD.

Put old RAM back in and it boots okay.... The only remaining variable I see is that I have the Athelon X2 5000+ and not the 6000+

Don't know wether to try to update the CPU yet again to a 6000+ or just return the RAM.....

[ScooterB]

Just an update on my experience with this RAM for others reference.

One of the two Crucial Ram cards was apparently defective.

After deciding to upgrade my CPU yet again to the AMD 6000+ 3.0 , I reinstalled the two Crucial RAM cards after confirming the upgraded CPU was working properly.  Again I got the dreading beeping error from the MOBO and a failure to boot.  As a last resort I decided to install just one of the two Crucial 2GB Ram cards at a time.

First card installed by itself still resulted in a boot failure.  Trying to rule everything out and not remembering which end  of the four RAM card slots was the preferred starting point I tried the other end as well with the same results.  Next I tried the other Crucial Ram card alone in the slot closest to the "center" of the MOBO and my PC finally booted with one of the new cards!  Yeah.  

Just to tripple check I once more to install the other card that had failed to boot one more time next to the card that did work and I was back to the same error and boot failure.  The bad RAM is on the way back to the vendor for an exchange and I ordered two more Crucial 2GB cards now that I have at least one of them working.

[Heinen]

I do not know about the Ram but I put a Winsor AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ 3.2 GHz Dual-Core (ADX6400IAA6CZ) Processor AM2 on a a8m2n-la motherboard. The CPU works but the BOIS does not recognize the chipset. No issues for me though because I'm trying to get the most speed out of the old board as possible.

[Heinen]

There is no other BIOS update for X64 at least that I have found. I have tried to put on the 5.07 BIOS but it says that it is not compatable. I have put in an AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ 3.2 GHz Dual-Core (ADX6400IAA6CZ) Processor AM2 but the BIOS does not recognize the board.