T20 Memory woes

[pinchy1]

Hi All,

I just bought a pair of 256 MB PC100 144 Pin SODIMMs to max out my T20. (originally came with 128MB stick.) When I installed both, XP install would always freeze. When I used only one 256MB stick, install proceeded fine.

XP runs fine with both sticks in. Occasionally I will get a blue screen with DRIVER IRQ problems. This probably isn't related, right?

memtest86 run on each stick by itself presented not one single error. But both sticks together yielded many many errors after only an hour or two of memtest86.

Any idea what's happening? Should I RMA both? each by itself tests out perfectly.....

Many thanks

[baldyguy]

What brand?

[carbon_unit]

Could it be one of the memory slots doing it?

[pinchy1]

Thanks guys for helping out.

The memory is PQI - chips are #PQ3S168E75-0511, eight chips per side. I purchased the sticks from a reputable dealer on eba - they have a 90-day replacement warranty.

Yes, I'm worried that the slots might be involved. However, I have memtest86'ed both sticks separately in BOTH slots and still no clear answers.

SiSoft Sandra says that "large memory modules should be buffered or ECC..." is that something to consider?

Yesterday with 512MB in I got a blue screen with "paging data in a no-paging area" which I assume is definitely a memory issue.

If it is indeed the slot/slots... do I have any hope of replacing those myself?

<moving inversions, 32-bit pattern> ad nauseum

[pinchy1]

Yeah, either 256MB SODIMM tests perfectly fine in either slot for at least 12 hours. I've been testing for days and it's consistent.

But put both modules in and errors, errors. And in Windows XP with both sticks in I occasionally get the page fault blue screen.

The retailer will test and replace if defective but refund if there's nothing wrong with the sticks. I paid about $150 for both... What should I do?