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4GB RAM => games freeze :( while 2GB => games OK


GillouStyle

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Hello everyone,

I previously could play (GTR2, Call of Duty 4, Trackmania, Stalker...) well with 2GB of ram, but since I've added an extra 2GB, I have had HUGE FREEZES during the game, and a M$ Windows pop-up window saying that the display adapter had stopped.

This happens now and never happened before. So, I took both of the two 2GB sticks out at one time, and in both cases the games perform well with only 2GB.

>>From this, I conclude that both sticks are okay (hence no need for a memory test).

I read that a 32bit Vista version can not handle 4GB fully (it shares it with the video card, etc..), that's why it only shows about 3GB in the control panel.

So last night, I installed Vista 64bits, which allows for more ram to be addressed. In the control panel, it indeed showed a full 4GB of ram (and not 3GB like in the 32bit version).

However, the freeze would still happen when 4GB was physically in, and it would perform smoothly when one of the two sticks was physically removed. I tried running msconfig to restrict the maximum amount of ram to 2GB to check if it worked without having to physically remove the sticks, but that didn't do anything.

I gave up VISTA: I went back to XP Pro SP3 32bits, because I really don't mind having 4GB under windows. If it's only 3GB, fine, whatever :-) AS LONG AS THE video card driver would run without a hitch. However, much to my deception, under XP Pro SP3, the graphic card doesn't work well when the 4GB of RAM are in place. SAME issues.

>> From this, I conclude that this is not a Windows problem.

In a nutshell, I suspect the graphics card drivers to be faulty and incompatible with 4GB of ram: this is why I turn to you now: kingdom of display drivers.

Google tells me others have encountered such issues - and it doesn't seem to be an iMac issue, but a 8800M GS driver issue.

Specs :

Apple iMac 24 3Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo

Nvidia 8800M GS with 512MB - above problem encountered using both default Bootcamp drivers (Date: January 2008) and recent 177.98 (August 2008) drivers from this website (with modded Inf to allow the installation)

2x2GB Ram 800Mhz

Main OS : OS X Leopard 10.5.5

Second OS : WinXP Pro SP3 with Bootcamp 2.01

Would anyone care to help me find the solution? I am running out of hope... and free time :)

Edited by GillouStyle
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the same with my Acer Aspire 4520................. GeForce 7000M

Edited by alex007600
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You say you are running XP, yet you get TDR errors? It sounds like you are running Vista? Try updating your video drivers. Also, you might try installing XP.

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Even though Vista recognized 4GB with SP1, it still provoked the freezes.

I am on XP 32bits now, and I have tried to play several games. Even though there only were 2GB, I had some problems. So I decided to put the original Apple 2GB, and it is working fine.

Also, a friend of mine told me he had 4GB on Vista with a 8800GS iMac 24" and he never had any graphics problems.

I now conclude that IT may very well be a RAM problem. I will get a refund and order some other ones, and see what happens with a different set of ram sticks.

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If the problems only start occuring after adding the extra 2GB RAM then I suspect it is indeed a problem with your RAM modules. Im running Vista 32bit with 4GB RAM and so far (touch wood) I have had no problems in that area.

What happens if you take out your 2 orginal modules and replace them with your extra ones? Obviously you will still only have 2GB installed, but if you are still having issues then you will have found your problem.

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Thats what you get for buying a mac, lol jk.

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I have an Acer Aspire 4520 and the problem its the same but i have Vista x64

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