possible RAM problem....any ideas?

just built a new system with the following

abit NF-S2 mobo
barton 2500+
2 x 256MB crucial PC2700
sapphire radeon 9600
maxtor 120gb EIDE hdd
liteon 48x CDR/RW
pioneer 107 DVDR/RW
(currently using a standard 300w PSU that came with the case until my local shop opens on monday)

the problem i'm having is that if i put both sticks of RAM onto the baord, i'm either not getting to POST, or it will POST & then i get a BSOD before it gets into windows (message reads IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL which i've seen before with b0rked memory)

i've tried it with 1 stick of RAM at a time (both sticks) and it works fine, i've run memtest86 with both sticks of RAM individually for about 9 hours per stick & get no errors but with both sticks, its just not playing

any ideas as to the likely cause of the problem? are the sticks of RAM just not compatible with one another, or should i wait until i get a decent PSU in there before making any further judgement?




/edit - did get the occasional freeze when using just 1 stick but i'm putting this down to the lame PSU

Where do you have the RAM sticks on the board? If I remember correctly, I think you're supposed to put them in DIMM 2 and 3, although I wouldn't have thought that this would cause the problems you're describing. Just try putting the RAM in different combinations of slots.

d'oh..D'OH...D'OH!!

cheers mike, that's EXACTLY what i did wrong!

memory should be inserted in the following order, Dimm3 / Dimm2 / Dimm1

i got my Dimm slots the wrong way round & was working on the (incorrect) assumption that Dimm1 was Dimm3 and vice versa. on checking i'd put them in Dimm1 & Dimm2

note to self...read the effin manual properly