Ram installation problem

[milned]

Hi,

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, can you point me in the right direction if this is the case.

I have a Gigabyte GA - 81PE775-G motherboard which has 4 dimm slots. I already have 2 512mb ddr400 sticks installed in slots 1 and 3. I have just bought 2 more 1gb ddr 400 sticks which I have tried to install in slots 2 and 4 but the motherboard isn't detecting them.

If i try and boot up with just one of the new ones in slot one it beeps at me so it can't detect them at all.

According to the manual as long as I have identical sticks in slots 1 & 3 and in 2 & 4 the dual channel technology should operate.

I am pretty careful when handling ram so I think it's unlikely i have damaged them, it also seems unlikely that 2 brand new sticks would arrive and not work. Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be?

As far as I can tell there is nothing incompatible with the ram I have bought. I can't find any ram related settings in the bios except for the fequency which I don't think I should have to change. I have downloaded the latest software for the motherboard (none of which is ram related anyway) so am at a loss

thanks in advance

[mosherben]

what brand is the ram? It's generally not advisable to mix different brands together

[milned]

the first 2 512 sticks are corsair, the 2 i'm trying to install don't appear to have a brand at all. whilst i accept that mixing two brands can be troublesome it doesn't really explain why the new lot aren't detected

[merdat]

Try your new ram in slots 1 & 3 and see if it is detected . If it is then try your old ram in 2&4 but remember the xp will only see abot 2.5g.

[milned]

I have tried the new stuff in just slot 1 and 1 & 3 together and the computer beeps and won't boot up. Am going to try plugging them into my work computer at lunch

[frazered]

do you know if you new ram is compatible with your motherboard ?

is the memory getting the right voltage?

[Papa Lazarou]

Try using just your new memory. Clear the CMOS using the relevant jumper and see if it will POST then. THis will clear any memory timings etc stored in the bios and return them to default (safe) values.

[IAmATeaf]

What's the extact spec of the memory you purchased, also the clear CMOS above is worth while trying with just a single stick plugged in.

Also worth checking the BIOS version you have to see if a later BIOS include any fixes for RAM.

[milned]

Hi,

I've tried just using the new memory in my pc at home and in my work pc and both times it's not detected.

I have downloaded all the latest bios stuff which hasn't made a difference.

the full spec of the two new sticks is 1gb PC3200 400Mhz DDR

what does the PC3200 mean?

I will try the clear cmos at home tonight, thanks

[EtheAv8r]

PC3200 is DDR400 RAM, just another name for the same thing, see below for a table:

PC3200 = 400 Mhz
PC4000 = 500 Mhz
PC4200 = 533 Mhz
PC4300 = 533 Mhz
PC4400 = 550 Mhz
PC5300 = 667 Mhz
PC5400 = 667 Mhz
PC6400 = 800 Mhz
PC8000 = 1000 Mhz
PC8500 = 1066Mhz

It it wont work in two different PCs that work with other RAM, then the possibility seems to be you have got bad RAM, Itake it they fit OK in the motherboard RAM slots?

[s_kinton]

Sounds like you've got 2 dud sticks to me.

What are the memory timings of the two brands you're using?

[milned]

i've come to the dud sticks conclusion as well, am going to return them

cheers for the info