New ram, but now computer won't start!

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wtgerbil

New Member
Hi, I recently bought a pair of "CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel." I'm upgrading from my 2GB OCZ ddr2 ram from last year. So when I went to install the new ram, I took out the old OCZ ram and put in the new Corsairs. I started the computer but the monitor will not display anything! So I decided to move things around and I was finally able to boot the computer up after removing one of the RAM sticks. It will not load with both and I have no idea why. It's really fustrating not being to load both since one is 2gb and the old ram were 2gb together. Also, the old OCZ rams won't work anymore either. Can anyone help me on this please? How can I get both of my ram working together?

Here's some info on my computer:
MOBO : ECS G31T-M
Vidcard: XFX Nvidia 8600GT
two HDD 120gb & 250gb
one dvd-ram drive

Please, can anyone help?!
 
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PC eye

banned
Hopefully you didn't mishandle the OCZ dimms and end up zapping them with some esd! Memory is still a rather delicate item to handle just like a cpu.

The problem with only seeing one of the two Corsiar dimms suggests something else however.One of the two new dimms could well be defective with a need to return the 4gb kit for that reason.

Now not seeing the OCZ dimms working together suggests that instead of any bad dimms with either pair a dimm slot may be the problem. With two dimms in from either pair the boot fails! I would suggest trying each dimm in the same slot you know works to see if all work as well as running memtest on all of them.
 
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wtgerbil

New Member
i just tried the Corsairs in the same DIMM slot. The first one work, so I tried the second one. This time it didn't boot, but when I slapped back on the first one, it didn't boot either! I had to mess around with the CMOS battery and trying different variations with the ram once again. I was so frustrated that I just kept trying all sorts of combinations and I finally got the computer started up again with one Corsair stick. I have no clue which stick it was and I fear to try to mess with it again!
 
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dave_w

New Member
First off, look down. Are you standing on carpet? Remember when you used to shuffle on your carpet in your socks and shock your brother/sister/friends? Don't do that to memory sticks.

Second, whenever I handle memory sticks, CPUs, or motherboards, make sure I at least touch the case's chassis first. Preferably I touch it the entire time. if I wasn't cheap, I'd have an anti-static wristband.

If only the Corsair wouldn't work, I'd blame a bad stick. Mark the heatsink on each stick and start swapping so you can isolate which ones do, in fact, not work. Try different DIMM slots. Try blowing out the DIMMs with compressed air (or with your lungs, just don't spit). Blow on the memory's connector pins. Try different DIMMs.

Or it could just be your mobo pissing on you.
 
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PC eye

banned
Another thought would be that you are not seating the dimms down fully in the slots if none are found bad. You wouldn't them in but press firmly and evenly until the retaining clips snap inplace.

Did you tinker with the dram timings at when first putting the new pair of dimms in? If you set something manually that should have been left on auto that may have stalled the works a little.
 
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wtgerbil

New Member
I finally got them to work together today! I'm not entirely sure what the problem was, but thanks for all the quick responses! It was most likely human error on my part but now I have a slight issue. WINXP says that I only have 3gb installed, but it is 4gb? Should I be worried that I'm not getting my money's worth?
 
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PC eye

banned
That's right! XP will only see 3gb due to the 3gb barrier seen with the 32bit kernel in XP and Vista. SP1 for Vista allows the new version to report that 4gb is installed by right clicking on the MyComputer icon. http://www.dansdata.com/askdan00015.htm

That's what you get when going over what the kernel supports. This is why many are trying out the 64bit editions of Vista so that Windows will report the actual amount installed over XP's drawback seen there.
 
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