Okay, I'm severely stuck at this point and have no idea what's going wrong, so here goes.
The Problem:
Basically, when I first bought my PC I got a 2GB matched set of RAM, installed them and they worked fine for about a year. Then one of the sticks went wrong for some reason, and since then I'd been running on just 1GB of RAM.
I decided recently to re-upgrade to 2GB, so I bought another 1GB stick of RAM. As far as I know it was compatible with my motherboard and computer (I'll get to that in a minute), so it all should have worked. First I tried to install it alongside my pre-existing 1GB stick of RAM, but when starting the PC I got the 'bad RAM' Post beep code. I then took out my old stick of RAM, and just tried to used the new stick on its own (putting it in the same slot that the old RAM had been in). Again, I got the beep code. So I fiddled around a bit more, and finally decided I'd been sent some bad RAM, so I sent it back to the place I bought it from.
So I tried again. I ordered my RAM from the same place (this is a reliable manufacturer), but this time bought a matched pair of 2x1GB RAM sticks. I figured that even if it wasn't compatible with my old stick of RAM I could just take that out and run the PC using only the 2GB of new RAM. I tried installing the new RAM today. Again, I got the beep codes. Here's a diagram to show what I tried (sorry about the poor image quality):
- My usual set up before attempting to install the new RAM was my old 1GB stick in slot 1.
- First I tried to install the new RAM in slots 2 and 4 while keeping the old RAM in slot 1. Didn't work.
- Then I put the new RAM in slots 1 and 3, and removed the old RAM. Didn't work.
- Then I tried each new stick of RAM in slot 1 on its own, so I just had one of the new sticks of RAM in slot 1 each time. Didn't work.
So, then I returned to my original set-up and the computer works fine.
Computer spec:
Asus A8N-SLi deluxe motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+
1GB Corsair DDR RAM PC3200 (at least I think so; I don't have the paperwork with me, but seeing as this is the RAM compatible with my motherboard I assume that's what I must have if it's working)
nvidia Geforce 7800 GTX
2 HDDs, 74 and 250GBs
Creative Audigy SB X-fi sound
RAM I'm attempting to install:
The RAM I'm attempting to install is a Crucial 2GB kit (1GBx2), 184-pin DIMM, DDR PC3200 memory module:
# Module Size: 2GB kit (1GBx2)
# Package: 184-pin DIMM
# Feature: DDR PC3200
# Specs: DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR400 • 2.6V • 128Meg x 64
This is supposed to be compatible with my motherboard.
Possible causes of the problem?
- I got sent bad RAM again? Seems very unlikely for that to happen twice.
- I'm installing the RAM incorrectly somehow. I've tried it every way I can think of, but am I just doing it wrong?
- Is there something that needs to be enabled in the BIOS for it to work?
- Is my motherboard incompatible with crucial RAM?
- I initially thought it might be something to do with the ECC/Non-ECC thing, but apparently my motherboard supports both types.
- Something else?
Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated. I really am completely lost here. I just can't see what the problem is.
The Problem:
Basically, when I first bought my PC I got a 2GB matched set of RAM, installed them and they worked fine for about a year. Then one of the sticks went wrong for some reason, and since then I'd been running on just 1GB of RAM.
I decided recently to re-upgrade to 2GB, so I bought another 1GB stick of RAM. As far as I know it was compatible with my motherboard and computer (I'll get to that in a minute), so it all should have worked. First I tried to install it alongside my pre-existing 1GB stick of RAM, but when starting the PC I got the 'bad RAM' Post beep code. I then took out my old stick of RAM, and just tried to used the new stick on its own (putting it in the same slot that the old RAM had been in). Again, I got the beep code. So I fiddled around a bit more, and finally decided I'd been sent some bad RAM, so I sent it back to the place I bought it from.
So I tried again. I ordered my RAM from the same place (this is a reliable manufacturer), but this time bought a matched pair of 2x1GB RAM sticks. I figured that even if it wasn't compatible with my old stick of RAM I could just take that out and run the PC using only the 2GB of new RAM. I tried installing the new RAM today. Again, I got the beep codes. Here's a diagram to show what I tried (sorry about the poor image quality):
- My usual set up before attempting to install the new RAM was my old 1GB stick in slot 1.
- First I tried to install the new RAM in slots 2 and 4 while keeping the old RAM in slot 1. Didn't work.
- Then I put the new RAM in slots 1 and 3, and removed the old RAM. Didn't work.
- Then I tried each new stick of RAM in slot 1 on its own, so I just had one of the new sticks of RAM in slot 1 each time. Didn't work.
So, then I returned to my original set-up and the computer works fine.
Computer spec:
Asus A8N-SLi deluxe motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+
1GB Corsair DDR RAM PC3200 (at least I think so; I don't have the paperwork with me, but seeing as this is the RAM compatible with my motherboard I assume that's what I must have if it's working)
nvidia Geforce 7800 GTX
2 HDDs, 74 and 250GBs
Creative Audigy SB X-fi sound
RAM I'm attempting to install:
The RAM I'm attempting to install is a Crucial 2GB kit (1GBx2), 184-pin DIMM, DDR PC3200 memory module:
# Module Size: 2GB kit (1GBx2)
# Package: 184-pin DIMM
# Feature: DDR PC3200
# Specs: DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR400 • 2.6V • 128Meg x 64
This is supposed to be compatible with my motherboard.
Possible causes of the problem?
- I got sent bad RAM again? Seems very unlikely for that to happen twice.
- I'm installing the RAM incorrectly somehow. I've tried it every way I can think of, but am I just doing it wrong?
- Is there something that needs to be enabled in the BIOS for it to work?
- Is my motherboard incompatible with crucial RAM?
- I initially thought it might be something to do with the ECC/Non-ECC thing, but apparently my motherboard supports both types.
- Something else?
Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated. I really am completely lost here. I just can't see what the problem is.
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