RAM reading at half capacity

dangermouse425 · 6 Oct 2011 at 22:53

I've just installed my Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (BL2KIT51264BA160A) into my brand-new Asus P8Z68-V and it's reading at half capacity. That is, when I've got one stick in, the BIOS tells me I've only got 2GB of memory, and when I've got both sticks in, it tells me I've only got 4GB of memory.

The packaging definitely says 2x4GB sticks, and the problem persists no matter which slot they're in.

Anyone else had this problem? Any suggested solutions?

Hyburnate · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:02

Are you running Win 32bit?

Martini1991 · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:06

Can you test in another computer?

dangermouse425 · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:07

It was a pre-OS test. I haven't even plugged in the HDD yet, I was just testing all the main components POST'd properly. Does the motherboard need a 64bit OS installed to recognise all the RAM? Secondly, surely that wouldn't mean each individual stick runs at half capacity either?

EDIT: I've got the only DDR3 PC in the house, my previous one and my brother's are both DDR2 mobos.

Martini1991 · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:08

It sounds like they've been labelled wrong.

JW1993 · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:12

Can you check the labels on the ram?

dangermouse425 · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:13

How infuriating. What are the chances of it being the motherboard compared to the memory? I'm tempted to stop constructing the rig entirely in case I have to return the mobo, which would entail me deconstructing the whole thing.

EDIT: I've just Googled the label number on one of the sticks (bl25664ba160a) and it's on the Crucial store as a 2GB stick! I can't believe I didn't check that first!

Martini1991 · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:22

RMA time it seems.
And you may cause a chain reaction.. There could always be a possibility of this being a batch problem.

Hotwired · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:41

:/

Now I'm going to start checking the labels on my 8GB kit when it turns up before I even open the pack.

dangermouse425 · 6 Oct 2011 at 23:43

Thanks for the assistance, guys. For your reference it was the "Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT51264BA160A)" that was wrong. Hopefully it was just a one off and no one else's batches are affected.

Cheers!