RAM Upgrade not taking.

Evil Monkey

Evil Monkey

Evil Monkey

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Joined
10 Jan 2009
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15
Hi all,

I bought a system from Overclockers almost 3 years ago to the day, so it's getting on a bit. Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, Radeon HD 4850. I decided I wanted to upgrade my RAM from the 4GB it had in when the system was first built to 8GB so ran a Crucial Scan and got the best matches.
(I realise i should upgrade my whole system but lack of funds)



crucialscan1.jpg


It said I had 2 DDR PC2- 6400 (In the picture you see now it says DDR PC2-NaN, a little confused about this). However i saw the upgrades that would fit my Motherboard and tried to get the closest match that it said would be 100% match, so i got Corsair Memory Value Select 4GB DDR2 PC2-6400 (800) Dual Channel Desktop
VS4GBKIT800D2 - 4GB (2x2GB) CorsairValue Select, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18.

I secured the new RAM in tight (along with my current 4GB) and turned on my PC and vista (x64) couldn't boot, just kept going round in the cycle of 'start normally, safe mode' etc. I swapped the 2 new RAM sticks positions around to see if this would make a difference and the computer wouldnt boot to BIOS or recognise my monitor etc.

When i took the two new RAM sticks out and just booted with the old ones it worked as it usually does. I have not tried taking the old ones out and using the new ones only.

Have I purchased the wrong RAM for my Motherboard (ASUS P5Q) or any ideas as to why the RAM won't work?

Also if I have purchased the wrong RAM any direction to one that will 100% work would be appreciated.

(As you can tell, im a novice when it comes to all this, and i know my spec is really old however i don't really have the finances or knowledge on how to upgrade myself).

Thanks,

Evil.
 
Last edited:
First a heads-up - you need to get rid of the retailers name and graphic in the above post before the mods see it. (These forums don't allow other competitors names being mentioned.)

Evil Monkey said:
I have not tried taking the old ones out and using new ones only.
Click to expand...

You need to try this and report back.

Also could you run CPU-z and list the part number under the SPD tab for your existing memory.

It may be that you need to up the MCH (NB voltage) to get all 4 sticks running properly but you first need to make sure that the 2 sticks will run in your machine solo.
 
As above,

Also check your motherboard manufacturers website for new BIOS versions, I've come across this problem multiple times in the past.

Generally manufacturers will release "improved memory" compatibility fixes.
 
OCZ2G8002G - SPD part number for existing memory.

VS2GB800D2 - SPD part number for new memory.

2 New sticks work with the old one's out. I've only tried the 2 new sticks in the same yellow slots that i took the old one's out of though, wasn't sure if it would mess up if I put them into the black slots, without anything being in the yellow slots.


Jim - Where would i put the ROM files that i download?

Thanks.
 
There should be a fairly straightforward way to update the bios - check your mobo manual, if you don`t have it download it, you might also need the original install cd for the mobo it depends..

Obv the sticks work if they work ok on their own - could also point to needs more volts as Plec said..
 
Evil Monkey said:
Where would i put the ROM files that i download?
Click to expand...

Go to page 3.1.3 of your manual and follow the instructions for using ASUS EZ Flash 2 Utility. All you need is the file and a pen drive - the process is very simple.

Here's a link to the manual if you've lost yours - link.

If you're still getting stability issues after the BIOS update increase the MCH (NB voltage) by an increment or two as using all 4 DIMM slots puts extra stress on the memory controller and sometimes requires extra juice to keep things stable.
 
Okay it seems updating my BIOS (which has never been done 0_o) seems to have done the trick.

Does this look about right, from CPU-Z:

cpuz2.jpg


I don't need to change any voltage etc.?

Thanks a lot for all your help everyone, very much appreciated!
 
Okay, it took for a day, and now when I try to boot up with the 2 old sticks as well as 2 new ones I get it rolling reboots again, I get the ASUS "press delete to BIOS" screen but after that it flashes up a BSOD and reboots..

Works when I take old RAM sticks out but strange how it was working with all 8Gb for a day then now doesn't.

Any ideas?
 
There's actually something odd about your CPU-Z screenshots as the RAM speed is halfway between the two JEDEC settings. Is the RAM on auto in the BIOS or set manually?
 
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