New RAM doesn't work - Saxperience

TheVtrKid · 8th May 2010, 13:17

I'm upgrading my friends comp. Originally he's got 512mb ram in, he said he wants 4gb which it supports. I ordered 4 x 1gb sticks of ram which is ddr 333mhz PC 2700. I received them today, installed all 4gb, but comp wouldn't start, the power came on, but no screen and the computer itself just kept beeping every 3 secs or so. On the m.board it has 2 blue slots and 2 black slots, so i took 2 gb out of the black slots, just left blue slots in, still same thing, wouldnt start then tried vica versa, still wouldn't start then i put the 512mb back in to make sure i did't do anything when installing them and it worked fine. The 512mb ram thats in now is PC 3200 and the new ram PC 2700. Could this be the problem? I just thought that was the speed of the ram?

Heres the motherboard specs. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...en&lc=en&cc=us

baker556 · 8th May 2010, 13:40

Pretty sure you need PC 3200.

TheVtrKid · 8th May 2010, 13:43

i just thought that was the speed of the RAM? Shows how much i know

FairDoos · 8th May 2010, 14:36

Yer its definately the speed of the RAM have you tried testing each individual stick? One stick maybe faulty and its shorting the others out try testing all of them but one at a time then figure out which ones do work and which ones do

You definately have the right RAM though

You can trust me i build gaming computers for a hobby

FairDoos · 8th May 2010, 14:48

Also i just read the motherboard specification more thurally and thought i may suggets a few things..

* Four 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets
<< Make sure its 184-pin and not 240-pin like DDR2 <<

* Supports dual channel, eight memory banks DDR 333/400 DDR DIMMs
<< DDR only do Duel-Channel so careful not to be confused with triple-channel <<

* Supports 2.5v DDR SDRAM DIMMs
<< This will be pretty standard tbh but check just in case!

* Maximum HP/Compaq approved memory is 4 GB* without ECC
Check that the RAM doesent have ECC if it does then it will not work!

Hope this was alright enough to guide you!

TheVtrKid · 10th May 2010, 11:03

yes i've tried all the sticks one by one, and still no luck. This is the RAM i bought http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=280502882536

I've read everything about the RAM and everything seems to be fine. Surely 4 sticks of 1gb ram can't all be faulty.

TheVtrKid · 10th May 2010, 14:12

how strange. I put my ram into his computer (2 x 1gb sticks) more or less the exact same kind and it works fine. I put the new ram that didn't work in his computer, and it works fine in mine. How weird? So i'm gona just send 2 of the sticks back to the seller and get a refund of £50 back. THrown me as that.

baker556 · 11th May 2010, 13:22

Its the speed of the RAM yes but you can't just mix and match speeds.

Furioman · 14th May 2010, 19:52

might be incompable with the mobo he has, or it will be the memory timings/voltage

TheVtrKid · 15th May 2010, 11:25

i wasnt mixing and matching, because the 512mb that was PC 3200 i took out, and put the 1gb PC 2700 in so the only speed that was in the motherboard was PC 2700. I've sent it back anyway, and ordered another 1gb ram from some1 else at PC 3200 so we'll see how that goes. If it works well i'll order some more

Alanapone^p · 15th May 2010, 11:36

You'll have 1 stick thats faulty, try them one by one and see if it boots, if it won't boot with any of them you either have been sold duff ram OR you need to have the correct timings, Some mobo's don't like haveing the ram at too slow a speed. going down from 3200 to 2700 could be enough of a drop that it just won't have it.

01edbenne · 16th May 2010, 01:26

I have had trouble with RAM off Ebay befroe asell, im pretty sure you can mix and match the speeds of memory but they all get forced to run at the lowest speed? Check that the chip configuration of the RAM is supported by the mobo. I.e How many black squares re on the RAM stick itself 4. 8, 16?

peebee · 16th May 2010, 09:02

As i believe has been said already, just have a play about with them. When my new RAM was playing up i swapped them around, tried one with out the other etc. In the end they just sorted them selves out and worked! They have hissy fits when new! lol

TheVtrKid · 16th May 2010, 18:30

yes ive tried them one by one, individually, swapping them around, basically eveyway i can think of, but cudnt get them to work at all. I've been refunded for 2 of them (£50) and he will be receiving the other 2 shortly, so with the money i got refunded i bought a kingston 1gb pc3200 400ghz stick of ram. Just the one for now, and see if that works in the PC. If it does..then sorted, ill buy some more of the same. If it doesn't..... then god knows.

Alanapone^p · 16th May 2010, 18:45

I bet you'll find it works... mobo's are really bad when it comes to memory timings. I overclock my ram and if it goes 1mhz too high then it won't boot, similarly, if i underclock it to save energy and go the same it won't boot. Good luck with the new ram, kingston is good stuff. Let us know how you get on