RAM upgrade issues

Ksen · 01-20-2009, 02:26 PM

My computer:
Windows XP Professional 32-bit
AMD Phenom 9550 X4 2.2GHz (OC'd to 2.31GHz)
2GB 800MHz DDR2 (2 x 1GB DIMM)*
ATI Radeon HD 4850
2HDDs partitioned 4 ways, one of which is a 10GB partition for the OS

* = The RAM came as thus: "OCZ SLI 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz (2x1024MB)" It claims to be SLI, but I never actually set anything up to make it so. I don't remember it being an automatic thing. Correct me if I'm wrong.

So here's the deal. I wanted more RAM for a few reasons. One of which is games; another is to get ready for Win7 when it comes out. So I did. I bought "CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)"

And it doesn't work. Although that's not an entirely true statement. It doesn't work with my old RAM. By itself, nothing is wrong when I boot windows. When I add it to my 2GB of old RAM. ...well here's how it went:
I installed the new RAM into the third slot and the system will act like it boots normally right until it would get to the part where it gives you a cursor (before the desktop loads and there's only a black/blue/whatever screen and your cursor) and within a half second, it hard restarts. I let it cycle a few times with the same result. Turned it off and tried again--same result.
So I thought to put it in the 4th slot (so it goes 1GB 1GB Empty 1GB on the motherboard). Windows boots normally and seems alright until you start using programs. Anything it loads usually crashes or hard restarts the computer. I played with that a few times with the same result.
Which is when I decided to try the new RAM all by itself. Runs perfectly.

I don't get it. I thought all I had to look out for was its frequency. Am I doing something wrong? Missing something? OS based? Please help.

Thanks much for any help you can provide,
Ks

johnf3366 · 01-20-2009, 02:41 PM

How much ram can your motherboard support? check that out.

Ksen · 01-20-2009, 03:16 PM

The book tells me 8GB

**wrench97** · 01-20-2009, 03:51 PM

With hi performance ram you also need to watch voltages are they rated at the same voltages and timings some OCZ sticks have strange timings?

Ksen · 01-20-2009, 04:01 PM

Hm, you're right.
The OCZ times at 4-4-4-15 and
The Corsair times at 5-5-5-18
The Corsair was 1.9V but I can't find the information about the OCZ's voltage.

It seems I'm just out of luck.

**wrench97** · 01-20-2009, 05:02 PM

The OCZ looks to be 2.1v > http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...n_dual_channel

You may be able to manually set it to 5-5-5-18 but it's optimized for a Nvidia board that's what the SLI part of the name is about what board are you running?

01-20-2009, 02:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ksen Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 39 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	RAM upgrade issues My computer: Windows XP Professional 32-bit AMD Phenom 9550 X4 2.2GHz (OC'd to 2.31GHz) 2GB 800MHz DDR2 (2 x 1GB DIMM)* ATI Radeon HD 4850 2HDDs partitioned 4 ways, one of which is a 10GB partition for the OS * = The RAM came as thus: "OCZ SLI 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz (2x1024MB)" It claims to be SLI, but I never actually set anything up to make it so. I don't remember it being an automatic thing. Correct me if I'm wrong. So here's the deal. I wanted more RAM for a few reasons. One of which is games; another is to get ready for Win7 when it comes out. So I did. I bought "CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)" And it doesn't work. Although that's not an entirely true statement. It doesn't work with my old RAM. By itself, nothing is wrong when I boot windows. When I add it to my 2GB of old RAM. ...well here's how it went: I installed the new RAM into the third slot and the system will act like it boots normally right until it would get to the part where it gives you a cursor (before the desktop loads and there's only a black/blue/whatever screen and your cursor) and within a half second, it hard restarts. I let it cycle a few times with the same result. Turned it off and tried again--same result. So I thought to put it in the 4th slot (so it goes 1GB 1GB Empty 1GB on the motherboard). Windows boots normally and seems alright until you start using programs. Anything it loads usually crashes or hard restarts the computer. I played with that a few times with the same result. Which is when I decided to try the new RAM all by itself. Runs perfectly. I don't get it. I thought all I had to look out for was its frequency. Am I doing something wrong? Missing something? OS based? Please help. Thanks much for any help you can provide, Ks

01-20-2009, 02:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
johnf3366 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Hagerstown, MD Posts: 47 OS: xp,vista	Re: RAM upgrade issues How much ram can your motherboard support? check that out.

01-20-2009, 03:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ksen Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 39 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: RAM upgrade issues The book tells me 8GB

01-20-2009, 03:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,428 OS: Win7	Re: RAM upgrade issues With hi performance ram you also need to watch voltages are they rated at the same voltages and timings some OCZ sticks have strange timings? __________________ Power Supply and Selection

01-20-2009, 04:01 PM	#5 (permalink)
Ksen Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 39 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: RAM upgrade issues Hm, you're right. The OCZ times at 4-4-4-15 and The Corsair times at 5-5-5-18 The Corsair was 1.9V but I can't find the information about the OCZ's voltage. It seems I'm just out of luck.

01-20-2009, 05:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,428 OS: Win7	Re: RAM upgrade issues The OCZ looks to be 2.1v > http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...n_dual_channel You may be able to manually set it to 5-5-5-18 but it's optimized for a Nvidia board that's what the SLI part of the name is about what board are you running? __________________ Power Supply and Selection