RAM Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter DrogoGTO
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DrogoGTO

DrogoGTO

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I posted this in PC Gaming by mistake, and they kindly directed me over here. Anyways:

Ive got a problem with some new RAM i purchased recently, and I was wondering if anyone here might have a solution.
First, here are my PC specs:

HP Pavillion XT-953
1.0 Ghz Pentium III
64MB Geforce 4 MX440
128MB of RAM
Windows XP Home
2 Ram Slots
3 PCI Slots
Maximum of 512MB RAM

Basically I bought 2 sticks of 256MB SDRAM (PC100) and tried to swap them out for my old Hyundai (go figure) 128MB stick, and when I tried to start up, it would get to the HP screen and restart, and this would repeat until i manually shut down. I figured this meant that I had a bad stick of RAM, but when I tried to boot each stick individually, both worked. They also both work when combined with the old RAM (which Is what Im running with now), which also tells me that both of the RAM slots work.

So, I reset my BIOS and tried again, same results (starting to turn on for a minute, the restarting). I guess the two identical sticks arent being friendly with each other?
Its kinda getting on my nerves that this 270$ upgrade isnt really upgrading, so, can GTPlanet help me in any way? Or should I go register at one of those techie websites?

Thanks in advance,
DrogoGTO
 
I've never bought and installed ram myself, so I'm not 100% sure. Maybe you should re-install Windows?
 
1. Are you sure it is compatible with the Motherboard?

or

2. Is the RAM Properly Inserted?

On Startup (Black Screen) , does the computer count up the RAM?
 
ZEE,

Yes it is compatible with the Mobo, the RAM works fine with 1x256 or 256+128, but with 2x256 it counts up the RAM and gets to the HP screen and restarts.
 
test each stick individually. It's likely that one of the two is faulty. If it's not a bad stick, it could possibly be a bad ram slot.

If it's neither of those, it's probably a limitation of your motherboard. See if there's any bios updates available.

Also, I think windows 98 used to have problems with large quantities of ram. Not sure if 512 is enough to cause that though.
 
I guess nobody actually read the first post, or maybe I wasnt as clear as I thought...oh well, Ill restate it:

BOTH RAM STICKS WORK INDIVIDUALLY...check
BOTH SLOTS WORK...check
THE MOBO CAN ACCEPT THE INTENDED AMOUNT OF MEMORY...check
THE BIOS ARE UPDATED...check

Guess Ill just return the 1st stick and run with 386MB.
 
Is it possible that your HP could only accept those type of hyundai RAM sticks because HP has some deal, I've seen it before on Compaq computers, maybe u need a specific type of stick?

What make are the new RAM Sticks u bought?
 
What speed are the sticks? CL rating? Some MOBO's are real fickle about matching speeds.

That would make since why each stick by it's self works fine until to try to put them together.
 
The RAM speeds arent listed on the packaging, so I dont know that.
The manufacturer is KByte (http://www.kybytememory.com)

Thanks to everyone for trying to help, but I guess this is the best performance I can get out of this PC, and I can run Q3:A at mostly full settings and still get 50+ frames per second, and almost no lag with Counter Strike, so I am relatively content untill I can get a new rig. 316MB of RAM with 220MB free most of the time is not bad for me.
 

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