Okay so here goes. To start, this is an old build that I am throwing together as an intro into pc building/oc/modding so yes I know all of the parts are outdated, but this is what I can afford. Anyways here are my PC specs:
-msi p6n sli platinum
-core 2 quad Q6700 (no oc)
-asus gtx 560
-evga 450 B (80plus bronze)
-wd 250GB 2.5" hdd
Okay, so my problem is centered specifically around RAM. I previously had a different mobo and I had a 4x 2GB set of DDR2 (all different brands/types) running at 800mhz perfectly fine. however, once I acquired the msi board, i tried the same four sticks and my pc was barely running at all (windows install took 12+ hours from usb). I could get my pc to run just fine on the msi board but with only one specific stick of RAM though. it was a micron PC2-6400U-666-13-E1 stick. from what i can tell this is an unbuffered non-ecc stick at running at 800mhz. whenever I add any other stick of ram other than that specific one, my pc takes upwards of 30 min to get to the login screen. I then tried plugging the one micron stick into each of the four slots individually, to test that each ram slot is working, the other slots seem fine. currently, i have an identical set 4x 1GB of PC2-5300U which is an unbuffured, non-ecc set of identical ram (to eliminate compatibility issues). I reset the bios with the CMOS battery, installed the set of 4x 1GB sticks and started a fresh install of windows. I am currently only 92% of the way through the "getting files ready for installation" part of the install after 13 hours... please help. I am very lost at this point.
Update: After more thorough testing, every single one of my 5 2GB sticks of ddr2 works in this machine as long as that is the only stick of RAM that is in the system. as for the 1GB sticks, they work as long as no more than any three of them are in the system. none of them are broken because i can swap them out and as long as only three are in the system, it works fine. My question now is, is it something to do with 4GB of ram? 4x 1GB doesnt work and 2x 2GB doesnt work either. I've seen some things that mention changing the virtual memory in the os but i dont know anything about that. thanks again for any help!
Update2: it is definitely a problem assoc. with the jump between 3GB and 4GB as even a 2GB and 1GB in dual works, but a combo of 1x 2GB and 2x 1GB (4GB total) still doesnt work. before you ask, yes, I am using 64 bit os. speaking of the OS, I have tried this system with both windows 10 and windows 8.1 and the exact same problem persists between the two OS.
-msi p6n sli platinum
-core 2 quad Q6700 (no oc)
-asus gtx 560
-evga 450 B (80plus bronze)
-wd 250GB 2.5" hdd
Okay, so my problem is centered specifically around RAM. I previously had a different mobo and I had a 4x 2GB set of DDR2 (all different brands/types) running at 800mhz perfectly fine. however, once I acquired the msi board, i tried the same four sticks and my pc was barely running at all (windows install took 12+ hours from usb). I could get my pc to run just fine on the msi board but with only one specific stick of RAM though. it was a micron PC2-6400U-666-13-E1 stick. from what i can tell this is an unbuffered non-ecc stick at running at 800mhz. whenever I add any other stick of ram other than that specific one, my pc takes upwards of 30 min to get to the login screen. I then tried plugging the one micron stick into each of the four slots individually, to test that each ram slot is working, the other slots seem fine. currently, i have an identical set 4x 1GB of PC2-5300U which is an unbuffured, non-ecc set of identical ram (to eliminate compatibility issues). I reset the bios with the CMOS battery, installed the set of 4x 1GB sticks and started a fresh install of windows. I am currently only 92% of the way through the "getting files ready for installation" part of the install after 13 hours... please help. I am very lost at this point.
Update: After more thorough testing, every single one of my 5 2GB sticks of ddr2 works in this machine as long as that is the only stick of RAM that is in the system. as for the 1GB sticks, they work as long as no more than any three of them are in the system. none of them are broken because i can swap them out and as long as only three are in the system, it works fine. My question now is, is it something to do with 4GB of ram? 4x 1GB doesnt work and 2x 2GB doesnt work either. I've seen some things that mention changing the virtual memory in the os but i dont know anything about that. thanks again for any help!
Update2: it is definitely a problem assoc. with the jump between 3GB and 4GB as even a 2GB and 1GB in dual works, but a combo of 1x 2GB and 2x 1GB (4GB total) still doesnt work. before you ask, yes, I am using 64 bit os. speaking of the OS, I have tried this system with both windows 10 and windows 8.1 and the exact same problem persists between the two OS.