added ram to laptop - wth is going on?

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Nobody-Important

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Oct 31, 2013
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So here's the situation:
I had 4 GB of RAM (of unknown speed, possibly 1300), and now installed a fresh stick of 4GB RAM (1600) in the second empty slot.
I boot up and going into the BIOS, all 8 GB are shown. Doing a RAM test from the BIOS results in no errors, same goes for the more extensive Windows RAM test on the boot screen.

Now for the bad part:
-Trying to boot into Windows 7 (x64) fails and restarts the computer after the "starting windows" text appears with the sticks in one configuration, and remains frozen on the "starting windows" screen (with the logo not yet having appeared) with the sticks exchanged.
-The recovery mode tells me i need recovery or installation media with an error code 0xc000000f if i remember correctly.
-None of the recovery CDs and none of the installation disks Win7&Win10 would load. Triggering a restart after the loading of the initial files.
-Trying to boot into Windows 10 (x64) fails as well but this time i get an error message at least saying KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_ERROR
-Loading a Linux LiveCD was possible and the OS functioned correctly even when the CD was ejected and the OS ran exclusively in RAM.

Removing the new RAM stick fixes the issue, and everything works normally.

I have read that this might have to do with the mismatched speeds, but i have absolutely no idea where to even start to try and do anything about this.
It doesn't help that all tutorials online for resolving this are for desktops with a more extensive BIOS, meanwhile the only thing you can change in mine is the boot order.
Please someone tell me what to do.... it's impossible that the BIOS sees all 8GB of ram and all tests report OK and windows just isn't able to use it.
 
Solution
das_stig
a. No
b. Thats software testing for you, not 100%, you would need proper hardware test to e 100% sure of it being OK.
c. If the new ram is down clocking, could be pushing it outside its timing specs.

1.5 v 1.65, yes
Faulty from manufacturer, yes, but not as common these days.
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das_stig

das_stig

Glorious
Jul 24, 2009
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1. Not good to mix memory speeds, I bet the older memory was 1333mhz and the new memory is down clocking but not 100% stable.

2. Laptops can have standard DDR and LDDR, L for lower power, cant be mixed.

3. Does it work OK with just the new 4GB 1600mhz memory?

4. Give us any numbers of the stickers and we can try and track them down
 
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Nobody-Important

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So a friend suggested trying the new one alone, so i already did that.
Turns out the fault was with the new ram... SOMEhow.
When i tried running windows it BSODd.
And loading the linux live CD into RAM made it crash, same as windows did before.
Apparently windows automatically wanted to use the new ram and linux the old ram which is why one worked before and the other didn't. So now, with only the new ram in neither works.
Which.... makes me question why the hell the bios still displays 4GB of ram and all RAM tests return OK.

Both are 1.5V, and the old one is apparently 1333 with CL 9 while the new one is 1600 with CL 11.

Neither of these things explain, however why the hell the new one is not working at all while the default ram tests report no problems.

OLD: Samsung DDR3 SDRAM PC3-10600 4GB SO-DIMM (2Rx8, PC3-10600S-09-10-F2, M471B5273CH0-CH9)
NEW: KINGMAX DDR3 1600 4GB SO-DIMM (FSGF65F-D8KB CEEU)
 
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Nobody-Important

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Is there any way to actually..... reliably test the RAM stick?
I'm worried about two things:
a) I can't have done permanent damage to the stick prior, right? When accessed at a slightly wrong frequency or with the wrong bandwidth settings it simply won't work, there's no reason for it to get damaged. And the voltages are all the same.
b) How the hell is it that the RAM tests are so absolutely unreliable? Clearly there is something wrong with the configuration and nonetheless the BIOS reports everything to be fine.
c) Is it possible that outside of the RAM tests the BIOS forces the motherboard to use some erroneous settings for communicating with the stick? I mean i did disconnect the CMOS battery when inserting it, but maybe something is hardcoded in the BIOS? (Wouldn't be the first fuckup on the manufacturer's part.)

EDIT:
Could it be a problem if the new stick is actually *not* 1.5V but 1.65V?
Because everywhere the stick is listed as 1.5V, including the sticker directly on the stick with the serial number. But the back of the packaging lists 1.65V for the 1600Mhz variant.

EDIT2: Apparently, doing the Windows RAM test again results in... not even an error, but a completely glitched screen whereupon the computer has to be restarted. The startup memory test, as well as the BIOS memory test however still display everything as fine.

Is it possible that the stick is somehow faulty straight outta the factory? Could something i have done caused this? Is there any way to determine whether the stick should actually work?
 
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das_stig

das_stig

Glorious
Jul 24, 2009
8,288
31
46,040
a. No
b. Thats software testing for you, not 100%, you would need proper hardware test to e 100% sure of it being OK.
c. If the new ram is down clocking, could be pushing it outside its timing specs.

1.5 v 1.65, yes
Faulty from manufacturer, yes, but not as common these days.
 
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Solution
N

Nobody-Important

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Oct 31, 2013
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So i have fortunately enough met a friend who repairs hardware for a living, and had previous run-ins with KINGMAX devices.
He told me that while they do offer warranty and the devices are reliable quality control is basically zero, since it is cheaper for them to replace faulty units than to check each and every one, resulting in their low prices.
This means that a massive fraction of the equipment they send out ends up being dead on arrival.
This together with the info that software checks are apparently not reliable and that otherwise the stick should work convinced me that the new RAM was probably faulty out of the box and that everything indicating otherwise was a false negative.
 
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