Is ram necessary for boot up?

[brachen33]

Hello All,
I have just swapped in my new mobo "ASRock M3A770DE" and processor "AMD Phenom II x4 955 black edition" into my casing....I was unaware that DDR2 was not backward compatible with DDR3 : / .... So yesterday I ordered 2 Sticks of the G.Skill Ripjaw DDR3 for a total of 4 gigs (was probably a needed uprade anyway).... I was wanting to see if I could atleast get it to the bios with out the ram in yet..... is it possible for me to get to there or do I need to wait.... I'm not having much luck with getting it to boot and wondered if that's what it was.... any help would be appreciated.... thx

 

[davcon]

Yes that would be your problem.

 

[brachen33]

Thanks for the quick reply.... I won't start beating my head against the wall until after I get the RAM installed...

 

[pjmelect]

You have to have the RAM installed to pass the POST tests and get to the BIOS.