2GB of RAM newly installed, won't work.

[terrorvoid]

My mobo is a K8MC51G by First National Computer Inc. It had 768 MB of RAM prior, and for some reason I'll get a black screen accompanied by long beeps when I try to boot with my two new 1 GB sticks (DDR PC3200 200 MHz).

It'll work up to 1.5 GB of RAM, when I put one of my old 512 MB sticks (DDR PC3200 200 MHz). I've used the crucial system scanning tool and it says it hold up to 2GB and I've also looked online for info on my board and it also confirms what crucial says.

I've tried swapping their positions, tried booting them up by themselves to see if one of them is defective and they both work with any combo of my old sticks. I've tried to "load optimized defaults" in my BIOS and that didn't work.

Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on?

Thanks for reading. I hope this is in the right forum.

 

[Proximon]

The spec page here says 333/400:

http://www.fic.com.tw/product/motherboard/AMD/K8MC51G.aspx

" 2 184-pin DDR DIMMs / Support DDR 333/400 SDRAM / Supports a maximum memory size 2GB"

Gateway says this
http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/FIC/105554/105554sp25.shtml

"Two DDR DIMM slots
DDR 333/400 dual channel
Max Memory 2 GB"

Also
"These are the two memory slots on the motherboard. These slots support DDR 333/400 MHz dual channel DIMMs. The maximum memory supported is 2 GB."
http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/FIC/105554/105554mvr21.shtml

 

[terrorvoid]

So, I need to instead buy DDR 333 or 400 MHz sticks then? I'm a little confused, since there's pc3200 and pc2700 rated at 333mhz for example. Does it matter what frequency/type the sticks are as long as they're supported?

 

[terrorvoid]

To add, the sticks I bought said they are "KOMPUTERBAY 2GB (2 x 1GB ) DDR DIMM (184 PIN) 400Mhz PC3200 CL 3.0".

Did I get duped?

 

[Proximon]

Yes, it does matter what latency and voltage are used. PC3200 is the correct type, it was just the 200Mhz you gave that was confusing. It is running at a base frequency of 200 though... DDR means Double Data Rate after all, so we talk about it as double the base rate.

You say you can use each stick individually no problem? Try downloading CPU-Z, and examine each stick on the memory tab and the SPD tab. Make sure they are really identical.

I'm thinking you need 2.5V sticks for this to work, and you may have 2.6V. Regardless, RAM compatibility was a big deal back in the era these boards were produced. It wasn't unusual to go through a few pairs before finding one that worked.

One of these major brand kits would be more likely to work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006040%20600006065%20600000298&IsNodeId=1&name=2.5V

 

[terrorvoid]

I ran cpu-z and wrote down all the info I could. The first set of info is with one of my new sticks and an old 512.

DRAM frequency: 100.5 mhz
Type: DDR
Module size: 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth: PC3200 (200mhz)
Manufacturer: Micron technology
Part number: 8VDDT646AG-40BC1
Serial number: FFFFFFF
Correction: none
Registered: no
Buffered: no
Week/year: 255/55
Voltage: 2.50 v

This set of info is just running the other stick by itself for 1GB total.

DRAM frequency: 210 mhz
Type: DDR
Module size: 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth: pc3200 (200mhz)
Manufacturer: Micron technology
Part number: 8VDDT646AG-40BC1
Serial number: FFFFFFF
Correction: none
Registered: no
Buffered: no
Week/year: 255/55
Voltage: 2.50 v

I don't know about you, but they seem to be identical. The DRAM frequency was different in the memory tab, I might add with just 1 GB running instead of 1.5 GB. The only thing that appears misleading is that the program says both of them are 200 MHz, despite the sticker saying " 1GB PC3200 DDR 400 MHz" on both of them.

 

[Proximon]

They have identical part numbers. What is your BIOS like? Do you have any control there over DRAM?

I don't understand why you would be stepped down to 100Mhz in the first example.

 

[terrorvoid]

My BIOS is Phoenix Technologies, LTD and the version is 6.00 PG dated 11/11/2005. There isn't much control over stuff, but it says I can alter DRAM timings under "Advanced Chipset Features". It has a list of things:

Frame buffer size: 32M
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIS Spread Spectrum: Disabled
SATA Spread Spectrum: Disabled
HIT Spread Spectrum: Disabled
SSE/SSE2 Spread Spectrum: Disabled
CPU Thermal Throttling : 50%

This sub category was the only one that said anything about DRAM.

 

[Proximon]

Yep not really going to help us out. Try to exchange the RAM for some better brand and try again.

I have used Wintech almost exclusively on these old boards with no issues. I'm pretty sure your board just can't handle the voltage requirements of both these new sticks at once. It's either that or a defective memory controller.

 

[terrorvoid]

Would you recommend this then?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161161

It seems to fit all the right specs for my board and such.

 

[Proximon]

It actually doesn't list the voltage. I would get this Mushkin kit in this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146051

I think that is likely to be newer, less energy thirsty RAM modules, based entirely on size. Mushkin is a very big brand.