RAM drama

S

SofaKingA

n00b
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
17
I just bought G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 (PC2 5300) RAM off Newegg. I replaced my existing 2GB (2 x 1GB) with it. I started my computer and it worked fine for about 10 minutes, then my comp shutdown. My screen wont even work with the new G.Skill RAM, only my old RAM will allow it to work properly. How can I find out if my RAM is incompatible?? I've updated my BIOS, and the max RAM capacity is 4GB in my laptop. Any insight/suggestions would be appreciated.

My comp: HP, Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz
 
Some of the newer RAM sticks are rated at a higher voltage. In this case, you'll have to manually adjust the voltage in your BIOS to match what's indicated on the sticker/label. Make sure your DIMM voltage in your BIOS is equal to what's specified on the RAM's label.

If that doesn't solve your problem, I'd return it and get a different brand or model. These things tend to go bad in batches.

edit: Oh I just realized you're talking about laptop memory... I'd just return it and get Crucial memory. Crucial guarantees compatibility, or so I hear.
 
Actually, you both were right. I did some testing using combinations with my old RAM. I have a bad stick. I'm RMAing it. Thanks for the advice!
 
Pretty much the same story here with G.Skill memory. However I'm currently using those 2 sticks of G.Skill 8500 after switching them to the other bank on the board... I kid you not. Loads of errors in memtest, can't do smp distributed processing, but has been running all games just fine for a year without crashes. Including gigantic EVE online. I can't really explain it.
 
The explanation for that is that the games aren't hitting the memory as hard as a memory-specific test or synthetic benchmarks will - which is pretty much common knowledge. I'd suggest an RMA in your case as well since the sticks technically aren't stable at stock speeds. My G.Skill PC8500 can pass anything I've thrown at it.
 
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