Windows 7 64bit 4gb of Ram but only 2 can be recognized

[ChrisGreece52]

I installed today windos 7 64 bit (i had windows 7 32bit) because i wanted to take advantage of all my ram!!!
But when i went at system properties it said Ram : 2GB
My Pc Specs :
Windows 7 64bit
2 X 2 GB ram (KVR1333D3N9K2/4G)
Ati Radeon HD 4650
Intel Core I5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHZ
If you need anything else please let me know.
And Please help me .

[M. András]

put them into the another slot, if the bios dont see them motherboard or ram

[Stonent]

Also, how many slots does the system have for RAM?  If the number is divisible by 3 you may need matched triplets for it to read anything other than just one module.

[Psi]

As far as i know you only need multiple chips (dual/triple) to get dual/triple channel memory mode.
(where it does a kind of RAID stripe on the ram to double/triple the speed.)
Any motherboard should be happy with less chips, it will just fall back to single/dual channel mode.

Check that your ram actually is 2x 2GB. Maybe they supplied you with 2x 1GB by mistake.

The only other things i can think of are
- Did you set any maxmemory parameters in your boot.ini previously?
- Does your motherboard have onboard video enabled, it maybe using up system memory.
- Do you have any ramdrives setup
- Are you running windows inside a virtual environment of any sort

[ChrisGreece52]

put them into the another slot, if the bios dont see them motherboard or ram

Will do and reply

[ChrisGreece52]

Also, how many slots does the system have for RAM?  If the number is divisible by 3 you may need matched triplets for it to read anything other than just one module.

My motherboard has 4 ram slots so i can get pairs of 2 and not 3

[ChrisGreece52]

As far as i know you only need multiple chips (dual/triple) to get dual/triple channel memory mode.
(where it does a kind of RAID stripe on the ram to double/triple the speed.)
Any motherboard should be happy with less chips, it will just fall back to single/dual channel mode.

Check that your ram actually is 2x 2GB. Maybe they supplied you with 2x 1GB by mistake.

The only other things i can think of are
- Did you set any maxmemory parameters in your boot.ini previously?
- Does your motherboard have onboard video enabled, it maybe using up system memory.
- Do you have any ramdrives setup
- Are you running windows inside a virtual environment of any sort

Ok thanks for your reply but i am a bit of a noob and the only thing i got is the 2X 1GB and no they are 2X2GB
also i did not got the first thing you said
and no my motherboard has an PCI slot for my video card is this is what you mean
Also i think that there is no problem with the ram drives because if it was one then i could not use the pc because they are the same model.
no  i use windows as my main OS and not as a virtual one.

[jpb]

The first thing is to check that the BIOS can see the RAM. It should be displayed, very briefly, when the pc is booting. Better is to go into the BIOS setup which usually is done by holding down a key during boot up, normally F2 or Del.

This will tell you if the RAM is physically there for the computer.

A useful program for reporting on hardware is hwinfo, this is free.

I don't think it is a Windows problem, I have Windows 7 64bit and 24GB of RAM.

If the RAM is not visible to the BIOS try taking out one at a time to see if it is the RAM or if it is the RAM slots/motherboard that is causing the trouble.

Be careful to earth yourself prior to handling RAM as they are static sensitive - best to use an ESD strap but you'll probably be ok just ensuring you earth yourself on say an earthed metal case prior to opening the computer and handling the RAM. (Don't earth yourself if there is any danger of you touching a live wire or a large charged capacitor in the power supply of course.)

[ddavidebor]

I'm curious, what is your need for 24gb of ram?

[GEuser]

Mentioning your motherboard would have helped

Anyway most newer mb's have ram slots that are not 1-2-3-4 as you look at them , they can be 1-3 2-4 so the ram has to be in 1-2 or 3-4 look in the manual for the mb , also in the bios make sure they are set right , try that's!

[free_electron]

I'm curious, what is your need for 24gb of ram?

Angry birds. That, or edlin ...

[M. András]

I'm curious, what is your need for 24gb of ram?

haha i managed to fill up 32gb of it what i have

[jpb]

I'm curious, what is your need for 24gb of ram?

I was actually thinking of doubling it to 48GB of RAM as it only costs £160 for a further 24GB and I've been limited by the 24GB.

I have a dual 2.93GHz Xeon Dell precision workstation with 8 cores in total which can run 16 threads. The software I run (an automated theorem prover) typically needs up to 3GB per thread so if I run 8 threads using all the cores but not hyperthreading I need 24GB but the OS uses some of it so I'm constrained. I also used all the cores and RAM when I was doing work for my PhD on machine learning - this involved running the machine for days on end, at a few hundred watts my study got very hot when I left the door shut just from the hot air being blown out!

Memory for the Xeons I have needs to be fitted in 3s per chip to make full use of the memory bandwidth, so for two processor chips to get maximum speed takes 6 RAM modules and I have 6x4GB. Unfortunately if I expand I'll need to go to more than one rank (3x8GB on one chip and 6x4GB on the other) which slows the clock rate down for some reason - the latest 5600 series Xeons don't have this limitation.

Admittedly, most of the time I don't need anything like that amount of memory but for things that can be done in parallel it is very useful.

[ddavidebor]

Thank god for provide people that use computational power for something different than videogames

[IanB]

I installed today windos 7 64 bit (i had windows 7 32bit) because i wanted to take advantage of all my ram!!!
But when i went at system properties it said Ram : 2GB

Presumably the memory was already installed in the computer and you just updated the OS?

First thing to do is go into the BIOS setup and check what is reported there. If the BIOS doesn't show the memory then something is wrong.

Was the memory showing up when you had Windows 7 32 bit installed? Because the BIOS would still have seen it then, and (I think) Windows would still have reported 4 GB--it just can't use all of the 4 GB.

Are you really sure you actually have 4 GB installed? It would be unusual for a PC to be supplied with 32 bit Windows and 4 GB of memory.

If you have some doubts you could open the case and check that the memory of fully seated in the correct memory slots. Usually the slots are paired and you should put the memory cards in the right pairs of slots. Some machines may have the slots colour coded to indicate the corresponding pairs.

[ChrisGreece52]

I'm curious, what is your need for 24gb of ram?

I am sorry but you did not understand me . I have 4GB of ram (Total) but windows (or bios) recognize only 2 GB.

[ChrisGreece52]

Mentioning your motherboard would have helped

Anyway most newer mb's have ram slots that are not 1-2-3-4 as you look at them , they can be 1-3 2-4 so the ram has to be in 1-2 or 3-4 look in the manual for the mb , also in the bios make sure they are set right , try that's!

As for this i am sorry my motherboard is a Gigabyte one ... thats all i can tell i will search for the manual later and my motherboard is exaclty as you described is not 1-2-3-4 but 1-3-2-4 and the Ram cards being used are 3-4

[ChrisGreece52]

I'm curious, what is your need for 24gb of ram?

I was actually thinking of doubling it to 48GB of RAM as it only costs £160 for a further 24GB and I've been limited by the 24GB.

I have a dual 2.93GHz Xeon Dell precision workstation with 8 cores in total which can run 16 threads. The software I run (an automated theorem prover) typically needs up to 3GB per thread so if I run 8 threads using all the cores but not hyperthreading I need 24GB but the OS uses some of it so I'm constrained. I also used all the cores and RAM when I was doing work for my PhD on machine learning - this involved running the machine for days on end, at a few hundred watts my study got very hot when I left the door shut just from the hot air being blown out!

Memory for the Xeons I have needs to be fitted in 3s per chip to make full use of the memory bandwidth, so for two processor chips to get maximum speed takes 6 RAM modules and I have 6x4GB. Unfortunately if I expand I'll need to go to more than one rank (3x8GB on one chip and 6x4GB on the other) which slows the clock rate down for some reason - the latest 5600 series Xeons don't have this limitation.

Admittedly, most of the time I don't need anything like that amount of memory but for things that can be done in parallel it is very useful.

LOL have you seen my pc specs I am happy it could run NFS Most Wanted (the 2013 version) even in window mode 800X600

[ChrisGreece52]

I installed today windos 7 64 bit (i had windows 7 32bit) because i wanted to take advantage of all my ram!!!
But when i went at system properties it said Ram : 2GB

Presumably the memory was already installed in the computer and you just updated the OS?

First thing to do is go into the BIOS setup and check what is reported there. If the BIOS doesn't show the memory then something is wrong.

Was the memory showing up when you had Windows 7 32 bit installed? Because the BIOS would still have seen it then, and (I think) Windows would still have reported 4 GB--it just can't use all of the 4 GB.

Are you really sure you actually have 4 GB installed? It would be unusual for a PC to be supplied with 32 bit Windows and 4 GB of memory.

If you have some doubts you could open the case and check that the memory of fully seated in the correct memory slots. Usually the slots are paired and you should put the memory cards in the right pairs of slots. Some machines may have the slots colour coded to indicate the corresponding pairs.

1) no i had only 2 gb of ram even when i had the 32 bit OS installed
2)I did this ... also i unpluged the ram cards and installed them again ... bu the thing is that i have not tried different ram slots...

[ChrisGreece52]

The first thing is to check that the BIOS can see the RAM. It should be displayed, very briefly, when the pc is booting. Better is to go into the BIOS setup which usually is done by holding down a key during boot up, normally F2 or Del.

This will tell you if the RAM is physically there for the computer.

A useful program for reporting on hardware is hwinfo, this is free.

I don't think it is a Windows problem, I have Windows 7 64bit and 24GB of RAM.

If the RAM is not visible to the BIOS try taking out one at a time to see if it is the RAM or if it is the RAM slots/motherboard that is causing the trouble.

Be careful to earth yourself prior to handling RAM as they are static sensitive - best to use an ESD strap but you'll probably be ok just ensuring you earth yourself on say an earthed metal case prior to opening the computer and handling the RAM. (Don't earth yourself if there is any danger of you touching a live wire or a large charged capacitor in the power supply of course.)

Will do now.

[ChrisGreece52]

Ok i went into the bios setup and it said that my rams is 2048 mb....
so I tried
1) remove one Ram card at a time
reuslts:
when i removed the first and the second was pluged in (in the original positions)
the buzzer on the motherboard came off.
when i removed the second one the same.
2)plug both cards into the other 2 avaiable slots
bit the buzzer came off
and also plug them one at a time to the other slots
(not the original)

[amyk]

Download and run CPU-Z, show what it says under Memory and SPD.

[ChrisGreece52]

Download and run CPU-Z, show what it says under Memory and SPD.

sorry but i dont think so .... i went into bios and saw that my ram is only 2 gb.... its not even recognizable by bios... what shall i do ?

[amyk]

...show us what it says under Memory and SPD?

This program has the ability to access the I2C bus directly and read the EEPROMs on the modules.

[M. András]

http://valid.canardpc.com/2777582 you can click on the validate button on the main windows of the program and you will get an online page like this so you dont need to type in anything at all

[ChrisGreece52]

...show us what it says under Memory and SPD?

This program has the ability to access the I2C bus directly and read the EEPROMs on the modules.

Will do

[ChrisGreece52]

http://valid.canardpc.com/2777582 you can click on the validate button on the main windows of the program and you will get an online page like this so you dont need to type in anything at all

Thanks

[ChrisGreece52]

My PC Specs
http://valid.canardpc.com/2777622
My detailed specs from every page in png format.
http://imageshack.us/a/img856/9294/67599290.png[/img]]

http://imageshack.us/a/img845/8854/40207061.png[/img]]

http://imageshack.us/a/img42/6724/62705694.png[/img]]

http://imageshack.us/a/img35/4989/unt2w.png[/img]]

http://imageshack.us/a/img19/1959/71247209.png[/img]]

[mariush]

Duh, easy.

Make sure the ram module is properly plugged in.

If you think it is, and the computer still tells you it only has 2 GB then you have to investigate.

Take out the memory modules, put one at a time in the slot and see what the computer says.  If the computer doesn't start with one of the modules, try the module in another slot. Try all four slots.
If a module worked before but this module doesn't work in any slot, it's probably dead or the contacts are burned out or oxydated.  Get some isopropyl alcohol and a paper towel or something, wet the towel and rub the gold contacts of the memory. Dry it out, then try the memory again in all slots.  Still not working? It's dead, Jim.

If both modules work separately (only one put in pc in the first slot or a particular slot), but you don't see in bios 4 GB or the value you're supposed to see when you put both modules in pc, change the slot of the second memory you add, try each slot.

If it works in another slot, the slot may be dirty or the clips are loose, or the ram contacts are dirty and the ram module slots may also be a bit dirty so a connection just happens to be poor enough to make your module not work. With the computer turned off, blow some air inside the memory slot, clean the ram contacts as described above, try again.

Motherboard should work with the ram modules in any slot you want, but for optimum speed it's recommended to put them as it says in manual  1-3 or 2-4 or 1-2, 3-4  whichever is the dual channel layout.

[ChrisGreece52]

Thats the thing i tried all of thes combinations and the only thing i  got from it is that every contact works and every ram module is fine.
When i unplug even one a buzer (atached to my motherboard (not soldered just hooked up)) came off i tried different combinations but the end result was the same.
If a ram card was missing from one of the 2 slots  1-3-2-4 (3 and 4 are the currenlty used card slots) the buzzer came off .... another thing i that i dont know why the buzzer came off even when i left one ram card inside (because bios only recognize one card i thought removing the one that isnt used by bios it would not affect the system) and i am a bit confused.

[GEuser]

Why not now take the opportunity to get some new ram?
Try a matched pair at 8gb since you have installed 64bit , its cheap enough on epay , in most games I have only seen just over 4gb used out of 8 so far and that's with no page file and 1.2gb for win7 included (the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series) .

If the known stick(ram) works in all slots and then you try the other and no good suggests its crook or incompatible imo , so bin it and try a upgrade imo ..

Good luck 

[M. András]

what do you mean the buzzer came off? btw seems like 1 of the modules are dead or 1 of the slots or the memory controller dying

[grumpydoc]

what do you mean the buzzer came off

I presume he meant "went off" - i.e made a noise. Usually the BIOS will beep when there's a memory fault or no RAM.

Assuming that the motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 as per the valid.cardandpc.com link then the DIMM sockets are colour coded to show how they pair up. If you have one DIMM it should go in one of the white sockets. If you have two then they also should be in the white sockets. Any other combination either won't work or won't work optimally.

I would go into the BIOS and use the "load fail safe defaults" option to turn off any overclocking or tweaks you might have tried, then try each DIMM in socket 3 (white socket furthest from the CPU). If they each work OK in that socket then put the DIMMs in the two white sockets and see if both are now correctly recognised.

Apologies if you have already tried this.

[ChrisGreece52]

what do you mean the buzzer came off? btw seems like 1 of the modules are dead or 1 of the slots or the memory controller dying

My motherboard has a buzzer attached on it so when something is wrong with the ram or motherboard it buzzes.

[IanB]

what do you mean the buzzer came off? btw seems like 1 of the modules are dead or 1 of the slots or the memory controller dying

My motherboard has a buzzer attached on it so when something is wrong with the ram or motherboard it buzzes.

The fun of the English language 

Come (came) and go (went) are very similar, but "went off" means the buzzer made a noise while "came off" means the buzzer became detached from the board.

[ChrisGreece52]

what do you mean the buzzer came off

I presume he meant "went off" - i.e made a noise. Usually the BIOS will beep when there's a memory fault or no RAM.

Assuming that the motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 as per the valid.cardandpc.com link then the DIMM sockets are colour coded to show how they pair up. If you have one DIMM it should go in one of the white sockets. If you have two then they also should be in the white sockets. Any other combination either won't work or won't work optimally.

I would go into the BIOS and use the "load fail safe defaults" option to turn off any overclocking or tweaks you might have tried, then try each DIMM in socket 3 (white socket furthest from the CPU). If they each work OK in that socket then put the DIMMs in the two white sockets and see if both are now correctly recognised.

Apologies if you have already tried this.

Yeah i meant went off..... i am sorry for that because came off ... sounded a bit wierd .... any way i apologise for my english and i loaded fail safe defaults and will try the slot now.

[ChrisGreece52]

what do you mean the buzzer came off

I presume he meant "went off" - i.e made a noise. Usually the BIOS will beep when there's a memory fault or no RAM.

Assuming that the motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 as per the valid.cardandpc.com link then the DIMM sockets are colour coded to show how they pair up. If you have one DIMM it should go in one of the white sockets. If you have two then they also should be in the white sockets. Any other combination either won't work or won't work optimally.

I would go into the BIOS and use the "load fail safe defaults" option to turn off any overclocking or tweaks you might have tried, then try each DIMM in socket 3 (white socket furthest from the CPU). If they each work OK in that socket then put the DIMMs in the two white sockets and see if both are now correctly recognised.

Apologies if you have already tried this.

Yeah i meant went off..... i am sorry for that because came off ... sounded a bit wierd .... any way i apologise for my english and i loaded fail safe defaults and will try the slot now.

Thanks for the explanation Ian i got the proficiency level degree in English language (highest degree you can get here in Greece) but some things will hunt me down forever

[IanB]

i apologise for my english

No need to apologize. But by conversing on boards like this you can learn English better and better!

[ChrisGreece52]

Well i hope so because i dont want to lose my english skill due to the lack of use.I speak Greek as an everyday language but when we joke around with my friends we chat in english (everyday english but still english).Also the internet helped me a LOT with my english.

[ChrisGreece52]

Well back on the topic ... i tried removing the card that was attached to the furthest slot from the CPU but nothing the buzzer WENT (and again thanks for the correction) off ... but well damn me !!! i removed the card from the furthest slot and left the other card (into the other white slot) attached .... it works and the ram configurations is like NoRam-Ram-NoRam-NoRam

[ChrisGreece52]

I will try installing the other card into another slot (one of the blue ones)
0-1-1-0
0=No Ram
1= Ram

[M. András]

you can try to reset the cmos too, switch off the psu or pull the plug out of it and move the jumper to the other position for 10 secs or remove the battery, i dont know if the different boards have different error beeps or not, but when its only a short beep and then the POST screen shows up its fine, i never had a board or rams which had this fault

[ChrisGreece52]

Thanks for your answer
the good thing is that my ram sticks are fine i tried both to a working card slot the second from the cpu
1-2-3-4 (i tried my sticks to the second slot)
when i installed one at a time to that slot the pc booted just normally
the bad thing is that my 4th slot (the furthest from the cpu or 1-2-3-4 the slot 4 in this example) does not work at all.

But i get in bios that my ram is still 2048 and at windows i get that the ram is 4gb but only 2 gb is usable.

[grumpydoc]

I will try installing the other card into another slot (one of the blue ones)
0-1-1-0
0=No Ram
1= Ram

The slot order from nearest to furthest from the CPU is 2-1-4-3, you're supposed to fill the odd (white) ones first, then the even ones. I don't think it matters whether you put a single DIMM in slot 1 or slot 3. Probably, if you had three DIMMS it wouldn't matter whether the third went in slot 2 or slot 4 though the manual doesn't mention how you're supposed to fill the sockets if you have three DIMMs.

filling a while and blue slot might work but you won;t get any performance increase.

[grumpydoc]

the bad thing is that my 4th slot (the furthest from the cpu or 1-2-3-4 the slot 4 in this example) does not work at all.

That's actually slot 3 but it not working is a bit of a pain.

If you put the two DIMMs in the slots closest the processor what happens?

Examine the socket carefully - any bent pins?

[ChrisGreece52]

Ok i inspected the pins all of them carefully under a strong light!!! NONE pins were found bent
i will try changing the ram position i also have the graphics card blocking the ram slot ill send a pic later

[ChrisGreece52]

i got the cards installed in the two slots closest to the cpu (blue and white ones) and bios say that i got FOUR GB OF RAM!!! finally 
i will send a picture of the case with the rams slots and the rams and a photo of the graphics card blocking the ram slot!!
Thanks for your help!!!

[M. András]

how the hell is the gpu blocking the ram slots? mini atx board or what?

[ChrisGreece52]

no just the edge of the gpu board kinda stops the memory slot youll see in the pictures.

[ChrisGreece52]

I am sorry for the poor quality. The photos were taken with a mobile phone (Xperia X8 3.2 MP) and using an LED flashlight as a light source (because i forgot to take the pics when the pc was on the desk with my powerful desk lamp)
Ram Cards

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/2223/img20130420001136.jpg

Ram Slot being blocked by GPU
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/8029/img20130420001147.jpg

[M. András]

pull out 1 of the moduls and look for a sticker which states atleast the timings or etc. or look up the memory chips
edit: after checking again that validation data you give us, i would say motherboard problem, i dont recall if the memory controller of that cpu+motherboard are in the northbridge or in the cpu but that could be a fault too

[ChrisGreece52]

By timming you mean the sticks frequency??? (btw its 1333 mhz)

[IanB]

If you are going to put two memory cards in paired sockets (white-white) or (blue-blue), then both memory cards should be as identical as possible. Same manufacturer, same type, same specifications, same manufacturing date. That's why memory kits are often sold in matched pairs. If you put different cards in paired slots they may not work properly.

Are your two memory cards a matched set?

[IanB]

If they are not matched, I think you would need to put one in the first white slot, and the other in the first blue slot.

[grumpydoc]

i got the cards installed in the two slots closest to the cpu (blue and white ones) and bios say that i got FOUR GB OF RAM!!! finally 

Well, won't be dual channel but at least it works.

Are your two memory cards a matched set?

He originally posted a data sheet for 2x2GB DIMMS so they probably are.

[nctnico]

I installed today windos 7 64 bit (i had windows 7 32bit) because i wanted to take advantage of all my ram!!!
But when i went at system properties it said Ram : 2GB
My Pc Specs :
Windows 7 64bit
2 X 2 GB ram (KVR1333D3N9K2/4G)

Check the motherboard's manual to see if this memory is compatible (probably not).

[M. András]

nah the geil rams i have not listed on this board neither the previous one and it worked just fine, that qvl list of the board manufacturers are mostly shit, cos they wont even test multiple rams just a few

[madires]

Maybe a problem with the ranks, like quad-ranked DIMMs.

[Psi]

I would try tweaking the bios ram settings.
-Disable dual/triple channel memory mode
-Increase the CAS
-maybe lower the mem clockrate if you can.
-Try reset the ram settings page to defaults.

[ChrisGreece52]

If you are going to put two memory cards in paired sockets (white-white) or (blue-blue), then both memory cards should be as identical as possible. Same manufacturer, same type, same specifications, same manufacturing date. That's why memory kits are often sold in matched pairs. If you put different cards in paired slots they may not work properly.

Are your two memory cards a matched set?

Yeah ... i bought the pc as a complete unit with the rams preinstalled and when i searched the model number is saw that the two of them came as a kit.

[ChrisGreece52]

If they are not matched, I think you would need to put one in the first white slot, and the other in the first blue slot.

I did exaclty the same thing with matched ones.

[ChrisGreece52]

I installed today windos 7 64 bit (i had windows 7 32bit) because i wanted to take advantage of all my ram!!!
But when i went at system properties it said Ram : 2GB
My Pc Specs :
Windows 7 64bit
2 X 2 GB ram (KVR1333D3N9K2/4G)

Check the motherboard's manual to see if this memory is compatible (probably not).

It is the cards frequency is supported by the motherboard.

[ChrisGreece52]

I would try tweaking the bios ram settings.
-Disable dual/triple channel memory mode
-Increase the CAS
-maybe lower the mem clockrate if you can.
-Try reset the ram settings page to defaults.

I dont feel quite comfortable tweaking the bios just yet.Because i may screw my pc up ....

[amyk]

I can't see any of the images you posted several pages back. In particular, the SPD tab. If the EEPROM is corrupt for some reason or not being read properly the BIOS might not see that there's a matched set plugged in.

[nctnico]

Bad idea. For more than a decade memory modules have an eeprom on them telling the motherboard exactly what kind of memory is installed. If you have problems the memory is either defective or incompatible. It is that simple.

[nakchak]

Unsure if this has been suggested but always plug your ram into like coloured slots, i.e. on my mobo i have 2 blue and 2 black slots, 1 matched pair fills the blue slots, and one matched pair fills the black slots, also ensure that the pairs you are using are the same size, a 2gb and a 4gb stick wont work as a pair, it must be 2 2gb or 2 4gb sticks of ram to be a pair.

Finally if the ram is recognised in the bios but not by windows follow the instructions here http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/137552-windows-7-x64-not-recognizing-ram.html to ensure that the max ram switch is not set when you boot windows (i have seen this happen if you upgrade from a 32bit windows to 64bit, instead of doing a clean install)

nak.

[M. András]

along the  years i learned 2 things regarding pc builds, never buy a prebuilt one from supermarkets or other shit places instead build up your own what meets your current needs and budget, second buy the maximum amount of ram what a motherboard can support and the maximum speed rated rams for your cpu, natively now only the amd fx series processor have a native 1866mhz memory controller, intels only 1333mhz but it does not really matter while you dont get to make benchmarks all the time and aiming for the highest scores. memory bandwith and latency changes with their operating freqeuncy but not that huge amounts, mostly depends on the controller and the motherboard.

[ChrisGreece52]

I can't see any of the images you posted several pages back. In particular, the SPD tab. If the EEPROM is corrupt for some reason or not being read properly the BIOS might not see that there's a matched set plugged in.

Ill upload them again

[ChrisGreece52]

Bad idea. For more than a decade memory modules have an eeprom on them telling the motherboard exactly what kind of memory is installed. If you have problems the memory is either defective or incompatible. It is that simple.

Yeah but in my case the ram slot was bad.

[ChrisGreece52]

Unsure if this has been suggested but always plug your ram into like coloured slots, i.e. on my mobo i have 2 blue and 2 black slots, 1 matched pair fills the blue slots, and one matched pair fills the black slots, also ensure that the pairs you are using are the same size, a 2gb and a 4gb stick wont work as a pair, it must be 2 2gb or 2 4gb sticks of ram to be a pair.

Finally if the ram is recognised in the bios but not by windows follow the instructions here http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/137552-windows-7-x64-not-recognizing-ram.html to ensure that the max ram switch is not set when you boot windows (i have seen this happen if you upgrade from a 32bit windows to 64bit, instead of doing a clean install)

nak.

But the thing is when i inserted the ram to the colored one the bios recognized the ram

[ChrisGreece52]

along the  years i learned 2 things regarding pc builds, never buy a prebuilt one from supermarkets or other shit places instead build up your own what meets your current needs and budget, second buy the maximum amount of ram what a motherboard can support and the maximum speed rated rams for your cpu, natively now only the amd fx series processor have a native 1866mhz memory controller, intels only 1333mhz but it does not really matter while you dont get to make benchmarks all the time and aiming for the highest scores. memory bandwith and latency changes with their operating freqeuncy but not that huge amounts, mostly depends on the controller and the motherboard.

As for me i have this pc about 2 years and all i learned about pcs i did after buying this.... i wont make the same mistake again ... also about the ram frequency thing.... my motherboard supports many frequencies but i dont know what the freq in a ram is

[M. András]

basicly data rate, if i know it correctly each dimm is 64bit wide memory bus multiply that with the clock speed and you get the maximum data transger rate. if im wrong pls who knows it better correct me

[ChrisGreece52]

basicly data rate, if i know it correctly each dimm is 64bit wide memory bus multiply that with the clock speed and you get the maximum data transger rate. if im wrong pls who knows it better correct me

I am sorry but i did not get the point ....

[dr_p]

 

I dont feel quite comfortable tweaking the bios just yet.Because i may screw my pc up ....

No you won't. Just so you know what caused the problem, change ONE THING AT A TIME, then reset, see if it's better. If you get stuck, reset BIOS to default factory settings. If you really get stuck and can't enter BIOS, remember that usually 3 unsuccessful POST attempts lead to an automatic "restore to factory defaults".


As a matter of fact, when I get to a problematic PC and suspect some BIOS injustice, I just reset everything to make sure.

[IanB]

I dont feel quite comfortable tweaking the bios just yet.Because i may screw my pc up ....

No you won't.

Don't be so sure. I just this weekend bricked a PC beyond recovery. Something odd happened and the data on the disk got scrambled so badly that the boot information cannot be repaired and the file system on the main partition is destroyed so badly that chkdsk cannot fix it. And all I did to get in that state was to update the graphics driver... 

[dr_p]

Oh, yes - you are right. I meant it's nearly impossible to brick the BIOS.

[grumpydoc]

the main partition is destroyed so badly that chkdsk cannot fix it.

chkdsk is fairly useless at fixing partitions though. Not sure of a better tool for actually making the partition useful, although if you have a Linux box available you could see if the ntfs tools there can read anything. Failing that and if you need to get any files from the disk Photorec is quite good

[cwalex]

Oh, yes - you are right. I meant it's nearly impossible to brick the BIOS.

There is always a reset CMOS jumper on the motherboard that you can use when you can't get into the BIOS to reset it.

Having spare parts around to swap in when you suspect a faulty part is always handy. Worst case scenario you can probably borrow something from a friend.

[amyk]

I dont feel quite comfortable tweaking the bios just yet.Because i may screw my pc up ....

No you won't.

Don't be so sure. I just this weekend bricked a PC beyond recovery. Something odd happened and the data on the disk got scrambled so badly that the boot information cannot be repaired and the file system on the main partition is destroyed so badly that chkdsk cannot fix it. And all I did to get in that state was to update the graphics driver... 

That sounds like the hard drive was on its way out already, and the extra disk activity pushed it over the edge.

[IanB]

That sounds like the hard drive was on its way out already, and the extra disk activity pushed it over the edge.

It is a brand new Samsung SSD that I had just installed. After installing the new graphics driver and just before the failure I had been running Samsung's SSD performance test software. It seems possible that is what actually messed up the disk, but I am mystified as to why.