Installed new RAM, but computer now runs slower

Question

My motherboard has four slots for RAM. Three of these contain identical StarRam 1Gb DDR2 667Mhz sticks, and the fourth had been unoccupied. I decided to buy a fourth stick for this slot, and since StarRam seems to have gone out of business I went for a Crucial 1Gb DDR2 667Mhz stick instead. I assumed this would be close enough, but since installing the new stick my computer boots and runs very slowly. The motherboard specs says it supports dual channel memory (the slots are colour-coded) and can handle up to 8Gb. There are options in the BIOS for changing the frequency and voltage of the memory, but I'm not sure what to change. Is there a way to make the new stick of RAM work with the existing memory?

Answer 1

A couple of ideas on why this is happening:

• The clock latency ratings on the ram you bought and the ram you had may be different. Clock latency measures the number of processor ticks that the ram requires before the ram will respond. Typically you try to get a lower CL rating because higher numbers equal a slower computer. A CL of 1 or 2 is great for SDRAM, but DDR ram will probably have a rating of 2.5
• Ram between manufactures is generally not a good idea. Just because the ram has the same speed does not mean it works or manufactured the same way. Funny but true.
• If your computer is an I7, I have read before that installing ram in 3's is the most efficient method because of the on board memory manager and adding a 4th can slow your computer down. That may have been the reason the fourth was left unoccupied.

Check the color of your dim slots if three are the same color and one is different that is typically a tell tell sign that was the way it was intended. Hope this is helpful.