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I'm having an issue adding additional ram to a Dell Optiplex 960. I purchased two additional sticks of DDR2 800mhz.

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Here is screenshot of BIOS with system specs

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It has matched specs, size, speed, etc.When I add it to slots 3 and 4, the PC won't boot, just lets out a long beep and will not boot up.

Same happens when I put either stick in slot 4.

When I put either stick in slot 3, the PC acts like its boots, but the monitor output is just a bunch of random colors.

I purchased the RAM from two different sellers on ebay, both of whom claim to have tested it prior to shipping.

I also tried putting the new ram in slots 1 and 2, but same thing, just long beep and nothing.

Also tried 1 stick of new RAM (tried both) in slot 1 by itself, same result.I have a hard time believing I got bad ram from two independent places at the same time.

Is there something I'm doing wrong here?

Manual for Optiplex 960

It supports 8gb total and 8gb per slot.

Original ram is 2x 1GB DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz DIMS non-ECC New ram is non-ECC.

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  • If you remove the memory that is already installed, and install the memory you purchased into those slots, what happens? Can you supply the information from the labels within the body of your question? The labels cannot be read within the screenshot.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 9, 2017 at 18:10
  • To quote myself from above - Also tried 1 stick of new RAM (tried both) in slot 1 by itself, same result.I have a hard time believing I got bad ram from two independent places at the same time.
    – Logan
    Nov 9, 2017 at 18:10
  • Can you supply the model information from the original parts. Are you sure your motherboard supports 2GB modules?
    – Ramhound
    Nov 9, 2017 at 18:13
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    And you're running BIOS A07 from 2010. The latest release was in 2014, version A18. I suggest you update it before anything else.
    – user772515
    Nov 9, 2017 at 18:26
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    The only strange thing I see in the user manual is that for 1 GB sticks, you can use 1 or 2 DIMM. with 2 GB sticks you can use 2 or 4 DIMM. This makes me wonder if having 4 DIMM with 1 GB sticks causes an error? I would try both of the new sticks again, and instead of using slot 1 and 2 use slot 1 and 3. Usually the RAM slots are numbered starting with 0. If that's the case use slot 0 and 2.
    – DrZoo
    Nov 9, 2017 at 19:18

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