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To celebrate my installation of Win7 x64, I just bought myself another 4 GB memory (2x2GB DDR2 PC-6400) to add to the 4 GB I already had.

But Windows now crashes with a BSoD after I insert the new memory. I took it out and checked - still works fine. Maybe the new memory is faulty? I replaced the 2 old modules with the new modules - everything still works fine... so it's not the memory.

Here's a picture of what my motherboard looks like:

broken picture!

As you can see, there are 4 slots. The 2 on the left are in yellow, and the 2 on the right are in red. Strangely enough, the existing cards are plugged one into each color!

Here also are my system specs, as per Speccy:

speccy

Also important to note: I can boot up my computer into safe mode, even with all 8GB installed. But normal mode crashes with 8GB.

Any ideas what I need to do to get my computer working with 8GB?

Thanks!

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  • 2
    Speccy says you are running 32-bit XP or is that an old shot? BIOS update available? All RAM same voltage/timing? Stick pairs in same color slots?
    – Linker3000
    Oct 19, 2010 at 15:26
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    Yes, is the RAM identical? Probably a voltage or timing mismatch.
    – Shinrai
    Oct 19, 2010 at 15:47
  • Ha - I have a dual boot and I made this screen dump from XP. Sorry, I'll update the screen shot.
    – Shaul Behr
    Oct 19, 2010 at 15:59
  • @Shinrai - my new memory is 800 MHz, old memory is 400 MHz. The packaging of the new memory (which they didn't advertise on the online store!) says compatible with 533, 667 and 800 Mhz. But If it's a compatibility issue, why was I able to start up into safe mode?
    – Shaul Behr
    Oct 19, 2010 at 16:14
  • Probably there is some device that it causes to spaz out that doesn't have its driver loaded in Safe Mode. I was going to say 'you should make sure the matching sticks are in matching slots'...but I see you've already been informed of this! :)
    – Shinrai
    Oct 19, 2010 at 16:49

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
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Maybe try MemTest86 if none of the above solutions works... Just to be sure you didn't get a defective kit... It happen more often than you can think...

Also you can boost your NBVID Voltage for +0.05v . In my case it fix that kind of problem.

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  • I started up the system with the new memory in place of the old, and it worked fine.
    – Shaul Behr
    Oct 19, 2010 at 16:17
  • Ok so in this case it's prolly a timming mismatch between modules... Or a voltage issue... When running 8gb some motherboard will require to boost NVID voltage a bit, like +0.05v.. This is a common issue on AMD Platform, I got the same issue when I upgraded to 8gb lately this year and boosting the NBVID Voltage solved my stability problems.
    – Marc-Andre R.
    Oct 19, 2010 at 16:45
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    After a little more stress testing it turns out, as you suggested, that one of the memory sticks was defective. It might just have needed a little of extra time to complete its stress test, but this morning I came in to find a BSoD waiting for me. I clearly narrowed it down to one defective memory stick, so I guess the answer points should belong to you... :)
    – Shaul Behr
    Oct 20, 2010 at 9:45
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I would leave this as a comment if I had the reputation that allowed it, since this probably isn't an answer but worth mentioning:

My motherboard has two colour-coded pairs of RAM slots, similar to your red/yellow pairs. In its instruction manual, it asks that if I have a pair of ram sticks, both should go in identically coloured slots, not two differently coloured slots. This enables dual channel usage of your RAM sticks.

Perhaps you have split them up deliberately whilst aware of this, but I am sure your motherboard manual would say something similar, so if it is not deliberate I recommend using both red slots or both yellow slots but not one of each.

As far as the possibility of a memory error goes, this strikes me as a potential contributing factor, but it doesn't seem to me like it would really be the cause of your problem.

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  • On the topic of dual-channel, I should add that if you want to use dual-channel, your memory sticks have to be identical: same brand, size, data rate, etc. I trust this is the case here but I thought I'd mention this for safety. Thanks for the +1, good luck with your new system.
    – doppelgreener
    Oct 19, 2010 at 16:37
  • @Axidos - totally weird. I'm sure I tried this before, but I decided to try again: I put my new memory in the yellow channels and the old in the red channels. Now my system is working perfectly - with 8GB! The only difference from before is that previously I had the memory sticks in the opposite colored slots i.e. old in yellow, new in red... not sure why that's make a difference. So seeing as your is the suggestion that seems to have made the difference, you get the answer credit! Maybe now you can leave comments! ;)
    – Shaul Behr
    Oct 19, 2010 at 16:42
  • Weird indeed, I guess if nothing else really has changed then your system's better off with the yellow pair being the most powerful. Still, congratulations!
    – doppelgreener
    Oct 19, 2010 at 16:53
  • @Axidos - sorry, I took away the answer credit and gave to @Marc-Andre. See my comment there.
    – Shaul Behr
    Oct 20, 2010 at 9:47
  • No problem. Like I said I didn't really expect this to be the answer. At least as a side effect I can make comments now!
    – doppelgreener
    Oct 20, 2010 at 10:20
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Everyone needs a project thats bigger than life, BSOD is a great candidate for that purpose.

Windows BSOD analysis - A thorough usage guide

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-bsod.html

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Insert both the sticks of RAM into the yellow slots, as the RAM for this type of motherboard works sequentially, so first fill the DDRII_1 and DDRII slots (the yellow ones).

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