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First Time Adding Ram

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Speedracer 64

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Location
Franklin, Ky
Gonna add some ram to my computer to help it out a little bit. Right now it has 2 gbs of ddr2. Running speccy it shows at 399 mhz. I bought 2 more gbs for cheap. They are ddr2 with a data transfer rate of 800 mhz and a memory clock of 200 mhz. The last guy that worked on my computer said they would work. Just wanted to double check with somebody else before I did it.
 
Got links to the two kits? The RAM running at 399MHz is probably DDR2-800.
 
You need to make sure both kits can handle the same speed, timings, and voltage. To have the best chance of them working together, you'll need to run the lowest rated speed of the two kits, highest timings of the two kits, and highest voltage of the two kits.
 
They will always run at the same speed, timings, and voltage. You just have to make sure what the motherboard sets for them are within the rated specs of both kits. You can change the settings in the BIOS if needed.
 
If you have a good enough mobo you can mix and match. I remember my Gigabyte P45 running 2GBs of OCZ DDR21066 and 2GB of KingstonHyperX DDR2-800 HyperX simultaneously (don't ask me how this happened.)

It all depends on the Mobo. I've mixed and matched RAM before without any issues but if you have a low-end mobo it will more than likely crash.
 
In that case you'll want to make sure they're the exact same model#, CAS Timings, and probably the same PCB color lol
 
I've mixed and matched RAM before without any issues but if you have a low-end mobo it will more than likely crash.
I disagree. At regular speeds and timings it shouldn't cause any problems. Some decent memory of the same speed (PC2-6400) should work just fine. Cheap systems and motherboards are the ideal place to mix and match, since it's all going to run at slower speeds and relaxed timings anyway.

Turn things off, unplug, open up the case, ground yourself on the case by touching bare metal somewhere with your hand, then install the modules into the slots.

If it turns on, run something like Prime95 for a while to make sure it's stable. If it doesn't come back on, try reseating the sticks. If all else fails, just take the new sticks back out.
 
Speed racer if you want alot less hassle (assuming your unconfortable with all this) buy a whole new kit with the exact amount of ram you want, 4GB 6gb 8gb and install that its guarranteed to work versus working with 2 kits and hoping for the best.
 
I finally got around to adding the ram today. I ran into a problem while doing it. I couldn't get the sticks to seat. They would only go down so far. Any ideas what would cause this.
 
Did you move the tabs on the ends of the slot out? Are you putting the RAM in upside down? There's a notch in the middle of the slot that needs to line up with a notch on the stick, and with DDR2 that notch is very close to the middle.
 
Did you move the tabs on the ends of the slot out? Are you putting the RAM in upside down? There's a notch in the middle of the slot that needs to line up with a notch on the stick, and with DDR2 that notch is very close to the middle.

Yeah i know it was with the notch down and the tabs open. I tried to close the tabs also and it wasn't going down far enough
 
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