RAM Problem

masterK

I just purchased 1GB of RAM (2*512) for a Dell Dimension 4700. When I install the memory and try to boot I get a blank screen with the following message at the top of it "X300 SE 128MB BIOS P/N 113-A33406-100". The X300 SE refers to my graphics card, no idea what the rest means.

I already have 1GB (2*512) of exactly the same memory installed. It's Samsumg DDR2 3200U 333mhz. I've removed the old memory and just tried using the new memory and mixing the new and old in various slots with no joy.

Any ideas or suggestions?

8T8

Sounds like the RAM isn't compatible for whatever reason with the Dell which is not unheard of.

You could try updating the motherboard bios and see if the latest bios cures the problem other than that I cant think of anything else..

If you return the RAM buy new RAM from Crucial and use their "Crucial Memory Advisor™ Tool" to find RAM that is guaranteed to be compatible with your Dell like these.

masterK

8T8 wrote:

Sounds like the RAM isn't compatible for whatever reason with the Dell which is not unheard of.

You could try updating the motherboard bios and see if the latest bios cures the problem other than that I cant think of anything else..

If you return the RAM buy new RAM from Crucial and use their "Crucial Memory Advisor™ Tool" to find RAM that is guaranteed to be compatible with your Dell like these.

It't not that, the RAM is exactly the same in every detail as the RAM already in the machine which works fine.

Kimbot

This: 128MB BIOS P/N 113-A33406-100 is just the Part Number of the graphics card!!
If you try one of your orig sticks of ram with one of your new and see if they both work together!!

masterK

jonny24ie wrote:

This: 128MB BIOS P/N 113-A33406-100 is just the Part Number of the graphics card!!
If you try one of your orig sticks of ram with one of your new and see if they both work together!!

Have tried that, it made no difference. I've tried every combination of new and old that I could think of.

8T8

Well it freezing at bios post were you see the graphics cards bios string just seems to me like there is some sort of incompatibility.

I don't know man, as bad it sounds I'd try contacting Dell tech support and see what they say if the DIMM's are identical to the ones already in the machine down to the chip it sounds like something is up.

Can you verify that the new RAM is working do you know someone with a PC that uses DDR2 that you could test it in ?

Did you try updating the bios and clearing the CMOS afterwards ?

ressem

And it's a dell so I guess there's no overclocking.

Therefore the new memory just isn't the same.
It may be damaged, or has a different CAS unsuitable for the motherboard.

When you say exactly the same, how exactly?

Samsung DDR2 3200U 333mhz
According to crucial. the 4700 series supports 400 Mhz or 533Mhz?
3200 would be 400 Mhz.

Ginger

Check that the ram is the correct timings and that they are seated correctly. Can you get into the BIOS at all?

christophicus

Does The PC work if you put the two old sticks in??

masterK

The PC is fine with the two old sticks. I can't get at the BIOS at all. It just freezes with after displaying the Graphics card message. I've tried removing the current RAM and just inserting the new RAM in the same slots as the old used, when I do this the PC doesn't boot at all, it just makes a constant beeping sound when I press the power button.

andy1249

The old ram works , the new ram doesn't , so clearly the problem is the ram , with Dells this is common , I have seen it lots of times , getting the explanation why however , is not so easy ,

Can you take pictures of one of the old sticks and one of the new sticks beside each other and post them ?
Just to see if theres anything obvious ,

Otherwise , you can contact Dell , however be warned , when it comes to third party upgrades they are not at all helpful.

andy1249

Just had a thought , Is the X300 one of these units with "hypermemory" , this is some kind of memory sharing system whereby the card has 128MB of ram and borrows 128MB of ram from the system when it needs it !!
( I have one of these as a spare !! )

If so this may be the issue , and the amount sharable may be upset by you adding extra memory ,
Using the old ram , go into the bios and see if it says anything about sharing ram with video in there !

masterK

Can't see anything about sharing RAM with in the BIOS.

Just to confirm the RAM is Samsung DDR PC2-3200 400Mhz not 333 as I said earlier.

A really weird thing is that if I just put one of the new modules in with the 2 old ones the system recognises it and informs me that the memory has changed, I can see the new module in the BIOS. However the system still will not boot, it displays the Dell splash screen and just at the point where windows should start loading it restarts itself and continues to do this in an endless loop.

The fact that the system can see one of new sticks when inserted on it's own would suggest to problem is with the system and not the RAM, the same happens with either of the 2 new sticks.

Any more ideas? Thanks for all you help so far.

Ginger

I actually had something like this on a MSI board, wouldnt recognise the extra gig until i put them in a certain order. strange but true..

Are the part numbers the same or is it just the description?

TerrorFirmer

Pc3200 is NOT 333mhz, pc-2700 is. You probably got the wrong ram.

I have upgraded alot of Dells PCs and as long as the sticks are matching I have never had any problems.

Also, rare as it might seem, the ram could be faulty, but it seems obvious you got the wrong type of ram.

masterK

HavoK wrote:

Pc3200 is NOT 333mhz, pc-2700 is. You probably got the wrong ram.

I have upgraded alot of Dells PCs and as long as the sticks are matching I have never had any problems.

Also, rare as it might seem, the ram could be faulty, but it seems obvious you got the wrong type of ram.

I originally posted incorrectly, the RAM i got was 400mhz.

G&#236 wrote: »

Are the part numbers the same or is it just the description?

I'm not sure what you mean by part numbers, if it is the alphanumeric code that is printed on them then they were different but I would expect this as each one would have a unique number I would have thought.

TerrorFirmer

You also say in your first post its DDR2 ram...how old is your machine? The x300 suggests maybe about 15 months old, Dell sold these as standard with alot of systems at christmas 2005. DDR2 ram was also standard in alot of systems at that time. Obviously it goes without saying if you got DDR ram....problem