RAM Upgrade Problem

[millsy5]

I have a Dell Dimension 4600. There are 4 (2 banks of 2) RAM slots.

According to Crucial: http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp...imension 4600

- each slot can handle 1GB, therefore a max of 4GB of RAM.

- uses pc3200

- non ecc

I currently have 2 sticks of 256MB PC3200 Non-ECC RAM. I purchased 2 sticks of 1GB PC3200 Non-ECC RAM. I removed the 2 256MB sticks and inserted the 2 1GB sticks in the same slots (same bank). When I power up the PC I get 6 beeps during the POST test. I have reinserted them a few times to make sure they were inserted correctly.

I cannot see why the PC won't recognise the new RAM. The frequencies are definitely the same and the new RAM is definitely non-ECC. Please help!!

 

[b1gapl]

Have you tried them in the other slots?

What is your BIOS? Award?

And can you please the describe how each of the beep sounds?

Oh, and...
Welcome to Tech-Forums!!!

 

[ivan chaos]

umm ya one of the 1gb sticks might be bad
that happened to me i bought 1GB *2 of corsair valueselect and 1 was bad
and the beep prob means the board isn't recognizing the ram. Most mobo tends to beep when there is no ram or doesn't recognize it.

i dunno prob not makin any sense really tired right now srry

 

[millsy5]

Thanks for the replies. I'm starting to think that I could have a bad stick of RAM.

Have you tried them in the other slots?

What is your BIOS? Award?

And can you please the describe how each of the beep sounds?

Oh, and...
Welcome to Tech-Forums!!!

I have tried the other slots but I still get the same problem.

My BIOS is Phoenix (Phoenix BIOS Plus 1.12). I listened to the beep codes. It was 1-3-2 (1 beep - pause - 3 beeps - pause - 2 beeps). However this code is not on the list of beep codes.

 

[Brunoboy]

Did you try downloading MEMTEST and putting it on floppy to check the sticks. Takes a while for it to run the check but at least you'll know if there ok.
Good luck.

 

[ivan chaos]

yes i suggest memtest thats what i used to diagnose my problem

 

[millsy5]

I brought the RAM to a computer store and it worked fine there. The person working there thinks that the particular brand may not be compatible with my MOBO.

Also the new RAM is hi-density. I've since read somewhere that hi-density RAM is not compatible with a lot of MOBOs.

I went to the Dell website to check is my MOBO compatible with hi-density RAM but I found not information there.

 

[Brunoboy]

Found this:
PC3200 is aka DDR-400 and is a 184-pin DDR DIMM. PC2-3200 is aka DDR2-400 and is a 240-pin DDR2 DIMM. Physically different sockets. ...
Now you should be able to take the other sticks back to the shop and exchange them for DDR400 STICKS. The PC BIT ALL has an equivalent DDR. Just a different terminology. You dont wan't any fancy sticks , just ddr400's. Hope this sorts it. Bye, good luck.