BSOD on memory upgrade

jfenwick

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So I have an older HW8540w I picked up off for a decent price. It only had 1GB of memory and the HDD was removed. I promptly installed a SSD and installed windows 7 (legit copy). Everything was going smoothly. Then it went downhill:

1) I pulled the 1 GB memory stick and installed an 8gb stick of G.Skill (F3-1600C11S-8GSL). The laptop BSOD three times straight during the Windows loading screen. I swapped the 1GB back in, no problems.
2) Read the manual and figured from what it said that 1600MHz was too high for a single 8GB stick so I returned it for a single stick of 8GB (F3-1333C9S-8GSL).
3) Installed that 8GB stick and again, 3 straight BSODs at the Windows loading screen. Put the 1GB of PC3-8500S back in and agins, worked just fine.
4) Figured maybe I needed to put it in the second memory slot under the keyboard. I removed the keyboard and installed the 8Gb stick there, all I got was a blank black screen. Same thing with the 1GB stick.

So, any ideas? I'm racking my brain because it works just fine with 1GB. I'm wondering if I should try 2x4GB instead? Any ideas?

[edit] Running windows 7 64bit Pro

Here is the maintenance manual from HP: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03382696[/edit]

[edit2]Ok, think I'm still using the wrong memory, should be using 2x4GB if I want 8gb and using PC3-12800, 1600-MHz instead of PC3 10666. Can someone confirm if that would cause the problems I'm experiencing?[/edit]
 
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It would be easier to give a definite answer with more information about the device. The first model number you gave leads nowhere but back to this post.

If the manual link you provided is in fact for your device, yours would be specific to the mobile workstation since you have memory bays under the keyboard. I believe this is the information you're looking for:
Supports the following configurations:
● 32768 (8192 × 4)
● 16684 (8192 × 2)
● 16684 (4096 × 4)
● 12288 (4096 × 2) + (2048 × 2)
● 8192 (8192 × 1)
● 8192 (2048 × 4)
● 8192 (4096 × 2)
● 4096 (2048 × 2)
● 4096 (4096 × 1)
● 2048 (2048 × 1)

I don't know why 4 sticks of 8GB is a supported configuration, when it's clearly stated that the maximum memory is 16GB. Anyway, you should be able to use one 8GB stick, but it must be PC3-10600, 1333-MHz, DDR3 (which is what you tried the second time). In my experience, you should be able to use faster, but it will only run at the clock speed supported by the motherboard. Why the second 8GB stick didn't work I couldn't say, because it is supported. However, this laptop supports dual-channel memory(I think) so it would beneficial to use two 4GB sticks rather than one 8GB stick, if installed in the correct slots.
 
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