Need Quality RAM

[V Bot]

I bought a new tower last week and added more New RAM in yesterday. Fired it up today and nothing, but Windows Is Starting and then a black screen. Called Acer and am currently Restoring to default settings. My guess is the RAM wasn't taken very well. I now need suggestions on which RAM is good. The Tower is upgradeable to 8GB, comes with 4GB. In need of DDR3, 1333. The new RAM I bought was G.Skill DDR3-1333(2GB each), from Newegg. $40.00 or so for both. Before I put in the RAM, all was well, so that is my guess. It had to be the RAM.

Now as far as any programs I have installed in the short time are:
Avast, Spybot S&D, Malwarebytes, DVD Shrink and DVD Fab from Giveawayoftheday (Probably lost now, tear drop).

[fritzi93]

If you're overclocking the CPU, you may have to manually set the RAM timings in your BIOS. I did, and coincidentally, it was G-Skill RAM. Otherwise, my computer wouldn't boot. OTOH, without the overclocking, it would boot right up.

I would remove all RAM except the new sticks, set BIOS to defaults, and see if the new RAM is okay. If you have a memory test option integrated in your BIOS, use it.

[V Bot]

I didn't tweak anything. Just the new RAM.

[16mmJunkie]

the alignment of memory can sometimes be the issue...are the same brand in sequence with each other?

[fritzi93]

Well, I feel sure you're right about the RAM causing failure to boot. Are you certain that the new RAM modules are the same type/timings as the original sticks? Personally, I'd send them back and get the exact same brand/part # as what's in there now.

[V Bot]

the alignment of memory can sometimes be the issue...are the same brand in sequence with each other?

I tried in sequence and out of sequence.

[V Bot]

Personally, I'd send them back and get the exact same brand/part # as what's in there now.

That's what I was thinking too. I'll do that.

Thanks all and hopefully my RAM issue will be solved.

[Poppa_Meth]

I've never had an issue with G.Skill RAM but I've always used it in new builds. It might just not work well with the board in question. For prebuilt PCs I usually go to http://www.crucial.com and plug in the PC details to find compatible RAM. I've never had an issue getting the crucial system specific RAM to work in a prebuilt.

[jagabo]

Did you try taking out the new RAM and see if the computer will boot with just the old RAM? If that works, try taking out the old RAM and booting with just the new RAM.

It's also possible you have some old driver that doesn't work with more than 4GB installed.

[Nelson37]

It is not a question of Which Ram is Good, but Which Ram is Good FOR THAT MOTHERBOARD.

Also, if upgrading to the board's Maximum Capacity, there may be an additional setting change or BIOS update necessary.

I would also test the new Ram alone, as suggested. Possible you got a dead stick.

[Arch3type]

It is not a question of Which Ram is Good, but Which Ram is Good FOR THAT MOTHERBOARD

I have been building a new PC over the last few months slowly buying the parts I need and generally I have have noticed with a lot of new computers, the Compatibility of certain RAM in certain MBs is something to look out for.
EG; Kingston RAM only really likes to work in ASUS Motherboards. This I have been told and have noticed a lot in my research.
Also, are all the RAM sticks you are using now matched to each other in make, size, etc?

The Setup I went for was a GIGABYTE motherboard with 2x Corsair 2GB (4GB total) 1333MHz RAM. Will advise if this worked or not as soon as I get my power supply issue sorted out as elsewhere posted.

[V Bot]

Did you try taking out the new RAM and see if the computer will boot with just the old RAM? If that works, try taking out the old RAM and booting with just the new RAM.

It's also possible you have some old driver that doesn't work with more than 4GB installed.

I did take out the new RAM and now it won't boot up Windows, except in Safe Mode. Could be a driver issue as well. What steps would I need to take prior to installing the new RAM?

[V Bot]

It is not a question of Which Ram is Good, but Which Ram is Good FOR THAT MOTHERBOARD.

Also, if upgrading to the board's Maximum Capacity, there may be an additional setting change or BIOS update necessary.

I would also test the new Ram alone, as suggested. Possible you got a dead stick.

I think I will test the new RAM alone as you suggest.

[V Bot]

It is not a question of Which Ram is Good, but Which Ram is Good FOR THAT MOTHERBOARD

Also, are all the RAM sticks you are using now matched to each other in make, size, etc?

The only difference is the make. I made sure before I purchased the new RAM, that it was the same as far as specs go.

[V Bot]

It is not a question of Which Ram is Good, but Which Ram is Good FOR THAT MOTHERBOARD

Also, are all the RAM sticks you are using now matched to each other in make, size, etc?

The only difference is the make. I may have to send the tower in to Acer, luckily, it's under warranty for a year. I'll try some of the suggestions here before I do.

[budz]

You can always go to the GSkill forum for assistance as well.

http://gskill.us/forum/

[Nelson37]

Double-check that warranty, most are voided once you mess with the hardware. DO THEY KNOW that you messed with it?

There should be no prep needed to add RAM. The PC with original RAM should be booting normally, unless you made some other changes.

Double-check that going to the maximum RAM amount does not activate some change related to memory in the PC BIOS.

Also, as a useful secondary test, remove the original RAM and install just the new RAM, same 4GB, see if you get the same Safe Mode boot. This will help determine if the new RAM is faulty. If yes, then it probably caused the problem. If not, then there is some other issue.

EXACTLY what happens on a normal boot attempt? Have you tried MsConfig to nail down where the error lies?

[V Bot]

On normal boot, it says starting Windows and then it just stays black (screen). The motherboard has 4 slots for RAM, two of which are black and two are blue. What slots should be occupied as far as sequence goes? DIMM 1 DIMM 2 DIMM3 DIMM 4. Do I go by number sequence or color of slot?

[Nelson37]

Usually 1 and 2, both should be the same color, most mobo will boot as long as two contiguous slots are filled.

That it boots in Safe Mode and not normal mode argues for some software problem. You can Run MsConfig and eliminate areas and single programs until you find the one that is causing the problem.

[Poppa_Meth]

I'm kind of leaning toward the video card being bad. I had a customer computer come to me about a month ago. It was doing about the same thing. It would start the Windows Loading screen then just go black. I could boot it into safe mode with no problems. If I uninstalled the graphics drivers it would boot into normal mode fine. As soon as the drivers were installed it would black screen again. Turns out the card was fried. It was only working in basic graphics mode and once the drivers were installed to unlock the advanced features, it was failing. I replaced the card and all was well again. If you have onboard video or a spare card lying around try that first and see if it takes care of it.