So yesterday my new RAM came in. I quickly got to work getting it installed. And, wouldn't you know it, the system refused to boot. After an evening of troubleshooting, it looks like my old, expensive ram doesn't like dual channel configurations, despite supposedly supporting it, whereas the new stuff does dual channel just fine. So, my options, I could keep the old stuff and return the new stuff, I could ditch the old stuff and run the new stuff in dual channel, thus doubling my memory bandwidth. Or I could keep fighting with it in the hopes that I could get both sets of memory to work dual channel. But I'm pretty much out of ideas there.
As to why I'm a jerk, I kept calling Jer, the friend who bought me the RAM as a birthday present, giving him the latest details and seeking advice on other things to try. He was convinced that the differently specced memory (the new stuff is DDR400, the old is a fictional spec of DDR600 designed for overclocking) was what was causing the problems. I thought otherwise. I feel like I was being a bit of a jerk, to the guy who had bought me the RAM to begin with. So, Jer, I'm sorry I was being a jerk. I'm mostly better now. I think I'm just going to stick with the new stuff in dual channel and call it good. If anyone would like to do some BIOS spelunking to see if there's a way to get both sets going, be my guest, but I'm out of ideas.
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2 comments:
I was in exactly the same position about a year ago. This is what happens when you try to upgrade instead of just replacing the whole kit and caboodle. The tiniest spec difference breaks dual-channel.
I ended up just selling my old RAM and buying a new set of what I already have to get to 2GB. If I'd known, it would have been cheaper and had better performance if I'd just bought a proper 2GB set.
:( Sucks, but you're not a jerk.
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