Bad RAM?

jmnew · #1 May 1st, 2020, 03:10 AM

I just purchased some Kingston RAM from Ebay. I installed it taking all the necessary precautions. When I turned on the PC it gave one long beep would not POST and was stuck in a never ending cycle of shutting off, restarting and then one long beep. After looking up beep codes on the internet I found that one long beep means memory or video failure. My video card seems to be fine. Could it actually be that the RAM is no good. I took out all the other RAM from the system except for the new one and the same thing happened. It is a 4GB module that only cost $17.00 with free shipping so I'm not inclined to send it back. Is there something else I could be overlooking? My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. LGA 775. Also one other thing, I had a known bad piece of RAM and installed it alongside the other moduled and it did not give a long beep and did POST. However when I ran MEMTEST it did show up as bad.
Thanx
Jim

Ned Seagoon · #2 May 1st, 2020, 05:33 PM

Well you did buy it on ebay,was it new or did someone else find it no good and decide to get their money back by on selling it? At $17 I would consider it is probably rubbish, If it was me, I'd try some new RAM from a reputable local seller.

I presume you have ensured it is seated OK? Have you tried cleaning the contacts on the strip?

jmnew · #3 May 1st, 2020, 06:33 PM

Yeah it was new. When I received the RAM it was in an unopened package.
I simply assumed that the contacts were clean when it was packaged, so no I did not clean them. I will try that. The RAM that I purchased was PC-400. The motherboard is supposed to have PC-800. I assumed that because it was DDR2
it would work. Could this possibly be the cause of the problem? And yeah it was actually $12.00 and change. I guess you get what you pay for.
Thank you for your reply
Jim

Jaytee · #4 May 1st, 2020, 09:21 PM

It may be likely that the chip or chips are not seated correctly. Carefully check and re-seat the chips.

Jaytee · #5 May 1st, 2020, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaytee

It may be likely that the chip or chips are not seated correctly. Carefully check and re-seat the chips.

Sorry Ned your answer was not obvious when I replied to JM.

**Murf** · #6 May 2nd, 2020, 12:17 AM

DDR2 PC2-6400 • CL=6 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR2-800 • 1.8V • 128Meg x 64

The PC400 you bought what are the specs????

If you put in a ddr2-400 stick with a DDR2-800 stick, the 800 will run at the 400 speed.

Is the DDR2-400 stick Unbuffered, Non-ECC??????

jmnew · #7 May 2nd, 2020, 08:26 PM

No it is Registered. So that is why it would not work. I see 2 types Unbuffered/Non-ECC and registered. Like I said I only paid a total of $12 and change. I will make sure I look more carefully before I buy anything.
Thank you Murf. In case you want to know it is Kingston RAM. Part# KTD-WS670?4G.
Jim

**Murf** · #8 May 4th, 2020, 01:02 AM

Registered will not work in that system.

KTD-WS670/4G Kingston 4GB PC2-3200 DDR2-400MHz ECC Registered CL3 240-Pin DIMM Dual Rank Memory Module

Maybe try and resell it on EBAY...

jmnew · #9 May 4th, 2020, 10:48 PM

It was only$12 so it's probably not even worth it. I know that Registered RAM is used in servers and not desktop PC and it did say "For Desktop PC". Had I paid significantly more, then I would be genuinely pissed. Good chance the seller was not aware there is a difference as most of the RAM I saw on Ebay in my price range did not make that distinction.
Jim