Added identical RAM, BIOS won't boot

[Jaymus]

I bought some RAM to add to my computer, it's the exact same kind as the RAM that was already in there. I did everything right when I installed it, made sure I was grounded the entire time, didn't lick the RAM, all that fun stuff.

I get the sticks in, close the computer back up, plug everything back in, and press the button. Computer starts up, but the screen never comes to life. I went back and made sure that I had placed the RAM in firmly and everything was seated properly.

I take the RAM that I just put in out, and the computer starts up just fine again. I'm not sure if this is indicative of bad RAM or if it's a motherboard thing seeing as I've never had anything arrive DOA before or had anything other than a HDD die on me before.

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Plus (MS-7930)


EDIT: I should have done this before I clicked post, but I opened up CPU-Z and looked at the SPD tab, my RAM seems to have changed it's settings to where its' running at 800MHz now instead of the 1066MHz it was set at prior to my adding RAM in. The settings were originally 9-11-10-28 but now they're at 11-11-11-28. I'm hoping that this is somehow relevant, also how do I get the original settings back?

RAM:

 

[Aspiring techie]

Have you tried putting the new RAM stick in the slot that the current stick is in? It could be that the second slot is defective.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but just because you bought the same exact ram as you had in there does not mean its guaranteed to work. It is recommended you buy all the ram you need at one time to avoid this situation. When ram is packaged together that means it is verified to work together, even ram of the exact same specs on occasion just wont play well together. Have you tried just the new ram to see if it works? If it does well then they may just not be compatible. Try putting the old ram on one channel and and the new on another if that doesn't work mix it up, I have gotten a system to boot just by switching the ram around to different slots memory can be finicky.

 

[dextermat]

+1 try new ram one at the time to see if computer boots,

Also look in the slots for dust, happened to me before.

You might also need to press the "clear cmos" button to make it boot.

 

[Jaymus]

Well so far nothing has worked, so I probably should have just bought 4 new sticks and tossed them in there lol I don't mind that at all.

My problem now is that I can't get my RAM that's already in there to run at the settings it was before I did this little project!!! I went into the BIOS to try and fix it there, adjusted the MHz and rebooted, now instead of running at 800MHz, it's running at 533MHz... any ideas?

 

[Dunlop0078]

Well so far nothing has worked, so I probably should have just bought 4 new sticks and tossed them in there lol I don't mind that at all.

My problem now is that I can't get my RAM that's already in there to run at the settings it was before I did this little project!!! I went into the BIOS to try and fix it there, adjusted the MHz and rebooted, now instead of running at 800MHz, it's running at 533MHz... any ideas?

Is XMP mode enabled?

 

[Jaymus]

Yes, XMP mode is enabled.

 

[Jaymus]

So here's what I did while I was fiddling with things. I went into the BIOS, set everything to default. I placed the RAM in there again, crossed my fingers and high fived the dog before I turned it on. It booted up. It recognized the RAM, everything is as if the additional RAM was there the whole time.

Sorry to have troubled you all with this, I'm not a gifted computer man, I just don't want geek squad or their ilk anywhere near my stuff.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Tradesman1]

Check and see what they are running at, prob the mobos default of 133 or 1600 (will show in the CPU memory tab as 667 or 800) and appeared you have 2133 DRAM. To run 2133 will prob need to try enabling XMP and also raise the MC voltage