Ddr2 pc2-4200 stick with 3 pc2-5300 sticks not working

[Username_Joo]

I have a computer with two 2gb ddr2 pc-5300 and one 1gb pc2-5300 sticks. I had one ram slot left so I tried to put a 1gb pc2-4200 that I had laying around to expand my memory but when I turned on my computer it turns on but when the win 8.1 logo appears the little circle under it starts spining but immediately stops and the computer stays like that for ever. At first I thought the memory was broken but I went to the bios and it recognizes that there are 6gb of ram

Is there a way to make it work? I don't even know if it is possible since they have different speeds
(the computer starts up normally if I remove it)

Thanks in advance and sorry for bad english it is not my notive language

 

[Lutfij]

The issue is pertaining to you mixing and matching ram sticks. Are all the PC2-5300 sticks of the same timings and of the same make/model? You could make all 4 sticks work but you'd need to get a little nitty and gritty into BIOS and manually input the frequency PC2-4200=533MHz, timings(which in this case will be relaxed 6-6-6-18 perhaps). You'd also need to make sure your BIOS is up to date, sometimes that is what causes the ram to be invisible. Can you please pass on your full systems specs? Though the issue may not be with your BIOS or you ram kit but how you've populated them. Even though you are in theory with 6GB's of ram, you're not getting the optimal performance out of the system.

Either have a matched pair/kit i.e if your motherboard supports it then drop in a 4xXGB kit and you'll see more gains than a partially matched ram setup. Much like having two differently sized shoes on your feet. One being tight and one being floppy - it does cover your feet but it doesn't feel comfortable.

 

[Username_Joo]

Okay I think that's way too much work for just 1GB. Two of my sticks are exactly the same, both kingston. The third I just know that it is pc2-5300 (unlike the olher two, it is low profile).
My specs are:
P:Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300
MB: Asus P5K SE
GC: Asus nvidia gtx 650 ti boost
Already told you the ram

Thank you for answering!

 

[hang-the-9]

I have seen a lot of issues with 4200 speed RAM and motherboards, in quite a few tests, only the earlier dual core and some Pentium 4 systems ran with that speed. I suggest if you want to add more RAM, try another 5300 speed.