[SOLVED] DDR2 RAM recommended by manufacturer... incompatible?

AskenLurom

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Nov 7, 2019
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Good afternoon.

I'm currently using a Desktop Computer with a motherboard Lenovo L-IG41M Rev. 1.0.

I had planned to upgrade my RAM as I have only 2 GB installed. So I decided to check which RAM I should buy.

As it's a second-hand motherboard (I mean: bought in internet to replace another faulty one) in a HP dx2400 case, I looked on internet about which RAM I should exactly buy.

According to Findlaptopdriver (http://www.findlaptopdriver.com/l-ig41m/), I should buy:

Dual Channel DDR2 800/667 HMz non-ECC, un-buffered

Also, as someone asken in Lenovo forums (https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkC...IG41M-Motherboerd-specifications/td-p/1113453), the Motherboard is from a ThinkCentre A58. If that's true, Lenovo says (https://support.lenovo.com/ve/en/solutions/migr-75423) I should use the following:

PC2-6400 DDR2-800 UDIMM

The current RAMs installed are:
2 of '1GB Siragon DDR2-667 PC5300 Heatspreader 64MX8 CL5'

As you can guess, those are not the recommended modules.

While searching on internet, I came across with a Chinese seller (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33052208860.html?spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.5ba75e03hkcqKn), and bought two:

2 of '2 GB DDR2-800 PC2-6400U-CL6'

I installed them, happy to finally have a bit more of RAM memory... and...

The computer is just emiting a 2,5 seg beeeeep and not starting.

Please, can someone tell me what I did wrong?
 
Solution
yup those black squares
according to chip u posted it supports following:
K4T1G084QR Rev. 1.1 July 2008
DDR2 SDRAM
Speed:
DDR2-800 6-6-6
DDR2-667 5-5-5
JEDEC standard 1.8V ± 0.1V Power Supply

which means it should work
can u try reset CMOS settings?
turn PSU off or unplug AC cord from wall
short CMOS jumper (if present)
remove circular battery
hit power button few times (psu should be still in off state, this is just to discharge it)

put battery back, unshort jumper, plug AC cord then switch PSU ON
see if that works
if not, try one RAM stick at a time

AskenLurom

Reputable
Nov 7, 2019
23
2
4,515
ddr2 modules for your mainboard are 1.8Volt
on that site is mention about 1.8v, 1.5v and 1.2v
is there anything on sticker?
or type here chip id

There is no telling about the V in the sticker.

I'm lost about the info you ask of the chip. If you're talking about the black squares (sorry, first time in my life talking about RAM :sweatsmile:) they are different between each one of them. The only thing what repeats is the 2nd line:

K4T1G084QR
 
yup those black squares
according to chip u posted it supports following:
K4T1G084QR Rev. 1.1 July 2008
DDR2 SDRAM
Speed:
DDR2-800 6-6-6
DDR2-667 5-5-5
JEDEC standard 1.8V ± 0.1V Power Supply

which means it should work
can u try reset CMOS settings?
turn PSU off or unplug AC cord from wall
short CMOS jumper (if present)
remove circular battery
hit power button few times (psu should be still in off state, this is just to discharge it)

put battery back, unshort jumper, plug AC cord then switch PSU ON
see if that works
if not, try one RAM stick at a time
 
Solution

AskenLurom

Reputable
Nov 7, 2019
23
2
4,515
yup those black squares
according to chip u posted it supports following:
K4T1G084QR Rev. 1.1 July 2008
DDR2 SDRAM
Speed:
DDR2-800 6-6-6
DDR2-667 5-5-5
JEDEC standard 1.8V ± 0.1V Power Supply

which means it should work
can u try reset CMOS settings?
turn PSU off or unplug AC cord from wall
short CMOS jumper (if present)
remove circular battery
hit power button few times (psu should be still in off state, this is just to discharge it)

put battery back, unshort jumper, plug AC cord then switch PSU ON
see if that works
if not, try one RAM stick at a time

Doing the CMOS reset didn't work.

However, when doing the one stick at a time, one of them worked and the other didn't. I guess one of them is faulty then, right?
 
Also they made low density DDR2 and high density DDR2 (less chips cheaper to make) low-density RAM is compatible with 100 percent of the system boards, while high-density RAM is compatible with only 10 percent. And if you use high-density RAM in a system that requires low density, either the system will recognize only half the amount of RAM installed or it simply won't boot up. Usually the low density will have chips on both sides.