Question New RAM crashes computer but should be compatible?

[D€ll_Suffering]

I have the following Laptop with Windows 10 Home 64-bit: Dell Studio XPS M1340 with 4GB of RAM (2 × 2GB Hynix 2gb 2rx8 pc3-8500s-7-10-f2). I wanted to upgrade to 8GB (The maximum allowed for my model). I bought a pair of (Samsung 4gb 1rx8 pc3l 12800s 11 13 B4). Whenever I try to boot the computer it will load past the Dell Screen and then stop at a BSOD, stating that the computer ran into an issue and will restart. It gets into a restart loop but after about the third time it freezes at the Windows Startup. The issue that is mentioned at the bottom of every BSOD is different each time but is one of three issues I have seen so far.
I have updated the BIOS to A15, which I believe is the latest for my dell model. I cannot access the Boot Options with the new ram, as it will freeze right at the Dell Loading screen. The BIOS mode is set as Legacy, so even with the 2GB cards I cant access the advanced boot options to set things such as voltage and frequency. As far as I understand that should not be a problem because pc3l should be voltage-compatible with pc3 and the speed of the ram cards (1600Mhz) should automatically downclock to the CPU's speed.
Additional Information: My CPU is an Intel Core Duo 2.53 GHz P8700. The GPU is a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G. My main problem is that I don't understand why this card isn't compatible if everything seems to either be compatible through hardware or will become compatible automatically through the software.

 

[Lutfij]

Yeah the issue as you've stated is memory related, namely that the ram is not compatible with your platform. Since you're on the Core 2 Duo era, you should be looking at 1.5v~1.65v ram kits. The Samsung kit you've sourced is rated to run at 1.35v which is what the L in that naming stands for, PC3L, meaning it's a low voltage stick of ram. You should return the kit and source a G.Skill kit since they are more forgiving with old and new models of laptops that need DDR3 ram.

 

[D€ll_Suffering]

Yeah the issue as you've stated is memory related, namely that the ram is not compatible with your platform. Since you're on the Core 2 Duo era, you should be looking at 1.5v~1.65v ram kits. The Samsung kit you've sourced is rated to run at 1.35v which is what the L in that naming stands for, PC3L, meaning it's a low voltage stick of ram. You should return the kit and source a G.Skill kit since they are more forgiving with old and new models of laptops that need DDR3 ram.

Thank you for the quick response. I thought if the system did not support that lower 1.35V then the card would simply run at 1.5V, is that not the case in this instance? I also read that you could access those settings if the BIOS is changed from Legacy to UEIF but I wasn't sure if the freeware for that procedure was reliable, or if my system would even be able to change those settings.

 

[Shigaba]

Try update the bios on your laptop. There may be a update needed to utilize higher memory. Most updated provide memory optimization updates.

 

[D€ll_Suffering]

Try update the bios on your laptop. There may be a update needed to utilize higher memory. Most updated provide memory optimization updates.

The Dell Website lists the BIOS A15 as the latest update for my model (Though I have read on other forums that this tends to be a bit unreliable). I'm going to look for a new set of RAM and return this one, it seems as though my system is too outdated for any meaningful compatibility upgrades.