Will slower ram not work?

[2legit]

I just bought a new MSI motherboard and it won't boot at all. I had it tested at the place I bought it and they said the board is fine, but have no idea why it won't boot with my configuration. The only thing I can even think might be causing the problem is the only RAM I have is DDR2 533Mhz, but the manual for the new board only lists 667/800 Mhz. So my question is...

Will 533 RAM prevent my new board from booting up? Do I need 667 or 800?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JMecc]

It might. I'd try loosening up the RAM timings (if yours is 4-4-4-12 @533 try using 5-5-5-15@667 since that gives the ram chip the same amount of nanoseconds to fetch the information.

Jo

 

[2legit]

How exactly would I do that? lol

 

[rockyjohn]

Wow - I would like to know too. How can I transform my 533 RAM into 800? why stop at 667?

 

[jumpman]

Wow - I would like to know too. How can I transform my 533 RAM into 800? why stop at 667?

well in doing that, you're overclocking your RAM.to do that, you go into your motherboards' BIOS and find the settings for your RAM. you should be able to set the RAM speed to either 400, 533, 667 or 800. how ever, as to how high you can overclock depends on the RAM itself. some RAM will want to overclock to 800 or further, but some won't really want to overclock at all.

 

[2legit]

Well, thanks for the info, but since I can't even get my system to post it doesn't help much. =\

 

[jumpman]

Well, thanks for the info, but since I can't even get my system to post it doesn't help much. =\

yea, as far as i know you're going to have to buy new RAM, either ddr2 667 or 800. hopefully you can RMA your current RAM and get most of your money back.

 

[jsc]

The only thing that I can think of that might work is try booting with one stick. It's possible that one of the two sticks might be a little faster than the other.

Or maybe you have a good friend that is willing to lend you faster memory so you can boot and increase your memory timing ...

And if you can get into the BIOS, if possible, try to increase the DRAM voltage by 1 or 2 tenths.

 

[Scotteq]

It won't boot o windows? Or won't Post? If you can't Post, it's possible there may be more than RAM going on.

An easy way to check would be to get a friend to loan you a pair of faster DIMMS. If your comp boots with those but won't boot with the 533 stuff, then you can be pretty sure that's the problem.

Check with the maker, but the Bios on your board simply may not support the 533 RAM. If it doesn't and you can get into the Bios, you can set the memory divider to run your memory at 667. But if the ram you have doesn't like being overclocked to 667 you'll be pretty much stuck with replacing it.

 

[jsc]

It won't boot o windows? Or won't Post? If you can't Post, it's possible there may be more than RAM going on.

An easy way to check would be to get a friend to loan you a pair of faster DIMMS. If your comp boots with those but won't boot with the 533 stuff, then you can be pretty sure that's the problem.

I overlooked that it is a new build. Try this: Remove the memory. Try to boot. You should get some kind of BIOS beeps indicating a memory problem. Silence means you have not started POSTing and there is something more than RAM going on.

If that's true, try my article in the THG wiki:
http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Troubleshooting+a+New+Build

For more ideas after that, we will need complete system specs.

Maintenance by [strike]committee[/strike], err, skilled and experienced hardware team. Don't you love it?

 

[Kari]

Do you have the 4pin cpu powercable connected to the mobo?
Most of these 'no post'-problems are simply caused by something not connected properly.
The bios should recognize the ram and adjust the speed accordingly, so I dont think that the ram is actually causing the problem.

 

[evongugg]

Take the motherboard out. Put it on a piece of cardboard. Hook up the power supply and on switch. Try it with the motherboard and processor only. Look for beeps. Then add the memory. Turn it on again. Look for beeps. Then add video card. Look for beeps.

 

[2legit]

It doesn't post at all. I turn it on and the fans start spinning and the board makes some minor noise, but no signal to the monitor. The light on the monitor flashes when there is no signal, which is what it's doing.

 

[evongugg]

Try a different video card.
Please list your specs, so we can help you better.

 

[2legit]

Thanks for the help guys, but I figured it out. It was most definitely the speed of the ram. I bought a couple sticks of 800mhz RAM and it booted right up.