Windows hangs after ram upgrade

Hi,

I have a Precision 670 minitower running windows XP 64 bit. It came preinstalled with 4x 256 MB single rank ram which were in the first 4 DIMM slots. I recently bought two 512mb single rank ram (KTD-WS670).

Windows will freeze right after the windows splash screen and before the login screen when the following ram setup is used: DIMM1:512MB DIMM2:512MB DIMM3:256MB DIMM4:256MB DIMM5:256MB DIMM6:256MB. If i switch to safe mode, then windows will load completly. Bios shows all ram installed ok.All single rank, ECC.

Windows starts fine when i remove the DIMM5:256MB DIMM6:256MB and keep the rest.

Why do I have a problem when all six are installed, and not just the four? Is there a setting thats needs to be set in windows for it to work with 2 gigs of ram?

Thanks

 

Yeah i took a look at it and everything seems to be done right.

 

Yes. Same issue.

 

Windows XP 64 can directly address 128GB of physical memory, so thats not where your problem is coming from.

Do the new sticks have the same specs as the old ones? Not just the frequency, but the timings and required voltages as well. If the voltages aren't identical the motherboard may not be supplying enough current to the set with the higher voltage. Less sticks = less overall current needed, which is why it might work until you fill them all up. It is also possible (and probable since its a dell) that your BIOS does not support any voltages other than what the manufacture specified.

 

I'm having trouble finding the voltage of the ram. The original ram is from samsung and the new ones are from kingston. So far this may be whats going on. Never knew voltage was an issue when selecting ram.

Thanks!