Dell Memory Upgrade Problem (w/ pics)

[bgreenlee]

I recently added two Kingston 256mb rdram sticks to my Dell Dimension 8100.
For some reason I haven't been able to get my computer to recognize the two new sticks
as more than 128mb a piece.

Here is a picture of one of the new sticks:
http://www.ntbstudios.com/bg/kingston.jpg

Here is a picture of one of the original sticks for reference:
http://www.ntbstudios.com/bg/samsung.jpg


Here is a picture of my bios setup screen - notice the slots containing the new sticks
of ram are showing up as 4 channel as opposed to the original sticks which are appearing
as 8 channel - although, I'm not quite sure what that means.
http://www.ntbstudios.com/bg/bios screen.jpg


This shows my system properties screen which is also only registering 512mb
as well as an online system profiler I ran. The online profiler is actually showing the full
amount of memory, although it is showing that the Samsung sticks are 256mb a piece (as
you can see above - the Samsungs are the original 128's while the Kingstons are the 256's).
http://www.ntbstudios.com/bg/ctrlpanel.jpg


I have tried replacing my old sticks of ram with the continuity sticks and these new 256's
still only show up as 4 channel and 128mb a piece.

I have been reading on these forums for a while and feel that if anyone could help me with
this problem - they would probably reside here.

If anybody has any idea of what might be the issue here I would greatly appreciate it - thanks!

 

[LiLithTecH]

I believe you are having a problem because you are mixing Non-ECC memory (Samsung)
with ECC memory (Kingston).

Did you try installing the memory like this?

Mem slot 1 = 256
Mem slot 2 = 128
Mem slot 3 = 256
Mem slot 4 = 128

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Dell's can also be very fussy about RAM (as can many OEM computers). I always recommend you use the online database at Crucial.com or Corsair.com to order the proper memory for your computer.