Memory problems

[Valhalla1]

so I bought this cheap ass box from dell.com a couple months ago to perform some specific functions. I bought it with 1 GB of ram which unfortunately was not enough. Its an Dimension 1100 , its only got 2 ram slots and both are filled with 512mb sticks of what is clearly labeled "PC3200" and "400 mhz"

not being much of a pc components expert anymore, I assumed the Patriot 2 gb "kit" I bought at fry's would work, 2 1gb sticks of patriot pc3200

pop em in and the dell wont power up, just beeps at me. is the ram defective or did I choose the wrong type of memory for this machine

 

[Slugbait]

The less expensive Dells (well, most Dells, anyway) are notorious for being proprietary. First thing to do would be to verify nothing else got unplugged or unseated...it might not be the RAM at all. Second is to make sure the modules are seated properly. Then boot into the BIOS...it may not give you much more to do than to change the date and time, but you might get lucky and something will be there that allows viewing and perhaps even changing RAM settings.

 

[MustISO]

Is the ram you took out single or double sided? How about the new ram?
Check the manual to see if the motherboard supports 1GB sticks.

 

[pkme2]

Is it low density RAM? Hi-Density will not work.