Hi, the other day i bought 512mb DDR RAM (as 2x 256mb sticks) and this morning they came in the post. I took the old SD RAM out and put the new ones in my pc and when i turned it on, the hard drives and cd drive span up and i thought it was going ok, but i turned my monitor on to find that it said No Signal. I tried a couple more times just to be sure, but the same again. I just checked the mobo manual and it says that what i have should be compatible and i even opened the case and wiggled a the video card etc to make sure that nothing was loose but now i've put my old ram back in and it's ok. Does anybody know why it wouldn't work with my new ram or do i have to change the BIOS or something because it's a different type to the old ones?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Because you cannot use DDR ram on SD RAM systems! There are many TYPES of RAM.

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic47210.html

Also, to find out what will work in your pc go to www.crucial.com and use their database to find out what is compatible for you. They are expensive so don't buy it from them, just use their system.

i've gone on the crucial site and it says that i can take DDR RAM, but what i have might be a bit good for it.

i've got the link here, hopefully it'll bring up what it's told me: crucial site

the sticker on the ram i have says "hynix PC2100R-25330, 256MB DDR 266MHz CL2.5 ECC" then what looks like a serial number and a bar code.

What ram did you buy before?

before i had a 256mb SD RAM stick and a samsung 128mb SD RAM. as far as i know they were both PC133 but i can't see the 256 one because it's in my pc.

i do have slots for both SD and DDR RAM and in the manual thing it says that you can't use both at the same time, which i wasn't. i don't know if that'll help or not but there you go anyway.

Check in your manual to see if the different types of ram have to go in specific slots.

Am I missing something here? SDRAM have 2 slots in the modules. DDRRAM have 1 slot. It's been a while since I saw a motherboard with both types of slots. If this is the case, you might have to set motherboard jumpers to configure the memory type and voltage for the new DDRRAM

thanks Tmagic650, i didn't think of that. i do have seperate slots for both SD and DDR, i'll check to see if there are any jumpers in a minute while the side of my case is off. i do have a pretty old motherboard so that could be the case.

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i just had a look around my motherboard and through the instruction book and the only jumpers are for "keyboard power on" and "clear CMOS". i carried on to the bit where it says about installing RAM and it just says to put it in, it doesn't say about adjusting anything.

The operating votages and timing are different between DDR ans SD RAM. Take a careful look at your bios settings for memory. You might have to configure/enable the DDR slots from there

ok i'll have another look, i had a quick look through it after i put the SD RAM back in but i can check again anyway.

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i've had a good look through my BIOS and the only things i can find that relate to RAM (or seem to relate) are:
DRAM Timing Config (currently set to "Normal"), and SDR/DDR CAS Latency, Active Time and Precharge Time. the settings for these are SPD, 6T and 4T respectively.

never heard of a dual-ram motherboard. Motherboards take only 1 type of RAM.

You can have a dual-CHANNEL capable motherboard, not Dual-type. This is NOT the same thing.

DDR ram is much faster than SDRAM.

yeah i bought DDR purposefully because it can go faster. my pc needs all the speed it can get

i definately have seperate slots for DDR and SD RAM, i can get a photo tomorrow if you want so you can see it. i do have a pretty old board though, the BIOS says 2002 and i haven't updated it in all the time i've had it.

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actually ive decided to just scan in the picture from the manual because it's easier and i won't forget.

you cannot use faster ram for a motherboard that cannot handle it.

You are limited by your chipset.
Faster memory speed is very insignificant and not noticeable 99% of the time.
We're talking miliseconds.
You may want to update the BIOS - BUT only if you're having compatibility issues for software or hardware. Check the manufactuer website to see if there are any updates and what they are for. Use a REAL floppy drive for BIOS updates. Before attempting to update, contact us. A improper BIOS update will yield your motherboard a big paperweight. If it ain't broke don't "fix" it.

There is no such thing a dual type ram motherboard. It only supports one kind of RAM. Perhaps at different speeds, but only 1 type.

Basically RAM comes in several flavors (classes) - speeds interchangable within each class (sometimes)
class 1: SDRAM - PC100, PC133 (not necessarily speed interchagable.)
class 2: DDR - PC 2100, PC 2700, PC 3200, etc.... (usually backwards compatible, but not always.)
class 3: DDR2
class 4: DDR3 newest - commonly found on new high end graphics cards
SODIMMs: laptop memory
there are others....

types: SIMMS, DIMMS, SODIMMS (not interchangable). Types refer to physical slot fitting. Classes refer to RAM architecture. Speed refers to RAM speed within each class.

None of these are interchangeable. You can use different speeds within the same class, but it is HIGHLY discouraged. Your ram will only run as fast as the slowest module in the class. Never mix brands, speeds, types, or sizes. At best it might work, at worst you could jack your system up.

dual-channel refers to a motherboard that uses TWIN sticks of ram of the same class (DDR or DDR2) to acheive faster speed through increased bandwidth. In rare motherboards in can be more than 2 sticks. Some MSI motherboards are known to have Tri-channel.

Some motherboard makers Asus, DELL, for example are very particular about what brands and types they will accept. You cannot use non recommended brands.

ECC? This could be the problem. Someone might be able to confirm this for you, as I don't know much about it.

i was going to mention the ECC.

on the box for the new RAM it says that ECC but i think on the crucial website it said about non-ECC. i don't know what ECC is and what difference it would make, but could that be it?

ECC=Error-Correcting Code
Most all consumer motherboards require NON ECC memory. Your purchase documentation should state wether the memory is ECC or Non ECC. If your new memory is ECC and your motherboard requires Non ECC memory. Your motherboard won't recognize the new memory at all

ah ok, that's it i expect because i think it's supposed to take non-ecc.

back to good old ebay then! oh, i'm taking it these new ones are pretty useless to me now if they're ECC.

i've found some more here, just thought i'd give you a link so that you can have a look.

when all else fails, go with what the motherboard manufacteur recommends!