Won't boot with 2gb RAM installed

I finally saved up enough pennies to purchase some new RAM for my aging home brew PC. (Specs; Soyo SY-KT600 Dragon Plus v 2.0 motherboard, Windows XP SP2, Radeon 9200 with 128 MB VRAM, Latest firmware in BIOS, AMD Duron 1.6 GHZ cpu, new 400 watt powersupply) Stop laughing, I was on a budget when I built it a couple years ago.

I purchased two 1gb sticks of Crucial DDR PC3200 memory from FRY's. This is what the user manual says the board will support, Crucial's compatibility tool says that this is the right amount and type of RAM for this board, AMD tech support confirms that the RAM and motherboard are a good match and the CPU should not be a problem.

My problem is this, I can run my PC fine with one stick of memory installed in either of the two memory slots on the board. I have tried both sticks individually in both slots and have no problems booting up and running normally. But when I install both sticks at the same time the PC goes into a boot loop, Runs POST and when it gets to the point where it should load Windows it reboots and runs POST again. The only way out is to hold the power switch in to kill the power.

I have checked both memory sticks with CPU-Z and it says that they are identical so I don't think mismatched memory modules is the issue.

I have reset the BIOS (pulled battery and waited 5 minutes and reinstalled battery, reset clock on boot up) and that doesn't help.

Not sure where to look next so any help on the next trouble shooting steps should be.

Thom

 

In your situation, I would just replace the memory. If you're within 30 days of your purchase, go back to Fry's and ask them for a new set. After all, they don't work together.

If you're past 30 days, all the major memory brands offer life-time warranties.