Hardware ddr2 bootup issues

[lagigolo]

Bought some second hand ddr2 memory, 2 sticks. Testing one stick at a time, the pc just has real problems even going into bios, it hangs, pc resets, its just not having it. It sometimes goes into bios and sees the new ram, but never fully boots up the pc. Works fine as soon as i put the old ram back in.
Resetting cmos does not do much either.
Also updated bios just in case.

I have no other ddr2 pc to test them on.
Is it likely they are both duff (although motherboard website says they are compatible.)

I see i can run memtest from usb, will this work if pc can't even boot properly?

Nobody i know uses ddr2 anymore, anything else i can do?

 

[ketmp]

As you have already updated BIOS and you know works fine with old sticks then that has to point to your new memory being either faulty or not fully compatible with your system/bios.

Normally, I would say run a memory tester within DOS and therefore booting via DOS rather than windows but if you even have problems getting into bios then I would say give those new(er) memory sticks a miss.

 

[lagigolo]

That's what i was thinking, spent too much time on them already.

Just didn't want to send them back if they were ok.
Hopefully someone will be freecycling an old pc in the next week, idea for testing.

 

[davefingers]

Out of curiosity are your new and old ram sticks the same Density (do they contain the same number of IC's per module) I've had a few PC's that only like Low Density modules (IC's in vertical pairs per side) and containing twice as many IC's as High Density modules.
If the total number of chips per module are different fmay I suggest when sourcing new ram you try to stick to the configuration of your original and working modules be that Low or High Density.