Ram upgrade Dell Optiplex 745 question5

silverdale

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I have a Dell Optiplex small form factor I was setting up as a second PC and it had 2gb ram (4 × 512mb). I bought some ram 4 x 2gb but its pipping away on boot but as soon as old ram goes in its fine.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIQRAB&usg=AOvVaw2Kw2CO29qQam-SC2as4WJk

I seem to remember reading somewere that if you upgrade to 8gb its max use 667Mhz ram which I did well I thought I did.
I bought some off eBay. Can someone confirm the ram I've bought is wrong or right?
Original ram left
Just to point out the ram i bought off eBay was described as:
1GB or 2GB Memory RAM Desktop PC2 5300 DDR2 667MHz 240 Pin Non-ECC

New ram off eBay right
Old ram left


20210215_083231.jpg
 
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With a bit of mauling around the new blue ram works fine on its own in slot 1 & 3. It also works if I use it along with 2 x 512mb sticks of my old ram in 2 & 4 but as soon as I add the Hynix I get the beeping noise on boot.
I tried the Hynix on its own different slots and it's the same. Could the Hynix be faulty or simlly the wrong ram?
 
@silverdale
Found this info

Is it ok to put RAM of different mhz speeds into one motherboard?


Yes, as others pointed out your motherboard will slow everything down to the speed of the slowest one. Just a couple things to consider:

Sometimes the RAMs will be incompatible with each other, in this case your computer won't boot. Sometimes rearranging them could solve the issue but it may bring inconsistent boot, meaning that the computer will boot some of the times.

Secondly, try not to surpass the max speed supported by your motherboard/CPU. Theory says that it should work at the maximum speed supported (or at the speed of the slowest stick) but this is not always the case. Sometimes manually setting the speed instead of auto detecting it will solve this issue. I had this issue putting a newer faster ram into a motherboard that was made even before that ram speed was available. In my experience this solution is also unreliable.

And another thing: I understand for what you're asking that you have different RAMs, probably used and you just want some more memory. Doing this is generally fine, but be careful, don't put in anything suspicious or something that has been just lying around somewhere. That's how I burned a couple of motherboards myself
 
Found this also


Can i have rams with different mhz?​


my mobo has 4 ram slots. dual channels. can i have rams at different mhz?

thanks!

Surely you can as long as they are from the same platform.. It doesn't even matter even if they are from different brands.. You need to keep in mind though that all the modules will operate at the speed of the lowest frequency module.. I.e. if you have two modules wherein one operates at 533 MHz and the other at 667 MHz then, the 667 MHz module will get downclocked (automatically of course) and operate at 533 MHz speed.. Also to check while mixing RAM's is that all the modules should be working at the same voltage levels and preferably (though not importantly) the same CAS timings..


what do you mean platform? ddr ddr2 and ddr3?

also how does dual channel work? i read somewhere that you need the exact same ram for it to work.
what if i have 2x ddr2 1gig 667 mhz ram and 2x ddr2 1gig 1066 ram for my 4 slots. will both the 1066 be downclocked to 667 even if they are in different channels?


up, unless you manage to OC the 667 up to 1066 speeds.

For the channels, it depends on which mobos you use, when mixing 2 sets of memory, you usually end up having the matching amount running in dual channel, while the rest runs in single. Though in your case, you would get a dual channel setup


Or may be you could underclock the 1066MHz to 667MHz.. Both have their own headaches though.. One needs to match both timings and voltage for stable operation..
 
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