Acer Aspire 5720z RAM Upgrade

Hi all,

I have bought an Aspire 5720Z over a year ago.
When tried to upgrade it, checked the manual and clearly states that the system is upgradable with no issues whatsoever.
Almost 6 months ago, replaced its processor, added a T8100 instead of the poor T2370, and runs just fine. The FSB runs at 800mhz with no problems.
A week ago, replaced and upgraded the RAM modules, and here's the thing:
I can't make it work with 4gb in dual-channel mode. I can run two 1gb sticks, or a 2gb stick...
If I try two 2gb sticks, I get a BSOD with IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and PFNs list is corrupt errors.
the BIOS recognizes all 4gb - POST's Ok, but Windows crashes the system. I have tried flashing the BIOS to a recent update, and no improvement, still detects 4gb but doesn't boot.
I have contacted Acer and Corsair (RAM modules' brand) and I got different answers:
Acer claims that my system does not support over 2gb of RAM since it has an Intel GL960 chipset. HOWEVER, I run Intel's chipset detection tool, and says my chipset is an Intel GM965 (C2D support, X3100 graphics and up to 4GB of RAM DDR2-5300) which is the same Acer originally informed in the user manual...
Corsair says that my system supports 4gb of RAM since the modules I have are Acer certified...
I have no soultion yet, and what I want is to run 4gb in dual channel mode.
Any tips? What can I do about this?
I'm going to try reinstalling windows (vista 32-bit) or migrate to Ubuntu to see if that works, but I don't know if that will work.

 

For this model maximum memory is 2GB(most of the models ending with z) and I'm afraid you have to live with it.
EDIT
If yours is Gemstone series then according to this: http://www.laptopviews.com/acer-laptops/acer-aspire-5720z-gemstone-laptop/
you should be able to upgrade to 4GB RAM.

 

mine's a Gemstone.
My wife also has a non-gemstone Aspire 5720 and does not detect 4gb, but mine does!
will try with different OS, and if it does't work, will return the RAM modules and spend my money in something else...
thanks!

 

Try two matched/identical RAM modules?

 

what chipset do u have? It might not support 4GB RAM... u might need to upgrade the chipset drivers first then put in 4GB RAM.

 

and finally, HERE'S THE CATCH:
Some guy told me Acer was including some osftware to "preserve" their computers from bad use and overclocking, so there's and embedded BIOS utility that allows you to control a few parameters under Windows. The thing is that when booting from a Windows CD/DVD, this program also boots!! (Acer computers have a hidden partition in your HDD for data recovery. When using Linux, this software dies...
So, final solution: I removed the hidden partition, un-installed the program from Windows, and Voilá!! my Aspire has 4gb of RAM running smoothly and no BSOD whatsoever.
With this solved, I have to ask: I've never seen any software doing this. Could this be possible? I busted my as to get this machine working, and finally I did almost nothing and there she goes...
thanks all and happy holidays!!

 

Sorry, forgot to add my lappy config., tested and working!

Acer Aspire 5720z
Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Processor (2.1Ghz, 3MB L2 cache and 800MHz FSB )
4GB DDR2-6400 (runs at 800mhz, no overclocking)
Intel's X3100 Integrated graphics
Intel GML965 Chipset (533/667/800mhz FSB)
320GB Toshiba HDD
Windows Vista 32bit and/or Ubuntu 64bit

 

Well done mate, glad to hear your success story.

 

Great to know... it should have had no problems since it had a 965 series chipset...