New RAM installation problem :/

Hi. So I finally found time to install my new pair f G.Skill ram from here:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-8GBSQ
Now, the problem is when I use those two sticks one at a time, they both work However, when I plug them both in, it will not boot (gets stuck at the starting windows screen). When I tried to put one of the new 4gb sticks and my old 2gb stick in, it works. What could be causing the problem? And when I go into bios with my 2 new sticks, it does recognize I have 8gb of ram.

*Before I had 3g of ram (1x2gb/1x1gb)

My laptop is:
Lenovo Y530

Thanks for reading!

 

Are you sure that you can do 8 gigs of ram?

According to this site, the max supported ram on a a Lenovo Y530 is 4 gigs

Newegg.com - lenovo IdeaPad Y530-7343U NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo P7450(2.13GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 4GB Memory DDR2 667 320GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel GMA 4500MHD

 

Hmm, I don't think that is my exact model. Mine is Lenovo Y530(451...) and it uses DDR3 ram. And yea I think when I scanned on crucial it said it didn't find an exact match, but it did say that my max ram is 4gb. However, right now that I'm using one new stick and one old stick, I have 6gb installed atm.

 

Hmm, do you have a linux bootable cd you could use to check if the 8GB of RAM is recognized by another OS than windows. By the way, the core i Y530s do work with 8GB.

 

Nope I'm not sure what you mean but I don't have a linux cd also

 

Here is a concrete example, i tried to install 4GB of RAM in my aunt's old Acer, windows gave me a blue screen thanks to some memory addressing problem. However, it booted fine with a light linux cd like parted magic so the RAM was working fine. Also, have you tried booting in safe mode?

 

safe mode, yes, it gets stuck also

 

Which BIOS version do you have?
I'm asking because there might be limitations that lenovo had with older bios versions which could have been lifted with new ones.

If I'm reading online info correctly, then you have an Intel GM45 chipset - which is compatible with 8GB.

So, if you can only get to 6GB (using 1x4GB from one of the new sticks and 2GB from the old sticks) then it very well might be down to the BIOS limitation.
That, or it could be down to your OS causing the problem.
You could download Linux live CD and run it with 8GB RAM and see if it will boot into Linux off the CD directly and read all the RAM.
If it does, then you'd need to install x64 Windows (Vista or 7) to settle the issue.

 

I think my chipset is Intel PM45. And one curious question, is it a good idea for me to try to reformat my computer with the 2 new 4gb sticks installed, or will that be too big of a risk of ruining my computer?

Thanks

 

Hm. Anyone happens to know? =/

 

You could very well try it, make sure you have a backup of all important data before doing though. I'm guessing it would work if the problem is with windows and not the bios.

 

There is no danger in re-formatting the system with 8GB inside.
If you already said that the laptop boots but hangs at Windows loading screen, then chances are it might be the OS rather than the BIOS (if it was the latter, then it's likely the laptop would refuse to POST or even boot at all).

You will need to install a x64 OS in order to see/use 8GB though, and of course make sure to backup your data before you re-format.

However, in order to determine if what you experience is OS based, I'd recommend you download the Ubuntu live-CV, burn the image on a CD/dvd, or on a USB stick allowing you to test run that OS directly from there without re-formatting the system.
If it finishes booting into the OS and all (and from my personal experience it can/should as I tried it with my 8GB RAM), then you simply need to install a proper Windows version (x64).

Btw, it might help to know if you could go inside the BIOS itself and check if it's seeing/recognizing 8GB RAM.

 

But even if it works on the Ubuntu OS. What can it do? I currently already have windows 7 64bit installed and in BIOS it did recognize 8gb.

P.s. reformatting failed because it had to go through the windows starting screen in the process and just hung there.

 

You messed up something then, far as i know you dont have to go through the starting screen, else how could you install windows on a clean hdd?

Get in bios and set the boot order, so it will boot from the the DVD.

 

mm, according to This you can run 8gb on that chipset

I would re-install windows

 

agreed with Nardon and pengy_666

Keep in mind that once you initially boot from the Windows DVD (or USB), once the setup finished extraction of all files, there will be a restart... during that time, make sure to remove the DVD media/usb stick so the system doesn't boot from it again.

As for Ubuntu/Linux liveCD... merely running it is for test purposes to see if the system can fully load an OS with 8GB RAM (it should be able to), and if it does, then you have to reinstall Windows because something probably happened to mess it up.
I had x64 Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 here for a while, and when I switched my 4GB to 8GB, I didn't experience any problems (and since you have hardware that obviously supports over 4GB RAM and works with 6GB at least, then something adverse happened with the windows install).

 

Hmm. I don't know then because I re-installed windows again but only with 4gb inside cause when i boot from cd and it loads files, it does pass through the starting windows screen again...i guess I'll just stick with using 6gb and maybe sell the 4gb stick on ebay or something. I don't think 6gb to 8gb will make that much of a difference.

Thank you all for the help.
Much appreciated!
-Oxyg3n

 

Performance-wise, not really, no.
But from a multitasking point of view and if you work with very large files in Photoshop or programs such as 3dsMax, yes.