Clevo D901C (XR5/Phantom-X) - 8GB Upgrade - Wont Boot

Hello,

I'm trying to upgrade my old Clevo D901C to 8GB Ram Memory. (Also known as XR5 & Phantom-X)
In my original manual it says I need DDR2 - 200Pin - 800Mhz - max 4GB. Though I've seen many users with 8GB installed and on the Eurocom + a few other sites I noticed it is indeed possible to upgrade to 8GB.

Quote from the specs on the Eurocom site " up to 8GB DDR2-800 PC2-6400 superfast memory; 200pin; SODIMM; 2 RAM sockets" available modules are
"8GB; 2x 4GB; DDR2-800; PC2-6400; CL6; 200pin - 2 SODIMMs" and "8GB; 2x 4GB DDR2-667; 200pin; CL5; PC2-5300 - 2 SODIMMs"

That said, last week I bought Crusial 8 GB : 2 x 4 GB - SO DIMM 200-pins - DDR2 - 800 MHz / PC2-6400 - CL6 - 1.8 V.

As far as I know from the specs this should work, yet when I boot my system I hear my HD's spin & fans but no beep or system boot and my screens stays black.
Digging a bit deeper I noticed there is no way to change the Cas latency in my bios from 5 to 6, though the manual says it should recognize the Ram automatically and start up as usual.
Yet this is not happening, so I'm getting a bit desperate here to find out what to do, or what to modify etc. I already tried to boot with just one memory module, again with the same result.

My spec are still the same as in my signature:

Clevo D901C - XR5 - Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6700 (2.66GHz/1066MHz/8MB)
4096MB Ultra Speed DDR2 800MHz Memory 3 x 200GB 7200RPM
SLI Dual nVIDIA Geforce GTX 8800M (Baked) - 17" HD WUXGA+ 1920x1200

Current bios: Clevo D901C D900C_22 MOD from this post http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...nix-bios-bios-mod-request-87.html#post7194275

If anyone could shed me some light here I would highly appreciate it :thumbsup:

Thanks

 

The RAM speeds should be recognized automatically and everything else sounds like it should work just fine. The only thing I can thing of is the RAM isnt being seated properly. Have you tried reinstalling your original RAM to see if it boots back up like it used to.

 

See if Eurocom has a qualified vendor list (or QVL for short) for RAM manufacturers. I just ran into somebody on reddit that had an issue with their memory not being recognized either, and it turned out it the memory they bought was not on that list. You can usually find the list from the board manufacturer or possibly from your reseller, as a PDF.

 

Both the RAM modules were properly seated, I double checked this during each attempt. After installing the original RAM the system booted as normal.

I've been looking for the QVL for the last hour or so but no result so far. My initial reseller was PCMW back in 2008 but they are not around anymore ...
I will be contacting the RAM reseller on Monday and see if I could trade them in for 2 of the G.Skill SQ Series - SO-DIMM (DDR2) 4 GB - SO DIMM 200-pins - DDR2 - 800 MHz / PC2-6400 - CL6 - 1.8 V, hopefully these will work.

Ive been comparing both specs of the Crusial with the G-Skill I notice the following line on the Crusials "Moduleconfiguration 512 x 64, maybe that's where the culprit is.

In the mean time thank you both for your time :thumbsup:

 

You're welcome, Voyager. Best of luck, and when you have things sorted, feel free to follow up!

 

I have the Sager D901C with the 8GB Memory 2x4gb DDR2 Sodimm 800mhz

I had to reset my bios after installing 8gb Memory by removing bios battery (and actual laptop battery) for it to boot then reset up the Bios settings I had 2x2gb DDR2 800mhz modules before

 

Thanks, maybe you or Hutsady@XoticPC are much closer to find the QVL as a retailer, otherwise I might contact the Clevo manufacturer itself on Monday as well before I start asking for a RAM trade in.

Do you remember the brand of the RAM modules?

I'm not sure if disconnecting the CMOS battery on my system will help, since about a year or so I believe this battery has run out. Every time I boot the system from my power battery my bios gets reset to the default settings.

Cheers

 

Just a quick update, I just tried as volkov956 mentioned with removing the main battery and CMOS but I got the same result as before, the system wont boot.

So Ill start writing my message to the RAM retailer and see if its possible to trade in for 2x G.Skill SQ Series - 4 GB - SO DIMM 200-pins - DDR2 - 800 MHz / PC2-6400 - CL6 - 1.8 V

fingers crossed!

 

let me open it up and check for u seems to be Corsair

 

So that would be these Corsair Memory

Thanks a lot for your help and time volkov956, really appreciate this :thumbsup: I will box em up again and ship back for a trade in right away.

Still confused why they didn't work in the first place with the same specs, although the Corsair clearly states "Guaranteed to work on all dual channel Intel and AMD platforms"
I just received the Clevo QVL as well and it didn't got me wiser in terms of compatible brands as it just mentioned the same specs as in the manual for the D901c but no brands.

Cheers!

 

Hey Voyager,

Although it's rare, there's a possibility one or more modules were faulty. That will cause a system to not POST; akin as if it had no memory installed whatsoever.

 

Hi Prostar Computer,

Been thinking this could be the case as well, though it would be rare but indeed possible as they where sold as a bundled package and I tested them both independently with the same result.
I just put the box back in the mail today, before I receive a confirmation that I can trade them in the retail tech department will test them first so I guess I'll find out soon ;-)

Cheers

 

Hi all, just hoping in to post a quick update on the RAM issue I had.

I send my previous purchase back to the retailer who traded them in no time for the Corsair 8GB DDR2 SODIMM Memory kit and just installed them.
Unpacked them very carefully just in case it wouldn't work again but to my surprise it worked right away. So it's true what they say in the Corsair description! " Guaranteed to work on all dual channel Intel"
So for anyone with an old D901C trying to upgrade their RAM, the Crusial's don't work!

Just wondering though if it would make any sense to use the heat spreaders that are on the GEIL Rams and put them on the Corsairs?

Thank you all for trying to help me out here, issue solved!

Cheers

 

RAM doesn't generate a lot of heat but it certainly wouldn't hurt, as long as the spreader can be fitted to the module. Glad the new RAM works for you!

 

Thanks for the info, I check it out the next time I need to open my system for a cleanup.
I'm good for now I guess and glad it worked, time to find out if the extra ram shows an increase in performance on heavy tasks now.

Cheers

 

Hi,
I've got the exact same Clevo D901c from PC Audio Labs back in 2009 and it came with 4 gigs of memory and Windows XP Pro. I can't find any info, except your thread here, that confirms that I can upgrade to 8 gigs of memory (of course I'd be installing Win 7 Pro). I tried to speed read the below thread but I'm at work and wanted to just ask you if you resolved this issue and what/where can I buy the memory that'll work. Thanks.

 

Corsair Value Select - DDR2 - 8 GB : 2 x 4 GB - SO DIMM 200-pins worked for me, the Crusial's didn't. Where to buy depends on your location I guess! Do a search for it online...

 

Hey, thanks so much. I appreciate it. I was able to only now read your entire thread, and yes, I see that's how you solved it.

I'm a musician in NYC and PC Audio Labs built this for me in 2009 but they are out of business and I can't get any support.

I'm going to order the memory now. I really needed it so that I could upgrade the OS to Windows 7 Pro.

Have you upgraded anything else? I'm want to upgrade the processor too, but don't know the motherboard specs and don't know what is the the fastest chipset/version it can handle.

Thanks again.
Jerry

 

I was going to order the memory and just wanted to make sure that this was it. Do you remember if these are the specs?
Thanks.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Memory, Laptop Memory, 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM, 8GB (2 x 4GB), corsair memory

 

Oh, I forgot to ask you, what OS are you running? I've read some have had problems with Windows 7 Pro, although I can't imagine why.
Thanks.

 

@Jerrycastman

My OS in Win 7 Pro 64bit, I suggest you buy an OEM version, these are exactly the same as the retail versions except the price.

The ram specs are 8 GB : 2 x 4 GB - SO DIMM 200-pins - DDR2 - 800 MHz / PC2-6400 - CL6 - 1.8 V - Unbuffered

My CPU is a Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6700, although I'm looking to buy a used Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9650 at the moment to squeeze out the last bit of upgrade options as this cpu uses a little less power.
As far as I know there aren't any more supported CPU's beyond the Quad Q9650 but please someone correct me if I'm wrong as I would love to know...

Other upgrades are Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB (laptop kit) as OS drive, and recently I bought two GTX9800M cards to replace my ruined gtx8800's...

I'm not sure why you think you need to upgrade to 8GB in order install Win7 Pro though? You will only benefit from 8GB when using Win7 64bit while running 64bit applications.
32bit applications will only access 4G ram. Personally I did these upgrades because I'm running 64Bit audio & video editing applications that need all the power they can get...

I hope this helps, cheers

 

Yes but each application can get the full amount, without any stolent by windows.