Two 4Gb DDR3 Ram chips, both show up, but one is "Hardware Reserved"

Helios450 · 04 Mar 2012

Hello, I have been having issues with a new Ram chip I've been trying to install on my Asus K53TA laptop, I've spoken with a few knowledgable folks and so far the only conclusion was that my OS must be 32-bit. However, I have double and triple checked, I am running a 64-bit Windows Home Premium SP1 OS. The two Ram chips are from different manufactureres, however they are identical in every other way.
The one that came with the laptop is by "Hynix" (Hyundai)and the new one Im trying to add is from Nanya. I ran a CPUZ check and the two Ram chips are identical in every way, the only difference was the manufacturer.

Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIMM # 1
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR3
Module format SO-DIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Nanya Technology (7F7F7F0B00000000)
Size 4096 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
Part number NT4GC64B8HB0NS-CG
Serial number D6322F12
Manufacturing date Week 17/Year 11
Number of banks 8
Nominal Voltage 1.50 Volts
EPP no
XMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 5.0-5-5-14-19 @ 380 MHz
JEDEC #2 6.0-6-6-17-23 @ 457 MHz
JEDEC #3 7.0-7-7-20-27 @ 533 MHz
JEDEC #4 8.0-8-8-22-30 @ 609 MHz
JEDEC #5 9.0-9-9-25-34 @ 685 MHz

DIMM # 2
SMBus address 0x51
Memory type DDR3
Module format SO-DIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Hyundai Electronics (AD00000000000000)
Size 4096 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
Part number HMT351S6BFR8C-H9
Serial number 2349E310
Manufacturing date Week 25/Year 11
Number of banks 8
Nominal Voltage 1.50 Volts
EPP no
XMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 5.0-5-5-14-19 @ 380 MHz
JEDEC #2 6.0-6-6-17-23 @ 457 MHz
JEDEC #3 7.0-7-7-20-27 @ 533 MHz
JEDEC #4 8.0-8-8-22-30 @ 609 MHz
JEDEC #5 9.0-9-9-25-34 @ 685 MHz

I have tried removing The original Ram and just using the new Ram, the computer won't boot at all when I try this. I also tried putting the Ram into different slots, (Ram 1 into Slot 2 and Ram 2 into slot 1) Yet there was no difference and the Ram was still unusable. I took the chips to Futureshop and a local computer repair center, they both told me that the chips were compatable.

I was told this may also be strictly a Windows issue, considering that the total Ram shows up in the Bios setup, total of 8,192 Mb.

If anyone knows what the problem may be, or how i can fix this, please leave a reply :)
Thanks!

Darkelk · 04 Mar 2012

If its detecting through bios then it should be working. This is indeed odd. So both sticks are similar but different brand, you're running 64 bit and they come up through bios. No hardware faults seem to be present so it could be something os related indeed. Is your system up to date?

jlhawn · 06 Mar 2012

this is very common with laptops.
my laptop, my wifes laptop, my daughters laptop, and my son in laws laptop all show the same thing with the memory.
my gaming tower does not.
I can't remember why laptops do this but there is nothing wrong with your laptop or your ram.
if you google this you will find out why it does this.
for instance my laptop says amount of ram 4gig amount of useable ram 3.2gig, it shows this on the my computer info screen when you right click the my computer icon and choose properties.