Why is Win 7 only accepting 3 sticks of memory

Hi all,

A brief update on progress (or lack of it).

MSCONFIG

I decided to experiment with the settings in msconfig after first making a backup of my C drive. The maximum memory showing in the advanced boot tab was 12gig, which seemed more than a coincidence as this was the maximum I was able to install.

Turned out it was just a coincidence. I'm a little out of my depth here, but it seems that msconfig was monitoring the memory available rather than providing an opportunity to increase some arbritary limit.

MEMORY VOLTAGE

I increased the DRAM voltage in small increments but was still unable to get past the Windows boot GUI with 4 sticks (16Gig) of memory installed.

MEMORY SPEED

I adjusted the memory speed down to the next lowest setting with and without a reduction in voltage, but still no luck.

RESEARCH

I spent several hours searching the 'net, for anything relavent but found nothing.
I also posted an email question to Gigabyte which has been acknowledged, but I don't hold out much hope of a useful reply.

CONCLUSION

I think it is most likely that there is a compatibility issue with the memory. Sometime in the future I may try a matched set of four memory sticks. For the moment I have carefully repackaged the two upgrade sticks and returned them for a refund.

Now the kettle's on and I intend to sit down with a nice mug of coffee ... who needs an upgrade to 16Gig anyway ??

Thanks to you all for your tips and advice.

Sorry to hear you couldn't find a solution.
At least you could still return it for a refund.

Re-reading this thread i noticed it was never mentioned to try running memtest86 with all 4 sticks.
Based on your testing, I don't know if this would help, but it's something that could be tested.

Something to keep in mind for the future...

Anyway, enjoy the hot coffee!