RAM slot not seeing RAM

AaLF · 30 Oct 2012

I bought 2x2gb RAM Kingston DDR2 6400 non ECC etc as I have upgraded to WIN7x64.

Here is my Motherboard GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 775 - GA-945GCM-S2L (rev. 1.0)

I have 2 RAM slots. The first seems to be fine. The second slot doesn't seem to work. With both cards in only 1x2Gb appears. If I plug one card into slot one (leave #2 empty) the system works. If I try a single RAM stick in #2 slot only the system fails.

Everything is pointing to the 2nd RAM slot being inactive. I dont want to go to the repair shop. Any chance of a magic switch or knob that needs turning etc to make both slots active???

UPDATE:

Slot #2 doesn't respond to any of the RAM. Some good news though. The 2 unmarked sticks were always 2Gb each. So looks like slot #2 has always been 'dead'. I've never bothered to look. Didn't have any reason. I got the PC 2nd hand.

So is there a way to 'activate' this 2nd slot? Anything to check or is it a lost cause?

marsmimar · 30 Oct 2012

As far as I know, the RAM slots on a motherboard don't come with an "enable/disable" feature. They either work or they don't. The usual method to see if a RAM slot is working is to take a known working memory module and try it in each slot. Since you've already done that I think it's a pretty good probability the slot isn't working.

Here is a free diagnostic tool that can analyze and benchmark many kinds of hardware, such as CPU performance, hard disk performance, video system information, mainboard / motherboard information, etc. It might possibly be able to verify if that slot is bad. But even if it can't confirm the slot's good/bad status, I still think you've done that. And it may only be a matter of time before the entire motherboard fails.

Free Diagnostic Software

AaLF · 30 Oct 2012

Slot #2 does not respond. So the M/Bd has one slot & its overall capacity is said to be 2x2GB / 4Gb RAM. What say I plug in 1x4GB RAM into slot #1. Will I vaporize half the street or perchance the M/Bd will accept it?
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 775 - GA-945GCM-S2L (rev. 1.0)

marsmimar · 30 Oct 2012

According to the mobo specs, it will handle:

2 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM sockets supporting up to 4 GB of system memory

That means each slot can handle up to 2GB RAM for a total of 4GB. If you put one 4GB module in the working slot, best case scenario is the RAM won't be recognized and the computer won't boot. Worst case scenario is all of Australia will be plunged into darkness.

proudtobegreek · 04 Nov 2012

You could try getting some fine sandpaper and gently(but very gently),sand the inner dimm-slot,and thoroughly blast any remnants out.Had to do it once with some PCI slot,and it worked pretty nice.Got nothing to lose,its unrepairable,by other means or knobs!

mitchell65 · 04 Nov 2012

marsmimar said:

Worst case scenario is all of Australia will be plunged into darkness.

Could be fun