Replacement RAM doesn't work

emiels · 10 Aug 2014

I bought some replacement RAM yesterday, being assured that it would work on my laptop [I'll post all details at the end]. I just installed the new RAM, booted up and the RAM wasn't recognized. I tried Windows Startup Repair Tool a few time but that didn't load and neither, obviously, did "Boot Windows normally".
I've now put the old RAM back in and booted up so I could get some answers before I try again.

What's my next step here in troubleshooting?
Memtest?
Use one old RAM stick and one new?
The only difference I can see between the two is the speed (1600 vs 1333) but I was assured that this was backwards compatible.
I've checked my BIOS and I don't have any options for memory management (probably related to SONY not wanting people to overclock) so I don't know how I could solve this if there was, for example, a difference in voltages between the two RAMs.

I would really appreciate some advice on this.
Cheers!

Details:

Windows 7 Home Premium x64
SONY VAIO VPCEB2S1E

Old RAM: Kingston 2x2GB
Model: SNY1333D3S9DR8/2G
From CPU-Z:

Memory Type DDR3
Memory Size 4 GBytes
Channels Dual, (Symmetric)
Memory Frequency 532.1 MHz (4:16)
CAS# latency (CL) 7.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 7
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 7
Cycle Time (tRAS) 20
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 60
Command Rate (CR) 1T
MCHBAR I/O Base address 0x0FED10000
MCHBAR I/O Size 4096

New RAM:
Corsair ValueSelect 2x4GB
Model: CMSO8GX3M2A1600C11
From Corsair site:

Memory Configuration Dual Channel
Memory Type DDR3
Package Memory Format SODIMM
Package Memory Pin 204
Memory Size 8GB Kit (2 x 4GB)
SPD Latency 9-9-9-24
SPD Speed 1333MHz
SPD Voltage 1.5
Speed Rating PC3-12800 (1600MHz)
Tested Latency 11-11-11-27
Tested Speed 1600Mhz
Tested Voltage 1.5

Mellon Head · 10 Aug 2014

As near as I can tell from searching the web, the RAM sticks use the same voltage, and the lappy is OK to use up to 8 GB of memory.

The only things that I can think of are:

1. The laptop just doesn't like that Corsair memory for some reason.
2. The laptop is expecting RAM with tighter timings. The Kingston RAM runs at 1066 MHz at 7-7-7-20. The Corsair RAM may not be able to boot at those timings for that speed, therefore it goes unrecognized by the computer.

#2 is a long-shot, but it's plausible, and it's really the only reason that I can think of.

There really isn't a lot you can do to test this. You could try one stick at a time of the new RAM and see if it boots, just in case one stick is faulty and is causing a failure of both sticks. But if the RAM isn't recognized, there isn't much you can do, seeing how you have limited BIOS options.

Is it possible to get your money back, or trade for a different set of RAM sticks?

emiels · 11 Aug 2014

Hey, thanks for the response.

In the meantime I've tried a few other things.
I've tried booting up with one of either stick and I was sent to the startup repair screen loop again. (Admittedly, I didn't try both of the new RAM sticks with this but I highly doubt it makes a difference.)
Interestingly, I can put in both of the new sticks and boot in my VAIO's special "web" mode, which is just a modded Firefox browser with limited capacity. But the fact that it boots to that implies that at least some RAM must be available, right? (Otherwise how would Chromebooks work...)
Also, going into BIOS, I can see that ~4GB, ~6GB or ~8GB of RAM is available depending on the combination of RAM sticks I have inserted.
So am I right in assuming the BIOS does recognize the RAM but Windows simply doesn't?
(I've also seen the advice in most of these cases to reset CMOS but I couldn't find this anywhere on my mobo.)

Going off your advice, I guess my best chance is to just return the new RAM and try to change it. Corsair was the only brand they had in the store so I'll have to go somewhere else.

Thanks again.