2013 Archives

[EnglishMobster]

Hello!

I recently bought an Aspire V3-771G-6814 off of Amazon to replace my old failed laptop.

As it has 4 RAM slots, I took the RAM out of my old laptop (8 gigs) and put them into the extra slots in my Aspire (for a total of 16 gigs). However, when I attempted to start up the Aspire, I had my power light come on... and that's it. The screen's backlight never came on and the computer never powered up fully.

Does anyone know what the issue is? All the sticks are good, and although the sticks are from 2 different brands, when I mixed them together and tested them they ran fine. I'm puzzled as to what the problem could be.

[padgett]

Take them out and try one at a time. That sounds like it does not like one or a combination and is never getting through POST.

[EnglishMobster]

I have. I've tried every possible combination of sticks -- all work fine. It's when I try to add more than 2 sticks that I start encountering issues.

[Frigeon]

Having exactly the same problem here, any combination of two sticks works fine, the second we install any more than 2 the system hangs on post. Edit: make that black screen before post.

[Vince53]

Fellows, it took me a while to find a reputable review that confirms that the Aspire V3-771G-6814 supports 16 gigs of RAM. But it does not support it well. Huh?

Your quad-core monster, complete with a powerful video card, can handle most games you throw at it with eight gigs of RAM. Few games out there, however, require more than a dual-core CPU and two gigs of RAM.  After eight gigs, you're not getting much.

You mention that you bought it used. Does it still have the original Windows 8 64 bit system? Why did someone get rid of a well-designed, fairly new computer in the first place? Did the original owner change drivers or hardware? Could he have fouled it up with a software program that he deleted before he sold it? Could he have changed operating systems, lost his Acer drivers, and then re-installed the original system improperly?

My advice? If it is running well, and you got it at a good price, I wouldn't worry about it.

[EnglishMobster]

Not used, I got it brand new from Amazon on sale. Windows 8 64-bit was on there (obviously), as well as all of Acer's default programs that came pre-installed.

It's not so much a complaint -- I haven't yet found something that it won't run. But if it could handle 16 gigs, that's 18 more months before it hits Moore's Law and becomes obsolete.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it -- but I'm wondering why it has the 4 RAM slots and is advertised for being able to handle 16 gigs when in reality it won't boot with more than 8.

[AnachroNia]

If the ram has different clock rates - the lower one should be in the first slot. This way it will underclock the other. Otherwise it will crash/not boot

[Vince53]

By George, Anachronia, I found that while researching RAM. You may well have explained the problem.

[EnglishMobster]

So as it turns out, there are indeed 2 different clock rates on these sticks. The sticks from my old laptop clock in at 667 MHz, while the ones which came with my Aspire clock in at 800 MHz. 

I tried all the different permutations of what you mentioned -- 667 MHz in slots 1 and 3, 800 MHz in slots 2 and 4, 667 MHz in slots 1 and 2, 800 MHz in slots 3 and 4, etc. -- but no dice. 

[Alan-London]

While it may be common that RAM may slow to the lowest speed, it is not guaranteed. Some RAM simply doesn't like it. Another factor that may be relevant is voltage. The 800MHz may be 1.35V and your 600MHz may be 1.50V. If your 600MHz is not dual voltage, you may well have issues.

Should you succeed in getting them to work together, you will downgrade your machine to the lower speed. The better option may well be to sell on your old RAM and install all 800MHz of identical spec.