I recently purchased a second-hand 16GB RAM stick to work alongside my existing 8GB stick. I made sure the CL and MHz settings were identical. However, when I check my BIOS, it only recognizes the new stick as 8GB, showing a total of 2x8GB instead of 8GB and 16GB. I also tried the 16GB stick on its own, but it only shows up as 8GB. I've checked for bent pins on my motherboard (MSI B460MA Pro) and performed a hard reset of the BIOS with no success. My CPU is an Intel i3-10100 and both RAM sticks are from the Corsair Vengeance line. I would really appreciate any advice on how to resolve this issue.
5 Answers
It sounds like the new 16GB stick might actually be misrepresented. One thing you can try is to boot your computer with just the 16GB stick installed and open the command prompt. Type 'wmic memorychip get devicelocator, partnumber' to see what part number comes up. You can then verify that part number online to confirm whether it’s truly a 16GB stick or not.
If the 16GB stick isn't showing up properly even when isolated, there's a high chance it isn't actually a 16GB stick. I’ve seen situations where the labels or heat spreaders were swapped, so it could be an 8GB stick in disguise. Definitely check the fine print on the stick itself.
Mixing RAM kits can often cause problems! Make sure to stick to the same kit if possible. If the 16GB stick only shows 8GB by itself, then it might be defective. You might want to test it in different slots to rule out any motherboard issues. If it still shows up as 8GB, that’s a clear sign something's wrong with the stick itself.
You might have gotten scammed, unfortunately. If it was sold to you as a 16GB stick but it only shows 8GB, it’s time to consider returning it or contacting the seller for a replacement.
There’s a chance you actually bought another 8GB stick that was part of a dual kit. What's the part number on that stick? It’s worth checking because mixing different memory kits can lead to issues like this.
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