I recently tried to add two 8GB RAM sticks (3200MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX) from my brother's old PC to mine, which already had two 8GB sticks (3000MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX). After making sure everything was powered down and unplugged, I installed the new sticks in slots 3 and 4, while my original sticks were in slots 1 and 2. However, now my PC only boots when I use the new RAM sticks and won't recognize mine at all. I even reset the CMOS and checked the seating of all the sticks, but nothing seems to work with my original RAM. The one thing I wonder is whether my RAM might be fried because I switched off the power supply before the PC had fully shut down. Is there any way to check or salvage my original RAM? RAM prices are pretty high right now! After removing and reinstalling, I've managed to get it to boot, but currently, only one RAM stick is being recognized. I'm wondering if I just didn't seat them correctly.
2 Answers
Have you tried different slot combinations like using slot 1 with 3 and 2 with 4? It's also worth checking the motherboard manual; it might have specific instructions for RAM installation to avoid conflicts.
It's possible that mishandling the RAM could have caused issues. You should test each of your RAM sticks individually to see if your original ones can boot the PC. If they do work separately but not together, there might be a compatibility issue or they may have been damaged.
The new 3200MHz sticks are working fine together, though. I didn't check the old ones individually because I thought if one works, they all should.
I have an ASUS TUF B450 motherboard. It's not knowing how to install them that's the problem; I've had the original sticks in my PC for years. It's only since adding the new ones that things went haywire.