Q: my pc came with 2x 512mb ddr2 sticks it has 4 slots (first 2 are brown second 2 are orange) I bought 2x 1g ddr2 sticks (512's are in brown 1G's are in orange) wont boot. exchange places with 1g's and 512mb wont boot. ok 2x 1G's alone it boots. I read online to keep em in pairs, of course thought i was doing that. Now I did this 1G in first brn slot 512 in 2nd brn slot, 1G in first orange slot and 512 in 2nd orange slot . It boots and system says I got 3 gig. my question I guess is " Is that paired?? you would think i should match em with the colored slots, you know 1g's in brown and 512's in orange but thats not how its working. Someone explain it. Proto, I hear you. thats what im saying you would think the 1 gigs should pair in the same colored slots, but i just tried reseating them and i get a beep every 5 seconds and no boot as if its saying "somethings wrong" but i go 1 g then 512 then 1G then 512 and everything is fine. boots and 3g of ram according to control panel.
A: Did you try 512 in the first slot 1GB in the next etc. and then see if it boots ok? Just curiosity on my part. If you have the manual for the mobo refer to it. Sometimes the slots are numbered regardless of their colors The number one slot is usually the one closest to the CPU.