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November 24th, 2017 08:00
Problem in adding RAM to an XPS8300
System: XPS8300 [i7-2600, 3.40GHz], vintage 2011Q4
OS: Win10 Home, x64 [build 1709]
I decided to add RAM to upgrade from 12GB to 16GB. There are four RAM card slots, and the original configuration was 2x2GB, 2x4GB DDR3 SDRAM, all Micron rated at 1333MHz.
I looked to swap out the two 2GB cards for a 2x4GB kit, and after some online research opted for the Micron Crucial kit CT2K51264BD160BJ rated at 1600MHz. The Crucial website showed this as compatible with my system, and this kit appears to be common and popular with purchasers. Deciding between the equally-priced "high density" version (suffix BJ) and the "regular" version (suffix B) was a less clear decision online, but both are sold as compatible with the XPS8300 and I opted for the BJ.
After installation, Win10 recognizes new hardware and This PC\Properties reports 16GB RAM present. However, after booting is complete I invariably get a BSOD within a minute or two, with a variety of codes from one experience to the next: "Page fault in nonpaged area," "Kernel security check failure," "System thread exception not handled," "Memory management," etc., etc. Happily, remounting the original 2GB cards restores sanity to the system.
I'd welcome some advice here. Is there some easy way to tell whether one or both of my new cards is bad, or is something else likely to be going on? Is there some aspect of what I'm trying to do beyond my limited understanding of installing additional RAM?
fireberd
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November 24th, 2017 10:00
One problem that frequently comes up on computer forums, all PC"s not just a Dell is that if all the memory modules are not the exact same there can be issues. Even though you bought Micron memory they are not exactly the same models so the compatibility can occur.
However, to test the new memory, remove all the original memory and just use the two 4 GB new Crucial memory modules, however make sure you install them in the proper memory slots to ensure dual channel operation. e.g. slots 1 and 2 or slots 3 and 4. If the PC runs without problems then the new memory modules are OK and the compatibility issue becomes the probable problem.
Here is some info from the Dell manual