Computer won’t recognize new RAM in the 2nd slot

[TX_Racer]

I’m trying to upgrade my computer to 16gb of Ram with two 8gb sticks. Slot 1 works great with either sticks but I can’t get my computer to recognize either of the stick in slot 2. If I put the new RAM in slot 2 and nothing in slot 1, the computer won’t boot up. I have restarted my computer various times and reinstalled the Sticks many times so I’m sure I have seated it correctly. I have also tried to go into Bios but I wasn’t able to find a way to enable this slot. Can you help me understand if this slot is broken or if there’s a setting I need to change to enable this slot?

My new RAM is G. Skill Ripjaws V Series DDR4 2400. This matches the memory upgrade information on the HP website so it should work. 

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

It looks like HP shipped the PC with 8 GBs of RAM.

Do you have one 8 GB stick or two four GB sticks?

Some HP consumer motherboards are temperamental when it comes to memory upgrades. 

Memory should be installed using a kit. The speed and timings should be identical.

It is possible the unused memory slot is faulty. There should be no setting in the BIOS to disable memory slots, I have never used a MB having a memory slot enable/disable option.

Have you tried the factory memory in the second slot? Some motherboards require specific memory slot placement when not populating all memory slots.

The G Skill memory may not be a good fit when paired with the factory memory.

Regards

[TX_Racer]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. The computer originally contained one 8gb stick. I have purchased a kit of two 8gb sticks so I now need to use both slots. I am not trying to pair the new ram with the factory ram. 

I just tried putting the factory stick in slot 2 and it worked. What does this mean? Should I send back the new ram because it is not compatible with my computer? Should I try another brand? Should I switch to one 16gb stick? Your recommendation would be greatly appreciated. 

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

You're very welcome.

That is strange, the factory memory works in slots 1 and 2, each new memory stick works in slot 1 but not slot 2. 

You can't buy HP memory for this PC at this time using HP Part Surfer (Link). The HP memory part number is 860399-800. Maybe you can purchase the HP memory on the web.

The only suggestion I have is to try Crucial Memory (Link). Crucial Memory works well with HP consumer motherboards.

Regards

[TX_Racer · Accepted solution]

I really appreciate your help. I’ve spent days trying to figure this out so it’s great getting an answer from someone who knows a lot more about this than I do.  I think I’m going to return the G.Skill ram and buy ram from Crucial Memory. Happy New Year. 

[TX_Racer]

As a follow-up, I purchased the Crucial Memory and it worked without any issues. Thanks for the recommendation.