PC RAM question for the PC experts

[Golf4food]

I have recently purchased two sticks of 1 GB 128x64 184pin DDR 266mhz PC2100 High density RAM for my computer after having it recommended to my by a family friend who builds PCs on the side. The problem is that my computer, Belarc advisor, and another memory website all see both sticks as 512MB, not 1GB.

Is there any other reason that my PC would only read 512MB instead of 1024MB for these other than the company mislabling them and selling 512s as 1GBs? Motherboard BIOS or anything else that might cause a lower reading? Or if the motherboard can't support high density RAM would it only read half the strength, etc? I've had little luck finding answers using Google, etc. so I need someone with better knowledge of such things than I.

The motherboard is a:

Board: MSI MS-6380E 1.0
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 04/02/01

The thought of updating the BIOS scares me without hearing from an expert first.

 

[mickman1962]

some boards only recognize single sided ram (chips on one side flat on the other) you should go to the MSI website and see what the board will use, maybe there is a BIOS update that will let you use the memory you bought

 

[Golf4food]

Bump for the afternoon crowd. Knowing that updating the BIOS incorrectly coud kill our system, I'd rather do that as a last resort after finding out some more information.

 

[Anewman]

do you have any 512 sticks still in the PC, like maybe the old one?

Have you tried only putting in one stick at a time?

 

[Golf4food]

do you have any 512 sticks still in the PC, like maybe the old one?

Have you tried only putting in one stick at a time?

I moved the old 512 stick into Slot 3, which the PC isn't even showing as having any RAM at all, so either that stick is dead or that slot is dead. The two new ones are in Slot 1 and 2 and are both being read as 512MB. As best I can tell from the MSI website this motherboard should be able to accept HD RAM...

 

[JCJRSmith]

Go to the Crucial website (www.crucial.com) and run through their memory selector. They list about 6 different MS-6380E motherboards.