I just got a new mobo, an Asrock K7VT4, and the manual says it supports PC1600/2100/2700 ram. The guy in the shop didn't have any of these sticks, and sold me PC3200 RAm saying that it would work fine but would underclock. The PC is built but won't boot - I get 3 beeps - was the guy right, and I have another problem, or do I have to get a stick of the RAM that the mobo manual specifies?

I think it's a scam!

Really? I can't think he could gain anything, because I'm obviously going to take it back! But is the RAM definitely not backwards compatible like this? Thanks

You should have asked the guy how to set it up. PC3200 RAM runs at 200 mhz clock speed whereas PC2700 runs at 167; see what your BIOS has it set at -- it might have tried to auto set the speed at the higher value. Or just call the shop and ASK!

====================================================== If all you're getting are the three beeps then before you can get into the BIOS you'll need to try to reset the BIOS to its defaults (and there is no guarrantee that this will work). Find the flat round battery on the mother board and remove it. Wait over night to ensure proper trickle discharge and then replace it the next morning. This seems like a long time to give it but I have had many boards that took more than a few minutes. To all that are going to say it, using the reset jumper does not always work either. A complete discharge of the CMOS power is the only way around the problem that I am envisioning. I could explain why but that would take up twice as much room here than I already have taken up. borelli35

Thanks to you all, but really I shouldn't have to set up RAM in the BIOS should I? The mobo manual says it supports 1600/2100/2700; surely I'm on a loser to try and get it to run on 3200? wasn't the guy in the shop just WRONG?