[SOLVED] 2nd Motherboard ram slot not working?

Ahazuerus

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Nov 16, 2019
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Hey guys, my second ram slot in my motherboard isn't working ( I think) because recently I bought an 8gb x2 AVEXIR 3200mhz DDR4 Ram kit and both rams are working fine when used in the first ram slot alone (one closest to the CPU). The second slot however, the computer won't boot if only the second ram slot is used with either of the sticks I bought. If I use both ram in both slots, the computer recognizes it as 16gb but after restarting, it reverts back to 8gb even though they're in dual channel.
I have to reset the motherboard to factory by resetting the CMOS so I can use the 16gb again but in every turn off and restart, it goes back to 8gb.

Whenever I put the clock speed of the ram from 2666 mhz to 3200mhz, it restarts and won't boot up when using both rams.
But no problem when only using a single stick in the first slot. I can turn it to 3200mhz just fine with 8gb.


Here are my PC specs:
Ryzen 5 1600
MSI B350 Gaming Pro
GTX 1070
480G Kingston SSD
PowerBox 500 Watts true rated ( I know this is a very weak and cheap PSU and I plan to replace it ASAP. Could this also be the problem why the ram is reverting back from 16gb to 8gb?)


Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance !
 
Solution
So is it normal for the second slot not to work in some cases?

No it isn't normal BUT ryzen gen 1 on b350 boards on release had a fair amount of issues/niggles regarding ram speeds and compatibility.

Is this the matx board with only 2 slots??

If so obviously you ARE putting it in the correct slots as you dont have any more.

Have you ever updated the bios and if so what revision is it running?

If you dont know, download cpu-z

https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Run it and open the mainboard tab and it will tell you.

If its still running an old bios then I would strongly suggeat updating it.

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
A bad PSU can be the bane of all healthy system's. Replace that now! In the interim period, you're going to have to make sure you're on the latest BISO version but please keep in mind if the PSU croaks while you're updating the BIOS(if an update is pending) then you're going to end up with a bricked board(and more headaches).

You're also underpowered in terms of wattage. You should buy a reliable PSU that can deliver at least 550W of power to the entire system.
 
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Ahazuerus

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Nov 16, 2019
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A bad PSU can be the bane of all healthy system's. Replace that now! In the interim period, you're going to have to make sure you're on the latest BISO version but please keep in mind if the PSU croaks while you're updating the BIOS(if an update is pending) then you're going to end up with a bricked board(and more headaches).

You're also underpowered in terms of wattage. You should buy a reliable PSU that can deliver at least 550W of power to the entire system.

Understood I'll replace it right away, and I maybe I'll minimize the usage of my computer until I buy a good PSU. Thanks for the heads-up.
 
So is it normal for the second slot not to work in some cases?

No it isn't normal BUT ryzen gen 1 on b350 boards on release had a fair amount of issues/niggles regarding ram speeds and compatibility.

Is this the matx board with only 2 slots??

If so obviously you ARE putting it in the correct slots as you dont have any more.

Have you ever updated the bios and if so what revision is it running?

If you dont know, download cpu-z

https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Run it and open the mainboard tab and it will tell you.

If its still running an old bios then I would strongly suggeat updating it.
 
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Reactions: Ahazuerus
Solution

Ahazuerus

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Nov 16, 2019
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Yes the B350 Gaming pro has only 2 ram slots. And I have updated the BIOS to the latest just now but something changed.

Now, I have different problem. It shows "Hardware reserve" on windows on the other 8GB . But the motherboard recognizes it as 16GB in the BIOS but is not using the other half.
I tried using XMP profile but it won't boot up.

Any other thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
 

Ahazuerus

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Nov 16, 2019
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I managed to fix this by updating the BIOS to the latest version and is now working 16gb dual Channel. If anyone encounters the same problem, updating the BIOS is reliable fix.
Cheers.
 

Ahazuerus

Reputable
Nov 16, 2019
108
9
4,585
I managed to fix this by updating the BIOS to the latest version and is now working 16gb dual Channel. If anyone encounters the same problem, updating the BIOS is reliable fix.
Cheers.