32gb set ram

[hwayan]

Last time I made the mistake of buying 2 2x8GB RAM sets, and tried to install all 4 at once, it didn't work. This time I bought 1 4x8 set, so a 32 GB set, and when I stalled it doesn't boot with all 4. It does however boot with just 3 RAM sticks, leaving out the DIMM3 slot. What could be the problem?
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200)
MOBO: MSI Z170A GAMING M7

 

[capt_taco]

If XMP isn't enabled in the BIOS, you'll want to go in and do that.

If that doesn't work, set the DRAM timings and voltage manually.

If that doesn't work, bump the DRAM voltage up by 0.02V-0.05V over stock settings.

Four sticks at once can be tricky to get stable; just puts a little more demands on the board. But eventually you will get there.

 

[hwayan]

If XMP isn't enabled in the BIOS, you'll want to go in and do that.

If that doesn't work, set the DRAM timings and voltage manually.

If that doesn't work, bump the DRAM voltage up by 0.02V-0.05V over stock settings.

Four sticks at once can be tricky to get stable; just puts a little more demands on the board. But eventually you will get there.

To set the DRAM timings and voltage manually, is it as easy as just going in and changing "auto" to the auto value?

 

[hwayan]

If XMP isn't enabled in the BIOS, you'll want to go in and do that.

If that doesn't work, set the DRAM timings and voltage manually.

If that doesn't work, bump the DRAM voltage up by 0.02V-0.05V over stock settings.

Four sticks at once can be tricky to get stable; just puts a little more demands on the board. But eventually you will get there.

XMP is turned on. Upped the DRAM voltage from 1.216V to 1.270V and still doesn't boot with 4 sticks of RAM.

 

[capt_taco]

Hmm. Well, two things I would try then ... first, try booting with one stick at a time in the same slot, and see if there is any one stick that doesn't work. If so, you likely have a faulty stick of RAM.

If all four sticks check out OK, try the same stick in each slot in succession. If it fails to boot on one slot (DIMM3, for example) then you may have a faulty motherboard slot.

It also would not be a bad idea to download memtest86+ and run it on one stick at a time, a few passes for each.

 

[hwayan]

Hmm. Well, two things I would try then ... first, try booting with one stick at a time in the same slot, and see if there is any one stick that doesn't work. If so, you likely have a faulty stick of RAM.

If all four sticks check out OK, try the same stick in each slot in succession. If it fails to boot on one slot (DIMM3, for example) then you may have a faulty motherboard slot.

It also would not be a bad idea to download memtest86+ and run it on one stick at a time, a few passes for each.

So the warning I get from the manual stating I should always but memory in the DIMM2 slot forst is irrelevant ?

 

[hwayan]

I was able to fix it by mixing the RAM from my previously failed RAM because I had yet to return it. I think some of the RAM were incompatible with each other, and by mixing and matching other RAM I was able to find the right one. All 4 sticks of RAM boot!

 

[capt_taco]

Well, that's good - just hang on to all of the sticks and watch for any apparently random freezing or crashing in the next few days (which would be a sign that the mixed RAM is stable enough to boot, but still not completely stable, which can be exacerbated by going under load).

Sometimes different sticks of RAM just don't like each other with no apparent rhyme or reason, although the one exception is supposed to be kits that you buy together, and mixing and matching is supposed to lower your odds of success.

Anyway, glad that you got it to work, although if the four sticks you bought all as a single set were conflicting with each other, I'd be pretty angry about that.