[SOLVED] Added new identical RAM, failed to boot at first, now causes game crashes constantly

[jp2223]

Hello, this is my first post! So I recently built a PC on NZXT and it came with Team T force Xtreem DDR4 40000mhz ram (2x8gb). My friend sent me the same ram since he had extra and I added it to slots 1 and 3 as 2 and 4 were already taken with the RAM i currently have. Before adding this RAM it was clocked at XMP I and that made it 4000Mhz as advertised. By default it was clocked a lot lower when i bought the pc (2933 i think). When I added those two extra sticks (identical barcode, model, speed, etc) the PC failed to boot multiple times. After trying to boot up a bunch, it eventually told me something about a POST fail and that all the settings reverted so it was working properly. I went back in and raised the RAM to 4000mhz again as that is what all 4 sticks are rated for. Everything was fine at first but when I tried to play Destiny 2 it kept crashing within minutes of playing. This was just the game not the system. The errors ranged from issues with the game files (i verified and repaired and it didn't help), to a bunch of random stuff in the event viewer labeled as catastrophic and destiny 2 crash logs show more info as well. I can provide the crash logs if need be.

I am confused at how to proceed. Does adding extra ram mean I have to reclock it all at a slower speed, for example I had 2 sticks at 4000mhz, do I now have to do 4 sticks at 2933mhz? Would that slow down my pc? Is there a possibility that those sticks themselves are faulty since they were simply mailed in a padded envelope? The RGB on them is still fine.

This leads me to a follow on question as I noticed the processor stats page on Intel says a i9-10900K can only handle 2933mhz ram... So that is confusing since NZXT gave an option to use 4000mhz which I chose. Was I not supposed to raise my RAM speed? I understand computers but I do not understand 2 vs 4 sticks, speeds, latency etc.

I appreciate any help I can receive, below is my PC build, thank you!!!

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti - EVGA XC3 ULTRA
• Kraken X63 RGB
• Microsoft Windows 10_Home
• ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero (Wi-Fi)
• Intel Core i9-10900K 10-Core 3.7 GHz
• Team T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB DDR4 4000MHz 4000 MHz (Maximum Speed) 16GB (2X8GB)
• EVGA SuperNOVA 1000W G5 Gold
• Seagate FireCuda 520 1TB M.2

 

[DRagor]

Mixing RAM kits is hit and miss (even if they are same models). In your case it was partial miss - it works, but is unstable at higher clocks. That's quite normal. Simple question is: do you really need 32 GB? If no, I would just stick to one kit.

 

[jp2223]

Mixing RAM kits is hit and miss (even if they are same models). In your case it was partial miss - it works, but is unstable at higher clocks. That's quite normal. Simple question is: do you really need 32 GB? If no, I would just stick to one kit.

ok thank you. Would it help if I just used all 4 that came in the mail. I had 2, I was sent 4, I only added 2 more. His were all bought at the same time when he did his NZXT build.

I probably do not need that much however I'm pushing 70% usage when gaming and I only have 1 monitor.

Would my BIOS version affect it? I just noticed I have 0902 from last may. the newest one is from last week and it says:

ROG MAXIMUS XIII HERO BIOS 1301

1. Improve DRAM compatibility
2. Improve system boot time after EZflash.
3. Improve system performance and stability.

Before running the USB BIOS Flashback tool, please rename the BIOS file (M13H.CAP) using BIOSRenamer."

Last question sorry. If I use memtest86 on the "bad" ram and the test comes back 100% pass, would it just be a clocking issue?

 

[DRagor]

Would it help if I just used all 4 that came in the mail.

If all 4 were from same kit then there is very good chance it would help. Otherwise still worth to try, maybe they will work better (you never know till you try)

Would my BIOS version affect it?

It can, especially when it says that it improves RAM compatibility. But there is no guaranty either.

f I use memtest86 on the "bad" ram and the test comes back 100% pass, would it just be a clocking issue?

If memtest passes with no errors it just means 2 things: sticks tested are good; and configuration used works on your motherboard. If you run memtest on your current configuration I'm sure it will fail. But you can for example manually lower speed a bit (I'd suggest 3600) and see if it works.

 

[jp2223]

If memtest passes with no errors it just means 2 things: sticks tested are good; and configuration used works on your motherboard. If you run memtest on your current configuration I'm sure it will fail. But you can for example manually lower speed a bit (I'd suggest 3600) and see if it works.

yep I tried to memtest86 the original set up that caused me issues and within seconds I got over 100 errors on it. I’ll try to swap em around.

Edit: I tried the 4 i was sent in the mail and got error code 55 which means no memory installed. That’s weird because the ones he sent me were new (it was free anyway).

Edit: Final test i used 2 of mine and the 2 decent ones and ran it at 3600 thru memtest and it said i passed 100% of all tests. I guess for process of eliminations i can keep going up 100 until it fails to see at what point it becomes unstable.