Question All games CTD but PC works fine in normal operation

[TheTrooper115]

Every game I try to play simply crashes to desktop, It really is that simple. The problem began upon the installation of a new stick of RAM a few days ago, ever since then its been nothing but issues with my PC

Specs;
Mobo - ASUS PRIME B-350 PLUS(Most recent BIOS/UEFI revision)
CPU - Ryzen 5 1600
GPU - EVGA GTX 1070 Black Edition SC (Driver version 419.35 - No GFE)
RAM - 1x8GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance (CMK8GX4M1A2400C16) & 1x8GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance (CMK8GX4M1A2400C14), the former is the newer stick.
PSU - Corsair CX600M
Storage - 1x500GB Samsung 750EVO SSD, 2x2TB HDD(WD&Toshiba)
WinVer - Windows 10

I've tried BF1, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Mass Effect: Andromeda and Forza Horizon 4 - All worked flawlessly before the installation, now they all CTD within 2 mins, sometimes I'm given a DX error (DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED) sometimes no error at all other than what Event Viewer gives me (0x0000005) which isn't all that helpful.
Memtest86 passed with no issues, got through a heaven benchmark will relatively little issues.

Have tried a clean install of drivers (most recent revision & a known working one), reinstall of the vendors themselves(Steam, Origin ect), reinstall of the games themselves, running both the vendors and games as admin and finally a full windows re-installation which leads me to think that this is more of a hardware issue than a software one. I've also tried it with just the new stick of RAM and I'm still getting the same issues (Or at the very least I was before the windows reinstall, haven't tried with just one stick since)

Obviously, my number one suspect is the new stick of RAM, I believe it may be related to them having different timings which I didn't realise until I had already got the RAM (my own fault, I know), with my No.2 suspect being my GPU as I suffered from some odd artifacting in a Youtube video earlier on before Chrome refused to play video at all until I restarted it.

Thanks in advance for any advice, I'm really at wits end here.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

You can’t just add new single sticks of ram and expect everything to work ram are usually sold in matched sets and it is those that are guaranteed to work together so if you have just added another single stick of RAM do your system you can expect problems

 

[TheTrooper115]

You can’t just add new single sticks of ram and expect everything to work ram are usually sold in matched sets and it is those that are guaranteed to work together so if you have just added another single stick of RAM do your system you can expect problems

Aye, in and ideal world that is indeed how things should work. However, this is not an ideal world. I made sure to match the capacity, brand and speed, I overlooked one thing, timings and I will admit that was my own shortsightedness and it didn't take me long to realise what the potential issue was.

I posted here to see if there was anything I can do beyond returning the stick and getting a new one that matches the timings of my older stick, I have tried manually changing the timings in the BIOS but it doesn't seem to have actually changed anything. Obviously if my only option is a return then I'll do it, I just wanted to make sure I had exhausted all other issues before hand.

In any case, thanks for the reply. I do appreciate it.

 

[TheTrooper115]

The issue is indeed with the new stick of RAM, I finally got around to testing it on its own and it CTD's in every game, causing DX errors ect. As soon as I took the new stick out and put only my old stick back in everything was back to working in perfect order.

Going to return the RAM and get another stick that fully matches my old one. For anyone else experiencing this issue, do a google search for your current RAM's part number (In my case CMK8GX4M1A2400C14) and it should come up with the exact RAM you need. The PN should be on the RAM itself as well as on the box, typically around the barcode area.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Lol. No that’s not how it works I don’t care if you match the brand and speed they’re made from different lots or could be and they are not guaranteed to work. If you want to guarantee they work together buy them as a set. everyone else here will tell you the same thing so you’re still taking a chance. it may work and it might not and even if it works they might not work at the advertised speed so you’re on your own with testing when you don’t buy matched sets

 

[TheTrooper115]

Lol. No that’s not how it works I don’t care if you match the brand and speed they’re made from different lots or could be and they are not guaranteed to work. If you want to guarantee they work together buy them as a set. everyone else here will tell you the same thing so you’re still taking a chance. it may work and it might not and even if it works they might not work at the advertised speed so you’re on your own with testing when you don’t buy matched sets

If you're not going to be helpful then don't say anything at all.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Just because you don’t like the answer doesn’t mean I’m not being helpful. Good luck anyway

 

[TheTrooper115]

Just because you don’t like the answer doesn’t mean I’m not being helpful

Point being you didn't really answer the question, you just told me something I was already perfectly aware of. RAM can be mixed and matched, it just isn't always guaranteed to work, its kinda a basic thing in PC building that one. My sisters DDR3 system for instance runs just fine with 2x4GB sticks of mixed ram (Corsair and Kingston) that were salvaged from other systems. Anecdotal yes, but it works none-the-less.

I've already figured out the issue by myself, as I outlined in the comment I posted which is marked as the best answer. I'll admit I messed up when purchasing this RAM but overlooking the timings which aren't even listed on the product description in Amazon is a fairly easy mistake to make. I've made it once and now I won't make it again, always being sure to check the PN against any parts I already have on the manufacturers website and going from there. Even still I understand they're not 100% guaranteed to work, but what else am I supposed to do, throw my current 8GB stick and buy a new 16GB set? Don't be ridiculous. If it doesn't run at 2400MHz I'm not really bothered, 2133MHz is fine for my needs.

And to clarify, the new stick I bought is defective anyway. I tried it in my system on its own with my GPU and another that is known to work (Just just make sure the GPU wasn't causing the DX crashes) and I was still getting the instant CTD's in games. I even DDU'd in safe mode and then reinstalled the driver just to be sure the driver wasn't what was at fault. Ever since going back to just my original stick of RAM I've not had a single issue.


Anyway, I do apologise for being somewhat rude in my previous comment. Its no excuse but FWIW I had just woken up.
I understand that you don't know what I know (and vice-versa), and that you were just trying to be helpful and I am appreciative of that.