ASUS X99-E WS Problem with RAM.

[Ivan Ivanov]

Hi All

I have a brand new system I put together yesterday. The components of interest here, are the mobo ASUS X99-E WS and the Corsair Vengance CMK16GX4M4A2133C13 RAM kit.

X99-E WS has 8 ram slots, 4 black and 4 grey slots. I initially decided to use the black slots, but when everything was set and done, and I turned the system on for the first time, it didn't boot.
The Q code indicator displayed code 53, the same code it displays wheb there is no memory installed at all.

Then I switched to the grey slots and the system booted just fine. I tested the system with three RAM modules installed on grey slots and one on a black slot, and it booted but without detecting the RAM module that was installed on the black slot.

I was really worried initially that my mobo is faulty, but then I realized that I have not connected one of the two 8-pin power connectors the mobo has; Now X99-E WS has three additional power connectors besides the main 24-pin one. There are two 8-pin connectors at the top of the board and on 6-pin connector just above the top-most PCI-E slot.

I see a mobo with multiple 8-pin power connectors for the first time and I didn't know what to do with the extra two power connectors (8-pin and 6-pin), and I couldn't find any information about them in the manual, besides: "Those are power connectors" .
So I googled and found a video describin a building of a PC with an X99-E WS and saw that only one 8-pin connector was connected (the CPU power) and the other two left empty, so I decided to do the same... The build I watched had 4 RAM modules installed on the grey slots...

Is it possible that one of the two extra connectors powers the the RAM installed on the black RAM slots? Because the system really behaves like nothing is installed on those slots. And if not, what are they for anyway? Obviously the system can work without them, so in what cases they have to be connected?
I am worried. I don't want to experiment randomly connecting power cables, so can someone please confirm that I have to connect the other 8-pin connector to the PSU to get the black slots operational or what's the actual problem...

Thanks a lot, in advance!

Update: I connected all two additional power connectors to the power supply. But there was no effect at all, RAM modules on black slots are still not detected, at this point I think mt mobo is defective and I need to RMA.

 

[i7Baby]

ZSeems to me thatr you're not reading your motherboard manual. I think you'd find a lot of value in doing just that.

 

[Ivan Ivanov]

ZSeems to me thatr you're not reading your motherboard manual. I think you'd find a lot of value in doing just that.

I did read the manual, and I couldn't find any information about what those additional power connectors are for, and when they can be left open and when they have to be connected.

This is the section that describes them and there is no other section in the manual where "power connector" is even mentioned.

9. ATX power connectors (24-pin EATXPWR; 8-pin EATX12V; 8-pin EATX12V1; 6-pin EATX12V_1)

These connectors are for ATX power supply plugs. The power supply plugs are
designed to fit these connectors in only one orientation. Find the proper orientation and push down firmly until the connectors completely fit.

• For a fully configured system, we recommend that you use a power supply unit
(PSU) that complies with ATX 12 V Specification 2.0 (or later version) and provides a minimum power of 350 W.
• DO NOT forget to connect the 4-pin/8-pin EATX12 V power plug. Otherwise, the system will not boot.
• We recommend that you use a PSU with a higher power output when configuring a system with more power-consuming devices. The system may become unstable or may not boot up if the power is inadequate.
• If you want to use two or more high-end PCI Express x16 cards, use a PSU with 1000W power or above to ensure the system stability.
• If you are uncertain about the minimum power supply requirement for your system, refer to the Recommended Power Supply Wattage Calculator at http://support.asus.com/PowerSupplyCalculator/PSCalculator.aspx?SLanguage=en-us for details

And there are some pictures of the connectors locations on the mobo and their layout.

 

[Ivan Ivanov]

Important Update: After the connecting the additional connectors had no effect, I contacted Amazon and ASUS and we all agreed that the board is damaged and needs RMA. Amazon were even kind enough to to send me a new X99-E WS before I return the old one.

I installed the new board, turned the system on... And OMG! it had the same issue! It turns out that there is a weird compatibility issue between ASUS X99-E WS motherboard and Corsair CMK16GX4M4A2133C13 memory kit.
But it fails to work only if a stick is installed on a black slot, if you install the four sticks on the gray slots, they will work fine.

 

[WaltzWorker]

Important Update: After the connecting the additional connectors had no effect, I contacted Amazon and ASUS and we all agreed that the board is damaged and needs RMA. Amazon were even kind enough to to send me a new X99-E WS before I return the old one.

I installed the new board, turned the system on... And OMG! it had the same issue! It turns out that there is a weird compatibility issue between ASUS X99-E WS motherboard and Corsair CMK16GX4M4A2133C13 memory kit.
But it fails to work only if a stick is installed on a black slot, if you install the four sticks on the gray slots, they will work fine.

Online manual - Section 1.2.4 page 1-7 shows which slots to install. The recommended installation for 4 RAM modules is on the grey slots as shown. http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/server/e9552_x99_e_ws_ug_for_web_only.pdf

 

[Ivan Ivanov]

Online manual - Section 1.2.4 page 1-7 shows which slots to install. The recommended installation for 4 RAM modules is on the grey slots as shown. http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/server/e9552_x99_e_ws_ug_for_web_only.pdf

thanks for your reply, I get your point, but I did read the manual, I saw the section in question. I think the key word here is "recommended"! I purposely decided to not respect the recommendation, because I thought that "recommended" means "for best performance". I think recommended certainly shouldn't mean the system won't work properly if you install the memory in any other configuration. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

I think, if it was mandatory that all gray slots should be populated with DIMMs before we can populate the black slots, that should've been clearly stated in that section. In that case the section should not have been about recommended configurations but about mandatory configurations. There should've been a warning like: "WARNING: The gray memory slots are priority slots, memory must be installed on the gray memory slots first!"

Again, I do understand what you're saying, which is basically: "What did you expect, you didn't follow the manual's recommendation of course you'd run into problems.", but I really think that X99-E WS does have a problem with this specific memory (and probably others too), and I don't think this memory would ever work on the black slots if no BIOS update is ever released to fix the issue.

I hope I'm proven wrong by someone who buys this board with 8 DIMMs of this memory, installs them all and says: Everything works.

If I'm to blame for anything, it's NOT that i don't read my manuals, which I do, but it's that I choose memory that's not on the QVL of the motherboard. But I have to point out that not all memory models on that list were tested in 8 DIMM configurations, which means that even some of the models listed there might not work on the black slots.

 

[Ivan Ivanov]

UPDATE: Well, OK a way too late update...

Anyway, I did RMA both mobos I had and the memory too. After that I bought a new X99-E WS plus two kits of G.Skill RipJaws 4 2133 memory, total of 8 DIMMs. That memory IS listed in the "Qualified Vendor List"!

The system works fine ever since.

About the 8-pin power connector just above the up-most PCI-E slot... I know for a fact now, that this connector has nothing to do with the memory. It is there to provide additional power for all the PCI-E slots in case many and/or power hungry expansion cards are installed. And that is NOT described in the manual. If someone likes to prove me wrong, point the page and paragraph where this is mentioned.

 

[faalin]

Not sure why you would want to run 4 sticks of ram in 3 grey and 1 black giving you triple channel and single channel config. the reason for the X99 boards is for quad channel ram, since quad channel has more bandwidth then triple and so on.

Anyway, the 6 pin above the PCI-e slots is to give extra/stable power to any cards in the slots, it also helps with overclocking. Asus has been adding extra plugs since the Rampage 3 extreme boards ( maybe even older, but thats the first is seen ) My R3E board has a molex above and bellow the PCI-e slots just for them. Back then they actually explained in the manual what they were for and whether you needed to plug them in or not.

 

[Ivan Ivanov]

Not sure why you would want to run 4 sticks of ram in 3 grey and 1 black giving you triple channel and single channel config. the reason for the X99 boards is for quad channel ram, since quad channel has more bandwidth then triple and so on.

That was just for the test. I thought if the black slots might start to work if some of the gray slots are populated. I'd never do such an "abomination" and live it like that. 😉

But the problem is long solved now. I'm gonna strictly follow the recommendations of the QVL form now on, to avoid such headaches...