Question Before RMA'ing a ASUS Prime B450M-A II AM4 I'd like to ask for some advice before wasting time.

[peejaygee]

Hey there,

I bought a ASUS Prime B450M-A II AM4 Micro-ATX Motherboard ASPB450MA2 in January 2023 (it is registered on their site and has a warranty) along with Patriot Viper Elite II DDR4 32GB * 4. [and other parts listed below]

I started having issues with a linux install. Getting Kernal Panics. [I'm running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Pterodactyl Panel for running some game servers, and I'm not a strong linux user]

I went into the BIOS to check the settings from the initial build, and I noticed the clock had advanced 4 hours. I changed it back. Tried again. Still issues and lock ups. Check again, clock changed. I changed the CR2032 battery and reset the jumper (although, most bios issues, will reset to 00.00 not add 4 hours, I thought?)

Still issues, so I called ASUS support, to be asked was the memory on the QVL list, to which I honestly explained I didn't know, as I hadn't checked at that point.

The guy I spoke too, asked me to reset my bios again, which I did, and while I was on the phone, I looked on the list, and the memory wasn't list, so basically the guy said, nothing we can do, the memory isn't on the QVL list.

I worked with Patriot, and did some memory testing, and their memory was coming up with errors with memtest86, they stated, it 'could' be an memory issue, but if a motherboard boots, then the memory is working and is compatible. Ended up getting to the RMA point with them.

But, thinking it 'could' be the motherboard, I ended up taking the restocking fee hit due to Amazons 30 day refund policy and getting a refund on the memory.

I ended up buying G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series 128GB (4 x 32GB) 288-Pin SDRAM (PC4-25600) DDR4 3200 CL16-18-18-38 1.35V Quad Channel Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16Q-128GTZR, which IS listed on their memory list.

My processor is compatible, so I thought, I shouldn't have any issues.

Nope, still having issues. Memory errors, when I configure the memory to the recommended specs that the QVL sheets shows on DOCP mode, errors on memtest86. When I leave settings to auto, I don't appear to have errors, but I believe the memory is not running full speed.

I even had a BIOS lockup/freeze once were the mouse wouldn't move, and I believe that has nothing to do with anything else, except the motherboard? Although, only once, could have just been a fluke.

Before I go down the ASUS RMA (as I've seen all the scare stories on Reddit) I figured I'd turned to some more knowledgeable people here for maybe some tips and/or tweaks to try?

Memory has been swapped around the slots (all 4 slots being used) CPU has been re-seated and only 2 little turns on the screws to hold in place (due to springs doing most of the work), NVMe has been removed and re-seated, PSU cables have been removed, reconnected and even changed ports on the the PSU due to being modular.

I now have the following hardware. [Copied and pasted from various orders]

ASUS Prime B450M-A II AM4 Micro-ATX Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 6-Core 12-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor with Radeon Graphics
Silicon Power 1TB - NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 2280 SSD
G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series 128GB (4 x 32GB) 288-Pin SDRAM (PC4-25600) DDR4 3200 CL16-18-18-38 1.35V Quad Channel Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16Q-128GTZR
RMx Series™ RM850x — 850 Watt 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX PSU

I've seen other posts from other issues, were people have mentioned increasing the memory voltage slightly and slowly to see if stability goes away, I did that a few times, only like 0.05 (or the lowest with one hit of the plus sign on the keyboard)

I used to build PC's back in the day, when things were not this complicated, this time around, I'm looking for help please.

Things I can defo test to eliminate failure points without having to buy more hardware to prove one thing is at fault.

Thanks and Regards

 

[DRagor]

If the system is running perfectly stable on lower RAM speeds then most likely you are just hitting limits of either board, CPU or RAM. Note that running 4 stick kit is more likely to cause this kind of problems. You really have two options: either keep swapping parts until you hit golden combo; or just run what you have at highest stable speed it can (which will be less then 3200 obviously).