[SOLVED] Can XMP just not work anymore?

[YouDontG]

Hello, recently a strange thing happened to my system.

I have an MSI B550 Tomahawk with the latest BIOS, 4x8 GB G.Skill Aegis DDR4 3000MHz F4-3000C16D and a Ryzen 5 5600x. I got the mobo in July, I put it together and enabled the XMP, it worked fine with 3000 MHz until now when just out of the blue my pc wont turn on. The CPU led lights up and it boots after if I reset the CMOS but when I enable the xmp it wont start again. So I tried it with lower frequency but it turned out if i change anything RAM related in the BIOS the PC wont start except when I leave the default settings. I didnt do anything to my pc, can't even update the BIOS due to its the latest version. This happaned randomly, I don't think a windows update could do this. I cant find anything on internet about this, xmp random stops working. I tried it with 2 RAM, it works fine with 3000 but when I put the 4 of them it instant stops working. I ran a memtest for 6 hours but everything passed. After a lot of troubleshooting with no result my windows got corrupted multiple times, I don't know is it releated to the main issue but I fixed it with a bootable USB. I don't know what could be the problem, on the base speed the system runs perfectly, any other setting than that not working.

If I set the timings manually the same problem happens, anyone knows what could happened my pc or how can I fix this?

 

[Kona45primo]

Assuming those were bought as separate 2 stick kits, or did they come all 4 together in a single package?

Try XMP on two sticks & see if that will work.

Look closely at the ram contacts on the ram itself & the board. Make sure both are clean.

If you can get it to boot with 2 sticks and XMP, try those 2 sticks in the other slots. Same thing with the other 2 sticks of ram, what you'll be trying to figure out is if you have a stick or a slot that might be causing the issue.

You can also try to bump the ram voltage up a bit. stock XMP should be 1.35 (make sure that is actually happening) you could try all the way up to 1.4 and be completely safe, just to see if it's signal degradation.


You do have a "daisy chain" topology motherboard, that means you have 2 slots that receive the best signals from your 2 channel memory controller & 2 that are connected off of those. The secondary slots will not receive and transmit as strongly as the main ones. That can make running 4 sticks a PITA. In a perfect world you would have 2 dual rank 16gb sticks, ideally a Samsung B-die, which tends to be very compatible.

 

[YouDontG]

Assuming those were bought as separate 2 stick kits, or did they come all 4 together in a single package?

Try XMP on two sticks & see if that will work.

Look closely at the ram contacts on the ram itself & the board. Make sure both are clean.

If you can get it to boot with 2 sticks and XMP, try those 2 sticks in the other slots. Same thing with the other 2 sticks of ram, what you'll be trying to figure out is if you have a stick or a slot that might be causing the issue.

You can also try to bump the ram voltage up a bit. stock XMP should be 1.35 (make sure that is actually happening) you could try all the way up to 1.4 and be completely safe, just to see if it's signal degradation.


You do have a "daisy chain" topology motherboard, that means you have 2 slots that receive the best signals from your 2 channel memory controller & 2 that are connected off of those. The secondary slots will not receive and transmit as strongly as the main ones. That can make running 4 sticks a PITA. In a perfect world you would have 2 dual rank 16gb sticks, ideally a Samsung B-die, which tends to be very compatible.

I bought the sticks separetly, 2 package with the same type 2x8GB RAM. XMP working on 2 stickts fine, no problem at all, I will try the 1-3 slots too. It worked fine with all 4 sticks about half a year then randomly stopped working. I tried increasing the RAM voltage, still got the same issue.

 

[Kona45primo]

I think you have a few things going against you, even though the 2 kits are the same, they are not matched.

Typically 4 sticks should be bought in a 4 piece kit, this requires the manufacturer to test them all for similar capabilities and behaviors.

Even though 2 separate ram kits may be identical in name they may behave differently enough to cause issues similar to yours.

The motherboard memory layout could also be causing issues. It's generally more difficult to run 4 sticks with the common daisy chain topology as opposed to T-topology.

To fix this issue you can just run 2 sticks at XMP.

If I were in your position, I would look on eBay for a kit of 2x16 3200mhz CL14-14-14 ram or 2x16 3600mhz CL16-16-16 ram. If you find some, test them & sell off the remaining 2 sticks. Assuming you do want/need 32gb.

It's pretty rare that ram with these type (14-14-14 or 16-16-16) of timings give people issues whereas let's say 16-18-18 or 18-20-20 timings are more prone to causing issues. Or there are just more kits sold making them seam more troublesome.

 

[YouDontG]

I think you have a few things going against you, even though the 2 kits are the same, they are not matched.

Typically 4 sticks should be bought in a 4 piece kit, this requires the manufacturer to test them all for similar capabilities and behaviors.

Even though 2 separate ram kits may be identical in name they may behave differently enough to cause issues similar to yours.

The motherboard memory layout could also be causing issues. It's generally more difficult to run 4 sticks with the common daisy chain topology as opposed to T-topology.

To fix this issue you can just run 2 sticks at XMP.

If I were in your position, I would look on eBay for a kit of 2x16 3200mhz CL14-14-14 ram or 2x16 3600mhz CL16-16-16 ram. If you find some, test them & sell off the remaining 2 sticks. Assuming you do want/need 32gb.

It's pretty rare that ram with these type (14-14-14 or 16-16-16) of timings give people issues whereas let's say 16-18-18 or 18-20-20 timings are more prone to causing issues. Or there are just more kits sold making them seam more troublesome.

Yes, it would be the best to look for some new 2x16 ram, I'll will do that. Thanks for your answer, and what do you think why my setup worked in the first case even if it shouldn't have and why It stopped working randomly

 

[Kona45primo]

It's tough to pinpoint exactly why the ram isn't functioning together anymore. My guess was that it was on the edge of stability working together in the first place.

It could only be a few things, ram module, motherboard or CPU memory controller. With that ram being Samsung D die, one of the less expensive memory chips, I would guess maybe something on the ram aged enough to push behavior out of sync with the other chips, wild guess though.

Not sure where you're located, but there's a set of my favorite ram for Ryzen on eBay at the moment.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3143422138...SZP8irlTrm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[YouDontG]

It's tough to pinpoint exactly why the ram isn't functioning together anymore. My guess was that it was on the edge of stability working together in the first place.

It could only be a few things, ram module, motherboard or CPU memory controller. With that ram being Samsung D die, one of the less expensive memory chips, I would guess maybe something on the ram aged enough to push behavior out of sync with the other chips, wild guess though.

Not sure where you're located, but there's a set of my favorite ram for Ryzen on eBay at the moment.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3143422138...SZP8irlTrm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Okay thanks for the help, then I will get some new RAM sometime, until then I will stick with 16 gigs of RAM on 3000 and give the other ones for someone else.