Question can't get a 4th stick to work with my Asus Sabertooth

[kanaka711]

Hey Everyone,

I have a Asus Sabertooth Z77 motherboard. These are the specs from Asus on memory...

Memory 4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 MHz Memory Dual Channel Memory Architecture Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

I bought this...

G.Skill
F3-1600C9Q-32GXM DDR3-1600 8GB X 4 CL9-9-9-24 1.50v

I removed my old ram entirely (also G.Skill 8GB X 2), but when putting in all 4 new sticks the PC goes to a Recovery screen and wants to repair the system.

When I tried 2 sticks in the first and third slots, no problem, boots fine and get to my desktop
I tried the other 2 sticks, no problem, boots fine and I get to the desktop.
I tried the sticks in several combinations, all work until I put in the 4th stick and than back to recovery screen.
I'm pretty sure all 4 sticks are good as they all work in different configurations as long as the 4th stick isn't added.

I currently have 3 sticks in for a total of 24 GB of Ram, would love to get it to the full 32 if possible.

Any ideas? Thank you!

 

[DavidM012]

Have you pressed the MEM OK! button?

Shut down system, power off mains, insert dimm, switch on power, do not press ON button. Press the MEM OK! button in the top right corner of mobo. By the dimm sockets.

The system will power on and the board should auto configure the memory. I dunno if you are using the d.o.c.p profile on the ai tweaker page of bios or the xmp profile since it's intel.. It does the same thing. You might have to set the speed to 1600mhz manually as well.

Also what cpu? The memory probably isn't qvl for the board but it should work. You can see if it's supposed to be compatible here.

 

[kanaka711]

Hey David, thank you so much for your reply!

I will look for that MEM OK! button

my settings on the mobo are all default, never changed anything all these years. I'm not sure about the d.o.c.p. profile.

Here is the cpu info ...the Ram numbers are the old ram before I made the switch. I was curious about the speed as it is still running @668 MHz, the same as the original sticks.

win 10 pro 64 bit
intel core i7 3770K @ 3.50 GHz 43 c
16 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 668 MHz (9-9-9-24)
Asus Sabertooth Z77
2047 MB Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 (EVGA)

 

[kanaka711]

Update: I shut down the system, removed power from the psu. Inserted the 4th stick in the 3rd slot. (Had the 3 sticks working in slots 1, 2, and 4) Didn't press ON, did press the MEM OK button. Waited about a minute and then hit the ON button.

Went back to the Recovery blue screen. I am getting an Error Code - 0xc0000428

 

[DavidM012]

Your dimms might be incompatible. Have you checked if they are on the qvl? You can enter the bios and go to the ai tweaker page and set the xmp profile manually.

You can also try to run the windows repair and see if it does anything. Or delete the windows swap file and re-create it. It should really simply plug and play and just go if it was going to work so there is some problem either related to memory compatibility or windows. If windows repair doesn't do anything then it's more probably compatibility and all you could do is send back the kit and try one that is qvl.

I don't know a thing about messing with memory timings or whatever to try and get non-qvl memory to work but that would sacrifice some performance anyway so it's best to ensure memory compatibility something like the crucial memory scanner will find dimms that are compatible with your board. Basically then you'd be asking various memory vendors for compatible kits and searching for the best price on it.

 

[gskill support]

Do you have the latest BIOS?

So essentially any time a module is installed in slot 3, the system does not work, is that correct? If all modules can work in any combination of slots 1, 2, 4, then there should be no issue with the RAM.

Check the CPU socket pins to see if they are perfect, otherwise it may be an issue with the motherboard.

Let us know how it goes

 

[kanaka711]

Hi G.Skill!

Thanks for your reply. Actually, all slots work. The 2 G.Skill sticks I had in before were in slot 1 and 3. When I began this project yesterday with 4 new sticks I put them all in and I had the BSOD. I immediately powered down and then took out the sticks in 2 and 4 and booted up. No problem, went right to my desktop. So thinking some of the new ram might be bad, I powered down, and put in the 2 that I had out on the prior test. They also worked fine, right to my desktop with no problem. So, I tried 4 again. no go...BSOD. I thought, well lets see what happens with 3 sticks. No problem, 24 gb's and went to desktop in 1,2 4. After reading your response I thought, lets try three in another configuration. So right now as I type this... the 3 sticks are in 1,2, and 3...no problem.

Bios version is 08/03/2012... that must be it than right?

Going to go read about how to update that, not familiar and have read that you can screw things up if not done correctly.

Thanks for the help guys, hoping I can get all 32 gb working.

 

[AllanGH]

Is this, perhaps, an Intel chipset motherboard?

 

[kanaka711]

Hey AllanGH, yes Asus Sabertooth Z77

Update on the bios, flashed it to the most current. Version 2104 09/16/2013

No change, BSOD when the 4th stick is put in. Currently operating on 24 gbs on 3 sticks (3 X 8) in slots 1, 2, and 3.

Any ideas G.Skill?

 

[AllanGH]

OK...Intel Chipset....I'm remembering something from quite a while ago....

There was a series of Intel chipsets that had some sort of firmware bug that affected motherboards having 4 DIMM slots...you could only use 3 DIMMs in them. I don't remember exactly what happened if you used 4 DIMMs on the MB, but I do remember that the system was unusable with a 4th in there.

Now, I do know that the issue existed, because my wife's old machine had the bug, and I went round-and-round with it until I read a Tech Pub that addressed the issue. The machine ran with only 3 DIMMs installed until I replaced it, this year.

Now, I don't know positively that this is what you are dealing with, but what you describe sounds like my journey with her old machine; so, you might want to look into it further, just to eliminate that as a possibility, or to address the matter with the manufacturer.

Just something to consider, anyway.

 

[kanaka711]

Thanks for the info Allan!

I guess I need to return this memory. I had 2 good sticks of G.Skill in before for a total of 16 gb. No sense paying $150 bucks to add 8 gb.

I was really hoping there was a way to solve this issue.

 

[DavidM012]

This guy has got a z77 with 32gb but different model of memory. You could ask him what model number of memory it is. Probably this horribly expensive one. Don't forget the qvl. It's either a compatibility problem or some hardware problem.

What cpu? Also may be the moment to check the socket for a bent pin, with the greatest of care.

The best way to find compatible memory for it might be simply to search sabertooth z77 32gb. Didn't find any results on intel chipset bug. That should throw up some system builds that are using 32gbs, with what version of memory. Then you only have to search for best prices on it.

Your model of ram does appear on the g-skill configurator for the board if I'm reading it right it's the blue ones. So that's isolating the problem in the direction of some hardware fault. Also you haven't said if windows repair will load or crash, and/or if re-created swap file.

https://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-1600c9q-32gab Might still be compatibility also so just try a different model, if the cpu socket is ok.

Also before you go too much further, why $150 for 32gb anyway? $150 is much of the way to a core upgrade when ddr3 is going obsolete. There's much more value for money in a newer platform.

I fail to see how tip drawing around the dimms on a piece of paper will clear up the problem.

 

[0rangeC0astalGetaway]

Hi, reset the bios ..sometimes I take screenshots with my phone in-case I can't remember everything, also you say the new memory is 9-9-9-24 timing
1.5v ..did You happen to manually input Your old memory data?
is your old memory different could You put new in slots 1 & 3 & old in 2 & 4 if save voltage?
also a tip draw around a memory stick 4[or 6] times on an A4 sheet of paper -so you can know which 2 modules You have in testing each time is different.
goodluck. 0range.

 

[kanaka711]

Thanks for the replies guys!

@DavidM012 good question about the $150. I was thinking it was the cheapest way to improve my memory for a game that I'm playing. I was thinking of building a new rig, but typically spend close to $2,000 to do that. Luckily, last time I did that was in 2013 when I built this system.

@Orange i upgraded the bios to the latest version last night. You're saying to reset it? Yes, the timing is 9-9-9-24, the same as the old sticks. I'm going to try your suggestion of 1,3 old and 2,4 new and see what happens.

Not sure what you guys mean by "tip draw".

Thanks for the help! I'll report back on this old/new test.

 

[DavidM012]

What game? Typically 32gb won't do a lot if you look in task manager to see how much memory the game is using it's probably no more than 12gb and likely much less.

$150 will get a superior gpu instead. Since the system is aging you might also want to look at the PSU and test it's outputs with a multimeter if poss. if you want to keep it running as long as possible & a gpu upgrade might also necessitate a psu upgrade with it anyway.

I'm just running one of my old faves red faction guerrilla re-marster-ed on ultra settings at 1600x1200 and it only uses 1gb memory. Since I upgraded my gpu I don't have any games in my inventory that even lightly stresses my system.

The cpu runs at nearly idle temps, around 32c, and the gpu runs at 30-60c depending on which game, 58c on red faction, I don't do 1080p yet because my hp monitor is still alive after a lot of years ^_^.

Basically if you get a gtx 1050, 1060 or 1070 or a ti version that will vastly improve any game in your inventory. Though I'm not expert on gpu's, if you post in the gpu's section for a recommend with your build (including make model and wattage of psu) I'm sure someone will volunteer a suggestion. A gtx 1050 or up or an rx 480 or up will do.

It's one of those times for gpu's as 4k and 8k and even 16k gaming are starting to warm up in the market so you might get away with a more future proof gpu selection for quite a while.

Since a lot of the workload in gaming seems to be shifting towards monitor and gpu.

 

[kanaka711]

the game is Everquest but not the live version of the game it's on a emulator server. The cool thing about this server is you can play multiple accounts. Multiple meaning, like 18 to 54. 54 is the current cap. So video and cpu isn't as important as the memory so that you can play 54 accounts simultaneously.

What is the memory of today if DDR3 is going obsolete?

So as far as the test with old and new... same story, the 2 old and 2 new...no good. But 2 old with 1 new, works fine. And it doesn't matter which slots I put them in, as long as 3 or 2...they all work.

edit: the memory the guy was using from the thread you posted was the Z series. Newegg has them for about 40 bucks more than the sticks i bought.

 

[DavidM012]

Obsolete because the next generation of intel & amd cpu's and motherboards use ddr4 so you can't carry it over to a new build, since $150 is about halfway or a third of the way to a core upgrade of cpu mem and board. You'd also get more threads with a newer cpu. The question is really what is all to your liking. A gpu upgrade would benefit your entire inventory.

A quick search on everquest doesn't say immediately what the memory usage is per instance but it also looks like there is something going on about a memory leak and high memory usage and tips to reduce memory usage.

Tips and Tricks for Reducing your CPU Usage in EQ

almarsguides.com

I'd say think about your options. how many instances of everquest can you open at once, how many do you want, is there any real problem here? If you can work around it by applying memory reduction tips or using few instances of the program you might not need to do anything else.

If you spent $500 on a core upgrade and could squeeze in 32gb of ddr4 +new gpu and psu then that works out as £2 a week for 5 years worth of computing if it lasts that long again. So value for money wise you could do practically anything you want.

Wait 'til the summer release of the next zen cpu, make do with what you've got and then start a new thread with recommends for an everquest build, you'll certainly get more for your money.

 

[kanaka711]

Awesome! Thanks David, great advice. I just returned the memory, I will wait til summer and do exactly as you suggest. I really appreciate your help over the last couple days.