DRAM & CPU Issue

[Omeyn]

Hello all,

I just finished a build today and everything is working except I've hit a small snag, but before I go on any longer I'll add the specs of my build that I believe could be causing the issue.

Mobo: Asus ROG Strix z270E Gaming
CPU: Intel i7 7700k
Ram: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4
Bios ver. 801

When I first built the computer I had a stick of ram in every DIMM slot, but got hit with a red CPU led error which then a few seconds later switched to a yellow DRAM led telling me something was wrong with the memory. So I made sure all the ram was seated properly, and it was because the LEDs on the ram were lit so I knew they were getting power. So I take them all out and try seating two sticks in slots A1 and B1, A2 and B2, B1 and B2, no post. It will however post with two sticks in A1 and A2.

I've looked all over for the last handful of hours looking for any solution to which I found none. There are no damaged pins anywhere. I'm not sure if a Bios update is needed, or if there's something I can tweak in the bios to fix this, again I've looked everywhere for information but so far found none.

Any and all help with this issue will be appreciated!

 

[Seanie280672]

Hello all,

I just finished a build today and everything is working except I've hit a small snag, but before I go on any longer I'll add the specs of my build that I believe could be causing the issue.

Mobo: Asus ROG Strix z270E Gaming
CPU: Intel i7 7700k
Ram: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4
Bios ver. 801

When I first built the computer I had a stick of ram in every DIMM slot, but got hit with a red CPU led error which then a few seconds later switched to a yellow DRAM led telling me something was wrong with the memory. So I made sure all the ram was seated properly, and it was because the LEDs on the ram were lit so I knew they were getting power. So I take them all out and try seating two sticks in slots A1 and B1, A2 and B2, B1 and B2, no post. It will however post with two sticks in A1 and A2.

I've looked all over for the last handful of hours looking for any solution to which I found none. There are no damaged pins anywhere. I'm not sure if a Bios update is needed, or if there's something I can tweak in the bios to fix this, again I've looked everywhere for information but so far found none.

Any and all help with this issue will be appreciated!

With the ram being in A1 and A2, means its running in single channel mode, so that points me to a faulty CPU, however, before you go down that route, have a look in the bios for memory timings, set command rate to 2T or 3T, and also raise ram voltage to 1.35v, then try again.

 

[Omeyn]

With the ram being in A1 and A2, means its running in single channel mode, so that points me to a faulty CPU, however, before you go down that route, have a look in the bios for memory timings, set command rate to 2T or 3T, and also raise ram voltage to 1.35v, then try again.

I spent a little time trying each timing (2T & 3T) adding/removing the other two sticks of ram each time to return to the bios after each test, the voltage was already at 1.35v but only running at 1.13v. Unfortunately the timing change didn't work, I'm still getting the back and forth with the yellow DRAM error led and the red CPU error led with all 4 sticks.

Is there any kind of diagnostics test I can run to verify the issue potentially being a faulty CPU?

 

[Seanie280672]

With the ram being in A1 and A2, means its running in single channel mode, so that points me to a faulty CPU, however, before you go down that route, have a look in the bios for memory timings, set command rate to 2T or 3T, and also raise ram voltage to 1.35v, then try again.

I spent a little time trying each timing (2T & 3T) adding/removing the other two sticks of ram each time to return to the bios after each test, the voltage was already at 1.35v but only running at 1.13v. Unfortunately the timing change didn't work, I'm still getting the back and forth with the yellow DRAM error led and the red CPU error led with all 4 sticks.

Is there any kind of diagnostics test I can run to verify the issue potentially being a faulty CPU?

You can Run memtestx86, dos version, 1 stick of ram only, if it picks up errors, is either that 1 stick of ram or a faulty memory controller, ive had this before with an Intel CPU, after RMAing the motherboard and RAM and no faults found, turned out to be the CPU, wouldnt run dual channel mode, only single channel would work.

 

[Omeyn]

You can Run memtestx86, dos version, 1 stick of ram only, if it picks up errors, is either that 1 stick of ram or a faulty memory controller, ive had this before with an Intel CPU, after RMAing the motherboard and RAM and no faults found, turned out to be the CPU, wouldnt run dual channel mode, only single channel would work.

I'll have to try tomorrow when I have more time, I'm heading out for the night. I'm also unsure if it matters or not but I ran a single stick of ram through each DIMM slot, A1-A2 worked perfectly fine, B1 gave me a the CPU error led and B2 gave me the DRAM error led, which explains why the error leds were switching back and forth between the two with all 4 sticks seated.

 

[Seanie280672]

You can Run memtestx86, dos version, 1 stick of ram only, if it picks up errors, is either that 1 stick of ram or a faulty memory controller, ive had this before with an Intel CPU, after RMAing the motherboard and RAM and no faults found, turned out to be the CPU, wouldnt run dual channel mode, only single channel would work.

I'll have to try tomorrow when I have more time, I'm heading out for the night. I'm also unsure if it matters or not but I ran a single stick of ram through each DIMM slot, A1-A2 worked perfectly fine, B1 gave me a the CPU error led and B2 gave me the DRAM error led, which explains why the error leds were switching back and forth between the two with all 4 sticks seated.

To put it simply
A1 and A2 are single channel part of the mem controller, lets just say that the left half of the mem controller
B1 and B2 are the other side of the mem controller, lets say thats the right half of the mem controller

To run dual channel you need 1 stick in A1 and 1 stick in B1 or 1 stick in A2 and 1 stick in B2, if nether of these configurations are working at stock setting, you have a problem with the board, bent pins in the socket etc, or a faulty cpu.

 

[Omeyn]

To run dual channel you need 1 stick in A1 and 1 stick in B1 or 1 stick in A2 and 1 stick in B2, if nether of these configurations are working at stock setting, you have a problem with the board, bent pins in the socket etc, or a faulty cpu.

I did a complete system take down today to inspect everything and found out I actually do have a bent pin in the CPU socket as seen right here. Now my question is, is there anything I can do to try and recover that pin? Or is it shot and my only option is to RMA the board (which I'm trying to avoid if at all possible.)

Thanks in advance for your time and help with the issue!

 

[Seanie280672]

To run dual channel you need 1 stick in A1 and 1 stick in B1 or 1 stick in A2 and 1 stick in B2, if nether of these configurations are working at stock setting, you have a problem with the board, bent pins in the socket etc, or a faulty cpu.

I did a complete system take down today to inspect everything and found out I actually do have a bent pin in the CPU socket as seen right here. Now my question is, is there anything I can do to try and recover that pin? Or is it shot and my only option is to RMA the board (which I'm trying to avoid if at all possible.)

Thanks in advance for your time and help with the issue!

Try and straighten it, use a magnifying glass and a needle/pin or some fine tip tweezers, get it back to normal as best as you can, dont snap it off or you'll be completely stuffed, otherwise its a bin job and new motherboard.

Bent pins are not covered under warranty, they always blame the user, and even if it wasnt you, how do you prove it.

 

[Omeyn]

Try and straighten it, use a magnifying glass and a needle/pin or some fine tip tweezers, get it back to normal as best as you can.

This was it, I sat there and slowly moved the pin back into place so I didn't snap it or worse hit other pins, now both channels are working. Again, thanks so much for the time and help, it's all greatly appreciated!