[SOLVED] DRAM XMP profile fails to load when 4 rams are installed

[Forster]

Hi All. I would like to get your help in findig a solution, or identifying the issue which causes failure after enabling XMP config in BIOS.

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K, 3900 MHz
MOBO: MSI Z170A PC Mate (MS-7971)
MEMORY: 32 GB (DDR4 SDRAM)
2x8 GB DDR4 Kingston HyperX Predator 3200 Mhz CL16 - Link>> HX432C16PB3AK2/16
2x8 GB DDR4 Kingston HyperX Savage 3000 Mhz CL15 - Link>>HX430C15SB2K2/16
BIOS: 7971vAG - AMI (06/23/2018) (latest)
VGA: ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 6GB STRIX OC
HDD: 2xHDD, 1xNVMe SSD

First of all, thank you for any help!
The reason buying different ram stick (recent bought the 3200mhz Predator RGB), that my friend of mine advised that it was on sale, and it must be working together as its Kingston HyperX and just slight differencies. I believed to him, and ordered the rams. Unfortunately I was not aware of the issue came up afterwards.

After installing the rams, BIOS noticed it and accordingly it set the DRAM speed to 2133Mhz by default. (Previously with Savage, XMP was working fine on 3000Mhz.) On the BIOS there is a simple option to set XMP profiles 1 and 2. As usual I set it to "1" which makes the rams to work at max possible speeds, in my case it should be 3200Mhz due to Predators. (I dont really know if the other 2 rams /savage/ should work the same, or just on 3000mhz).
After Saving and rebooting, a FAILED message appeared shortly, saying that "RAM OC has failured and it wont be able to run, therefore I need to set the latest config back, or go to bios"...(in nutshell).

Tryed XMP profiles 1,2; manually set speeds; removed CMOS, inserted only half the rams, switched the Slots, Updated bios to the latest.

Only one time the RAMS worked in XMP 3200Mhz Profile 1, -> when 2 of predators and 1 of Savage was placed into the DIMMS 2-4 (predator) and DIMMS 3 (savage) slots. After going back to bios the error message popped up again, but after restarts sometime it was fine.

So my question is, what the hell is going on ? Is there anything I can do for having the RAMs working together on XMP profiles ? Should I manually set Timings ? Voltages ? Latencys ? Expert Setting is Bios in order to solve this issue ? Or am I in trouble cus' there is no way of doing that so .

Your help would be greatly appreciated !!!! I was so glad I bought these RAMS and now I am feeling terrible of not getting them working well.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Nemesia]

Your friend unfortunately was wrong telling you that when you buy 2 different kind of kit with different speed they should work 100%.

There is no guarantee that mixing RAM will even work and in case I think you found out it doesn't.

It's even worst with 4 sticks since 4 sticks put a bigger stress on the CPU memory controller.

Try running your 4 sticks in this configuration :

OLD - NEW - OLD - NEW or NEW - OLD - NEW - OLD on the board and set the RAM to 2933MHz or 2666MHz.

Even if you had the 4 sticks from the same RAM kit at 3200 or 3000MHz you might not be able to run at that speed because of the 4 sticks instead of just using 2 sticks.

If nothing works the 2 kit just don't work together. Always upgrade your RAM by buying a new kit with the exact amount you want and remove the old RAM. That's is the best.

 

[Forster]

Your friend unfortunately was wrong telling you that when you buy 2 different kind of kit with different speed they should work 100%.

There is no guarantee that mixing RAM will even work and in case I think you found out it doesn't.

It's even worst with 4 sticks since 4 sticks put a bigger stress on the CPU memory controller.

Try running your 4 sticks in this configuration :

OLD - NEW - OLD - NEW or NEW - OLD - NEW - OLD on the board and set the RAM to 2933MHz or 2666MHz.

Even if you had the 4 sticks from the same RAM kit at 3200 or 3000MHz you might not be able to run at that speed because of the 4 sticks instead of just using 2 sticks.

If nothing works the 2 kit just don't work together. Always upgrade your RAM by buying a new kit with the exact amount you want and remove the old RAM. That's is the best.

Hi Nemesia,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I will going to try what you advised. I hope some settings will get work on XMP, or I need to look forward to replacing the old ones, or leaving the setup on default 2133 w/o XMP.

 

[Nemesia]

Hi Nemesia,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I will going to try what you advised. I hope some settings will get work on XMP, or I need to look forward to replacing the old ones, or leaving the setup on default 2133 w/o XMP.

I would try the slot 1 (old) slot 2 (new) slot 3 (old) slot 4 (new) or the opposite with 2666MHz. Do not replace the old one with another kit of the new one. Even then it's not guarantee that it will work together. A 2x16GB kit would be the best bet here.

By the way the difference between 2666 and 3000 or 3200 for an intel system is such a small difference that you won't even see it. It's like 1-2 fps in games.

 

[Forster]

I would try the slot 1 (old) slot 2 (new) slot 3 (old) slot 4 (new) or the opposite with 2666MHz. Do not replace the old one with another kit of the new one. Even then it's not guarantee that it will work together. A 2x16GB kit would be the best bet here.

By the way the difference between 2666 and 3000 or 3200 for an intel system is such a small difference that you won't even see it. It's like 1-2 fps in games.

Thank you Nemesia, Just tried it and somehow, It worked on 2666 MHz but not enabling XMP, only manually setting it to that and Voltage to 1.35 . Now it says 2667Mhz. I'd like to push it to 3000, but I'm afraid it would fail...

The wierd thing that my friend, has similar setup, only difference he's got Predator 3000 mhz 2x4 gb. But for him, it's working with XMP 3200.

 

[Nemesia]

Thank you Nemesia, Just tried it and somehow, It worked on 2666 MHz but not enabling XMP, only manually setting it to that and Voltage to 1.35 . Now it says 2667Mhz. I'd like to push it to 3000, but I'm afraid it would fail...

The wierd thing that my friend, has similar setup, only difference he's got Predator 3000 mhz 2x4 gb. But for him, it's working with XMP 3200.

Leave it at 2666MHz. Like I said you won't even see the difference. If this was a Ryzen system with you using 2400MHz RAM instead of 3600MHz RAM that would have been another story but in you case stability is more important

 

[Forster]

Leave it at 2666MHz. Like I said you won't even see the difference. If this was a Ryzen system with you using 2400MHz RAM instead of 3600MHz RAM that would have been another story but in you case stability is more important

Yes, stability is first , rather then just 1-3fps in games ... However I dont understand the reason why 2666 runs well as you proposed, and the others, or XMP don't .

Hopefully I cannot update to Ryzens soon, as I would need to change a lot of things .....

 

[Calvin7]

Use of multiple kits of memory have no guarantee to be compatible together. You may get them working at a slower clock speed.

XMP profiles are for one kit of memory not two.

 

[Forster]

Use of multiple kits of memory have no guarantee to be compatible together. You may get them working at a slower clock speed.

XMP profiles are for one kit of memory not two.

Thanks for that, I was not aware of it unfortunately..
For the future I'll keep in mind the above advices.