[SOLVED] Gigabyte Z170 Gaming 7 - G.Skill Ripjaws 4 - Wont Post

[virtualdanger]

I put together a Skylake build in Feb 2016, and for most part its been working fine. There was one instance where it failed to post, and there was no video signal going to the monitor. After some troubleshooting, and finally clearing the CMOS, I got things back up and running.

Last night while watching an MKV file, the system froze, and then restarted. When it did, it threw up an error message, restarted again, and failed to post. Monitor remained in power save mode, after power cycling.

I did some troubleshooting today, and isolated it to having all 4 banks of ram populated, which is odd, since the system has been working fine like that for several months. If I keep just 1 bank populated. it boots, add a second stick, and it doesn't. Its not the specific memory module itself, as swapping them has the same effect.

As part of the troubleshooting process, I upgraded the motherboard firmware. It was version F6. Then I tried F7. Having the same problem, I went to the new F8l, which is the latest beta bios.

Any suggestion to get my system to boot normally, with all 4 banks of ram again populated, would be much appreciated. Thanks.

My System Specs:
- CPU: Intel i5 6500
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X Gaming 7 (Bios Version: F8l)
- Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 (F4-2400C15Q-32GRR)
- GPU: Gigabyte Windforce R9 290
- PSU: Corsair TX750
- Case: NZXT Phantom 530

The memory is a 4x8 GB kit. The memory is listed in the QVL list for this specific motherboard.

 

[Zerk2012]

Bump your memory voltage up by 0.02 volts and try it as gain.

 

[virtualdanger]

Bump your memory voltage up by 0.02 volts and try it as gain.

Dear Zerk2012, thank you for that. For the interim I've got it working, but if I encounter problems again, I'm going to try your suggestions next.

 

[virtualdanger]

I've managed to get the system to post and boot normally again.

- I noticed that all the memory setting in the bios were set to 'Auto'. I changed it to 'Manual', and set the multiplier so that the speed would be 2400 (as it was 2133 based on the 'auto' setting).
- The voltage was already at 1.20 (which is what the sticker on the memory stick says), so I did not change it.
- Additionally, I manually set the timings to 15-15-15-35, (per the sticker on the memory stick).

Saved the setting, shut down, then added the second stick, and it booted normally. Then shut down again, added sticks 3, and 4, and powered up. The system booted up fine.

If the problem reoccurs, I will try to bump up the memory voltage by 0.02 volts, per Zerk2012's suggestion.

 

[gskill support]

With XMP enabled it can also take care of the settings for you.

 

[virtualdanger]

With XMP enabled it can also take care of the settings for you.

Tried that when I was having the issue. The system failed to post, and there was no display.

 

[virtualdanger]

Recently realized the system was only detecting 16GB of Memory. The issues remained over multiple restarts. Checked the bios, only slots 3 and 4 were appearing as populated, while slots 1 and 2 were indicated as empty; though in reality all four banks were physically populated.

Thoughts anyone? What do you think is causing all these issues?

 

[gskill support]

Many possibilities, check CPU pins and cooler installation. Make sure no metal parts are in contact with each other, make sure no pins are ever so slightly altered. If everything is checked and still the same issue, it may be a motherboard problem.

 

[virtualdanger]

My guess is that Gigabyte is having trouble as well with Memory issues specific to this motherboard model. They've released yet another firmware update, version - F8P on 2016-07-28. The included note on fixes says memory stability. I've flashed the mobo to that one now, and am trying it. So far so good, but hopefully it remains that way.

 

[virtualdanger]

Many possibilities, check CPU pins and cooler installation. Make sure no metal parts are in contact with each other, make sure no pins are ever so slightly altered. If everything is checked and still the same issue, it may be a motherboard problem.

Thanks. Hoping it doesn't come down to that.

 

[virtualdanger]

And the problem is back. Was working fine for several days, and last night while gaming (Ashes of the Singularity), the game froze, then it went to a Windows BSOD, and then the system rebooted, but could not post. Needed to take out the 4 DIMMS, then just start with 1.

Sadly no other Bios updates available; I just checked.

Would bumping up the memory voltage be something I should try, as I have not tried that?

 

[virtualdanger]

Is there any solution to this?

I thought I had identified the issue to be 2 sticks of faulty ram, out of the set of 4. So I removed the 2, and continued to use the system with just 2, for over a year. The system was trouble free, and I really believed the issue was sorted.

Last night while watching a video on YouTube, the system froze. Had to hard-reset and then the system failed to post. Had to tinker, troubleshoot, and got it to post today, with just 1 stick. Now I'm wondering if it's bad memory or something else.

The configuration is the same. Only added info is that the board is Rev 1.0

 

[gskill support]

Feel free to send them in to see if a new kit works better:

http://www.gskill.com/en/rma

 

[virtualdanger]

Sent the memory in for RMA, took over a month to get my replacement.

Tested each DIMM separately, using the PC with just 1 at a time for a few days. Was hassle free.

Finally tried with all 4, and thankfully has been fine for several months. It was likely faulty memory in the first 32GB kit I got.