Help with new RAM not installing.

[JohnofGilead]

Hey,

I recently built my first PC(See bottom of post for part list)

Everything was working fine, but using After Effects etc. it was clear that I could do with an extra bit of memory so I bought another 2 sticks of RAM, same brand/speeds etc. I installed the new RAM using this configuration:
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/X99-A-II/ (two sticks in ports on either side marked 01, and two in ports marked 02 - is this correct?)

And now neither the BIOS, nor Windows recognises the new memory. When I hit the MemOK button, the computer boots and MemOK gives the all clear, and when I hit F1 to enter BIOS the extra memory appears as installed,( but only after pressing MemOK) then when I boot Windows it still only shows 16GB in my PC properties

On POST the DRAM light goes from white to an orange, I dont recall if this has always been doing this, so it may be a red herring.

Any help in solving this would be greatly appreciated,

John.

CPU:
Intel Core i7-6800K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooler
Corsair H55 57.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Motherboard
Asus X99-A II ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard

Memory
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400
+
New Memory:
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400

SSD
Samsung 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

HDD
Toshiba 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

GPU
GeForce GTX 1070

CASE:
NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case

OS:
Windows 10 64 bit

EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[JohnofGilead]

After moving the RAM around with different configurations I confirmed the problem is the memory, the original two sticks were always active and appearing in the BIOS in every setup I tried. Though before I initiate a return is there something else I should try in case the problem is something I'm not thinking of?

 

[BadAsAl]

Sorry but it isn't clear if you removed the original RAM and just ran either 1 or 2 sticks of the new RAM to see if it worked?

 

[JohnofGilead]

Sorry but it isn't clear if you removed the original RAM and just ran either 1 or 2 sticks of the new RAM to see if it worked?

My bad, I got that mixed around it's the new ones that seem to be working well, I had to double check the serial to be sure.

I just did a few more tests, with every configuration possible with two sticks and in Slot D1|B1(First Priority config on Asus website)

The new ones always appear in the BIOS no matter which slot/what other stick of RAM is with them but original sticks only appear when alone or with the other original.

-John

 

[BadAsAl]

interesting. Can you post pics of all the sticks and note which ones are original and which ones new?

 

[JohnofGilead]

interesting. Can you post pics of all the sticks and note which ones are original and which ones new?

NEW:

ORIGINAL

FIRST TWO NEW, LAST TWO ORIGINAL

 

[BadAsAl]

I notice right away that original has C14 and the new has C16 at the end which I think has to do with latency. I'm researching.
This could be your issue, as motherboard might be changing to accommodate the C16 sticks but then cannot see the C14 ones, this is just my first thought and I need to investigate.

 

[BadAsAl]

I am not an overclocker and I'm sure one will come along soon, but if possible, what might work is setting the latency manually so that the C16 runs at the C14 latency. That seems to be the only difference per the specs, C14 has Tested Latency: 14-16-16-31 and C16 has Tested Latency: 16-16-16-39

 

[BadAsAl]

Your motherboard manual has a note to always install RAM of the same CAS latency so this seems to confirm my thoughts that this is the issue. But you might be able to change the settings in the BIOS and make it work.

 

[JohnofGilead]

Your motherboard manual has a note to always install RAM of the same CAS latency so this seems to confirm my thoughts that this is the issue. But you might be able to change the settings in the BIOS and make it work.

I am still getting my head around components and the many numbers associated with them. I would never have reached this conclusion, thanks a lot for your help, I appreciate it. At the very least it has given me a new string of searches to try out.

-John

 

[BadAsAl]

Welcome, glad to help!

 

[JohnofGilead]

UPDATE:

After failing to find a solution last time, I returned the previous sticks of RAM and bought another two sticks from original source(Amazon) making sure the latency matched. I am now having the same issue with these two new sticks in which my MOBO/Windows system only detects the two newer sticks of RAM regardless of the configuration.

Anybody have any ideas why my system refuses to detect the original RAM when another stick is introduced?

 

[BadAsAl]

I'd say welcome back but I'm sure you would rather not be here!
Take a look at this long thread, maybe you can glean something useful from it: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2337139/ram-fully-detected.html
Second to last post seems like something to try...

 

[JohnofGilead]

Ok, that is getting me somewhere. When I go to 1.300v as suggested in that thread my computer doesn't POST, with an error saying overclocking has failed, so I tinkered and managed to get it to boot @ 1.280v, with 3 of the 4 RAM sticks showing up. I'm going to keep making incremental changes to voltage to get something that works.

Thanks again!
John

 

[BadAsAl]

Cool, be sure to keep us updated and hopefully you can come back with good news. I have seen A LOT of posts lately regarding adding RAM causing machine so to not boot so this could be very helpful for others.

 

[JohnofGilead]

After taking a break over the weekend I returned to it today. By increasing the DRAM voltage on both channels my machine recognises three of the four sticks at 0.280v but never all four and only sometimes, those other times it would take me to a screen saying "Overclocking failed, press F1 for setup" or boot up as always but only with 16GB of installed RAM.

There is a difference in the RAM's version number(Original = v3.31 new = v3.21) which I think may be causing this issue, though I don't know how to verify this theory.

My current plan if there are no solutions is to try return the new ones and make do with the original 16GB of RAM until I can afford a pack with 32GB in the one box.

John

 

[BadAsAl]

There may be a magic combination that will make it work but I don't have experience in overclocking enough to help any further, sorry! It would be interesting to see if a 32 GB matched pack will work.