Question Installed Physical Memory (16.0GB) doesn't match Available (7.93 GB(

Nov 6, 2019
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Slapped together this tower back in 2017 and figured since it supports dual memory slots, might as well toss in another 8GB in there. The second stick is showing up but not available.

2 G.SKILL Aegis 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) Memory (Desktop Memory) Model F4-3000C16S-8GISB

Motherboard is an ASRock AB350M AM4 AMD Promontory B350 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD

Only advice I can find is update BIOS (or NEVER UPDATE BIOS!!!) - my version is P3.00, or very old. There are newer versions, but they're instructing me to update to Bridge BIOS (without really explaining how). If this memory isn't compatible I don't want to waste a ton of time updating BIOS and potentially bricking my motherboard.

system-information.png
 
BIOS updates are critical for memory compatibility in some cases.

However,

The first and most important things to do are :

1 Check that both sticks are the EXACT same.
  1. check that they are both running at the correct frequency?
  2. Are they in the correct slots. IE either 1 and 3 or 2 and 4?
  3. Do both sticks work? try with one and see what happens test both sticks
  4. Do you have the memory set in dual channel mode? Try turning it off if so
  5. Please update the BIOS its done by downloading the new software in windows and clicking install its not that crazy like people often make it seem
 
Nov 6, 2019
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BIOS updates are critical for memory compatibility in some cases.

However,

The first and most important things to do are :

1 Check that both sticks are the EXACT same.

Repeated my order but there is a SLIGHT difference in the SKU, with one noting it's Intel Z170 Platform Memory and the other just saying Memory
  1. check that they are both running at the correct frequency?
  2. Are they in the correct slots. IE either 1 and 3 or 2 and 4?
  3. Do both sticks work? try with one and see what happens test both sticks
  4. Do you have the memory set in dual channel mode? Try turning it off if so
  5. Please update the BIOS its done by downloading the new software in windows and clicking install its not that crazy like people often make it seem
1. Here's what I have for a memory report:
memory-report.png

  1. Only have two memory slots.
  2. Both the new stick and old stick work.
  3. Memory is currently set in single slot mode in BIOS but apparently it should autodetect?
  4. I'm concerned that they're saying I shouldn't do the BIOS update without the Bridge BIOS. Can't find anything on how to install that first.
 
A bridge BIOS is used for flashing a bios When you don't have a compatible CPU you don't need it otherwise.

I would manually set the bios to use both slots its possible that is an issue but given that you are seeing both sticks but only one is used for physical memory i... wait a second why on earth is your 3000Mhz memory running at 1064.1MHz?

Go to the bios and turn on the AMP memory profile and see if that fixes it its possible your memory is running at vastly different speeds and that is resulting in the OS only using the high speed stick. make sure it is all set to AMP
 
Repeated my order but there is a SLIGHT difference in the SKU, with one noting it's Intel Z170 Platform Memory and the other just saying Memory

1. Here's what I have for a memory report:
memory-report.png

  1. Only have two memory slots.
  2. Both the new stick and old stick work.
  3. Memory is currently set in single slot mode in BIOS but apparently it should autodetect?
  4. I'm concerned that they're saying I shouldn't do the BIOS update without the Bridge BIOS. Can't find anything on how to install that first.


if you can return the sticks and get a proper vendor listed sticks from asrock page if your unsure i can do the digging for you.

the first gen ryzen are very picky and in some cases do not duel channel nicely with certain kits

need the proper name of the motherboard in order to find a vendor list

the reason i say return it as i had 2 patriot ram sticks the exact same happened to me

it only read 1 stick at a time the sticks work fine in another computer i have but refused to duel channel with ryzen 1600 for some reason

also xmp doesnt really work properly from my experiance on ryzen

now the max speed your cpu supports without overclocking is
2667MHz


also updating the bios does help with some stability i can do a full explaination of that once i know the proper boards name
 
Nov 6, 2019
10
0
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A bridge BIOS is used for flashing a bios When you don't have a compatible CPU you don't need it otherwise.

I would manually set the bios to use both slots its possible that is an issue but given that you are seeing both sticks but only one is used for physical memory i... wait a second why on earth is your 3000Mhz memory running at 1064.1MHz?

Go to the bios and turn on the AMP memory profile and see if that fixes it its possible your memory is running at vastly different speeds and that is resulting in the OS only using the high speed stick. make sure it is all set to AMP

I've updated my BIOS but it looks like there isn't a simple way to turn on an AMP memory profile. From what I've read online, it looks like I can adjust my voltage via UEFI BIOS screen?
 
Nov 6, 2019
10
0
10
if you can return the sticks and get a proper vendor listed sticks from asrock page if your unsure i can do the digging for you.

the first gen ryzen are very picky and in some cases do not duel channel nicely with certain kits

need the proper name of the motherboard in order to find a vendor list

the reason i say return it as i had 2 patriot ram sticks the exact same happened to me

it only read 1 stick at a time the sticks work fine in another computer i have but refused to duel channel with ryzen 1600 for some reason

also xmp doesnt really work properly from my experiance on ryzen

now the max speed your cpu supports without overclocking is
2667MHz


also updating the bios does help with some stability i can do a full explaination of that once i know the proper boards name

Is ASRock AB350M AM4 AMD Promontory B350 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD not the board name?
 
Nov 6, 2019
10
0
10
A bridge BIOS is used for flashing a bios When you don't have a compatible CPU you don't need it otherwise.

I would manually set the bios to use both slots its possible that is an issue but given that you are seeing both sticks but only one is used for physical memory i... wait a second why on earth is your 3000Mhz memory running at 1064.1MHz?

Go to the bios and turn on the AMP memory profile and see if that fixes it its possible your memory is running at vastly different speeds and that is resulting in the OS only using the high speed stick. make sure it is all set to AMP
Here's what I see in BIOS, FWIW:
bios.jpg
 
Here's what I'm seeing in the latest BIOS update:
IMGUR album

Specs are the same but the actual DRAM chips are from different manufacturers that could be it. One stick is Samsung the other is Hynix

Also your second stick is in the wrong slot it should read slot 3 not slot 2

Also your Ram is still running at 2133Mhz instead of 3000 so click it off of auto and set it to 3000 don't change voltage you shoulden't need to
 
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While someone can imply using exact match, same thing, identical is a good thing, memory manufacturers such as G.Skill don't guarantee compatibility of such combinations.

Memory modules sold as Single modules are only guaranteed to work to rated specifications if used as one module and not in multiple combinations.

XMP profiles are for memory in the form sold and not for other combinations you decide to create.
 
Nov 6, 2019
10
0
10
While someone can imply using exact match, same thing, identical is a good thing, memory manufacturers such as G.Skill don't guarantee compatibility of such combinations.

Memory modules sold as Single modules are only guaranteed to work to rated specifications if used as one module and not in multiple combinations.

XMP profiles are for memory in the form sold and not for other combinations you decide to create.

So I'd be better off trying to order a new one until I hit the jackpot of a match?