[SOLVED] Newly Installed 16 gb (8gb x 2 DDR4 , 2400mhz) ram shows only 8gb Usable, How to fix this?

Ahazuerus

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Hey guys good day, I'm just wondering why my PC with newly installed 16 gb ram (8gb x 2, 2400mhz DDR4 ) doesn't utilize all of the 16gb ram. It only shows 7.95 gb Usable then 16 Gb on its top in the performance tab in the task manager. So I tried a couple of solution:
  1. Resetting my bios to default settings
  2. In msconfig, I checked the box with Maximum memory under the boot tab , advance options. . .
This worked, it showed 16gb usable but after shutting down and powering back on , it returns to 8gb usable rather than 16gb.
  1. Used safe mode , but instead of utilizing 16gb, it only used 4gb, which I think worsened it .
  2. Switching ram slots
non of them worked.

Sometimes , it takes a long while when rebooting . The CPU fan , the Mother board Led lights powers on but the monitor doesn't show up anything. Only the power led of the monitor is blinking. I had to force shut down then power on again.

So before I bought the new ram stick , I only use 1 stick of 8 gb. It works fine.
But after buying a new stick with the SAME SPECS, MODEL AND BRAND, it just won't work utilizing 16 gb.

Here are my PC specs:
RAM: Both Kingston Hyper X 8gb 2400mhz DDR4
CPU : Ryzen 5 1600
GPU: GTX 1070
MoBo: MSI B350 Gaming pro ( only has 2 ram slots)
PSU: Powerbox 500 watts true rated

Thank you In advance !!
 
Solution
I just looked at my bios setting and it has "A-XMP" profiles. Can I use those stuff to fix the problem?
Did you buy the ram sticks separately? If so, you shouldn't have done that. They may be the same model but it's no guarantee that they will work together. You should have bought a 2x8gb kit to be sure that they will work 100%. Also, if you do buy two new sticks, be sure that they will be 3000+mhz, as ryzen cpus benefit hugely from faster ram.

ProPlayerGR

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I just looked at my bios setting and it has "A-XMP" profiles. Can I use those stuff to fix the problem?
Did you buy the ram sticks separately? If so, you shouldn't have done that. They may be the same model but it's no guarantee that they will work together. You should have bought a 2x8gb kit to be sure that they will work 100%. Also, if you do buy two new sticks, be sure that they will be 3000+mhz, as ryzen cpus benefit hugely from faster ram.
 
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Solution

Ahazuerus

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Yes , I bought them separately. I didn't knew that. So I should've bought rams together to ensure that they're are in pairs that are compatible together ? That's new to me, anyways are there any more solution for this case ?

I tried using the ram sticks alone . The slot near the CPU , both worked and booted up . But the 2nd slot which was farther than the CPU , neither of them worked. I guess the motherboard doesn't support two of the the same type of rams installed at the same time ?

Thank you so much for the response.

Did you buy the ram sticks separately? If so, you shouldn't have done that. They may be the same model but it's no guarantee that they will work together. You should have bought a 2x8gb kit to be sure that they will work 100%. Also, if you do buy two new sticks, be sure that they will be 3000+mhz, as ryzen cpus benefit hugely from faster ram.
 

Gfost73

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the board would only boot using a certain slot if only using 1 stick, most likely as you discovered the first slot. have you made sure there is no dust or debris in the slot? made sure RAM is seated well? if so its maybe just possible that those 2 modules wont work together. that's why you should buy them as sets, as a guarantee that they will work together, improper mounting of a CPU cooler can also cause DIMM slots to malfunction, you may want to check that as well.
 

rgd1101

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Yes , I bought them separately. I didn't knew that. So I should've bought rams together to ensure that they're are in pairs that are compatible together ? That's new to me, anyways are there any more solution for this case ?

I tried using the ram sticks alone . The slot near the CPU , both worked and booted up . But the 2nd slot which was farther than the CPU , neither of them worked. I guess the motherboard doesn't support two of the the same type of rams installed at the same time ?

Thank you so much for the response.
it the 2nd slot doesn't work by itself with either stick. the motherboard might be the issue.
 
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You could have a bent pin under your CPU. I had an old 1155 motherboard come across my bench. The older person I bought it from seemed legit so I took a chance and it worked fine, Loaded windows messed around with it for a few days all good. Now came time to finish the build and add memory. Same as you just would not work any other combo than 1 stick same slot. Turned out to be 2 bent pins on motherboard. I now think seller knew board was wonky as he removed CPU locking mechanism before he shipped to me. She's working just fine now.
 
The kind of combination you have, has no guarantee to be compatible together.

Since you can make any combinations you want, you are free to do your own compatibility testing with no guarantees.

Memory is guaranteed in the form sold and other combinations you decide to make have no guarantee to be compatible together.
 

Ahazuerus

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the board would only boot using a certain slot if only using 1 stick, most likely as you discovered the first slot. have you made sure there is no dust or debris in the slot? made sure RAM is seated well? if so its maybe just possible that those 2 modules wont work together. that's why you should buy them as sets, as a guarantee that they will work together, improper mounting of a CPU cooler can also cause DIMM slots to malfunction, you may want to check that as well.

As far as I know, it's seated well because it is recognize by windows and the bios, but the thing is I bought them separately from different stores but same model, I haven't check if CPU cooler is mounted improperly , but I'll Give it a try . Thanks !
 

Ahazuerus

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You could have a bent pin under your CPU. I had an old 1155 motherboard come across my bench. The older person I bought it from seemed legit so I took a chance and it worked fine, Loaded windows messed around with it for a few days all good. Now came time to finish the build and add memory. Same as you just would not work any other combo than 1 stick same slot. Turned out to be 2 bent pins on motherboard. I now think seller knew board was wonky as he removed CPU locking mechanism before he shipped to me. She's working just fine now.

Ohh I see, where could this "pins" be found ? I remember I bent some pins but it's not near the ram slots though. I'll give this a try, thanks !
 

Ahazuerus

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The kind of combination you have, has no guarantee to be compatible together.

Since you can make any combinations you want, you are free to do your own compatibility testing with no guarantees.

Memory is guaranteed in the form sold and other combinations you decide to make have no guarantee to be compatible together.

Oh I see . . . I thought same model and same specs would always work together even you bought them separately . Is this related to rams being dual channel or single channel ?
 

Ahazuerus

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improper CPU cooler mounting CAN cause DIMM slots to not function, are you 100% sure the CPU cooler is installed correct?


It was the first time I assembled my own PC and I haven't had the technician did it when I bought it from the store. It looks fine though but I'll take a closer look , thanks for the info !
 
So this is where you want to pay attention and go slow. Don't make things worse and go wild west with any of the fix it Ideas you can try .

Yes you've got nothing to loose at this point I would pull the CPU cooler and reset. While you have it off take a good look at CPU pins, hold it up to the light and look down the rows at different angles. If all's good you can check that off your list and give good attention re installing cooler.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTFN_RI1fIU



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMn-9V3WbCw
 
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