[SOLVED] PC not booting when populating all RAM slots ?

[JayJ47]

Hello, my first post here. I'm hoping someone van shed some light on what might be causing my PC to not boot.

Ive had the same setup for a few years now and had no issues up to about 9 months ago where out of nowhere the PC wouldnt boot. After a bit of fault finding i concluded the RAM was the issue.

The general issue is as follows

All slots are fine on their own
Slot 1 and 3 work together
Slot 2 and 4 do not work together
Slot 1, 3 and 4 work together
Slot 1, 2 and 3 do not work together
All slots do not work together
(Worded this part badly so edited it to just say the Slot numbers)


If I enable XMP then the PC will boot but will eventually lockup, without any errors it just crashes and stays on the same frame it was last on, and without it the PC just won't pass the DRAM check

I've reset the BIOS, tried using XMP, reseated all the chips, tried the chips in different ports and even updated the BIOS. My next step is to reseat the CPU. Is there anything else I should be looking at otherwise?

Thanks in advance.

Motherboard: MSI Gaming Z390-A Pro
CPU: Intel i7 9700k (Edit: had this as i9, its an i7 my bad)
RAM: Corsair Vengence RGB 4x8GB (I believe)

 

[Colif]

What PSU do you have? Make/model would help

Are all 4 sticks from the same set?

Try running memtest86 on each of your ram sticks, one stick at a time, up to 4 passes. Only error count you want is 0, any higher could be cause of the BSOD. Remove/replace ram sticks with errors.
Memtest is created as a bootable USB so that you don’t need windows to run it

A1 and A2 (Slot 1 and 3) work together

funny as they shouldn't
see page 3 of manual for ram - https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/E7B98v1.2.pdf

A2 & B2 are Channel A - primary ram channel
A1 & B1 are Channel B - You only use these slots if you have more than 2 sticks

A1, A2, and B1 do not work together

That didn't work as you have to have A2 & B2 used before can use other slots.
A1, A2 & B2 would have worked.

slot order still doesn't explain why all 4 don't work.

 

[CountMike]

Hello, my first post here. I'm hoping someone van shed some light on what might be causing my PC to not boot.

Ive had the same setup for a few years now and had no issues up to about 9 months ago where out of nowhere the PC wouldnt boot. After a bit of fault finding i concluded the RAM was the issue.

The general issue is as follows

All slots are fine on their own
A1 and A2 (Slot 1 and 3) work together
B1 and B2 (Slot 2 and 4) do not work together
A1, A2 and B2 work together
A1, A2, and B1 do not work together
All slots do not work together

If I enable XMP then the PC will boot but will eventually lockup, without any errors it just crashes and stays on the same frame it was last on, and without it the PC just won't pass the DRAM check

I've reset the BIOS, tried using XMP, reseated all the chips, tried the chips in different ports and even updated the BIOS. My next step is to reseat the CPU. Is there anything else I should be looking at otherwise?

Thanks in advance.

Motherboard: MSI Gaming Z390-A Pro
CPU: Intel i7 9700k (Edit: had this as i9, its an i7 my bad)
RAM: Corsair Vengence RGB 4x8GB (I believe)

Test each stick in all slots first https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-memtest64/

 

[JayJ47]

Sorry this is probably a mistake on my part but I might have named the slots wrong in my post, I'll double check which ones are the A slots and which ones are the B slots but according to the mother board 2 and 4 should be used first which is odd because that's the only scenario in which it outright won't boot.

PSU is a Corsair RM750x

All four sticks are the same but they are from two separate 2x8gb sets.

I will attempt to use Memtest on each stick. To clarify my post, each stick works without issue on their own in every slot. It's only when used together they develop a fault.

 

[egda23]

Sorry this is probably a mistake on my part but I might have named the slots wrong in my post, I'll double check which ones are the A slots and which ones are the B slots but according to the mother board 2 and 4 should be used first which is odd because that's the only scenario in which it outright won't boot.

PSU is a Corsair RM750x

All four sticks are the same but they are from two separate 2x8gb sets.

I will attempt to use Memtest on each stick. To clarify my post, each stick works without issue on their own in every slot. It's only when used together they develop a fault.

That smacks incompatibility between the 2 kits. What is the exact reference number, including the the version number, of each kit ?

 

[JayJ47]

That smacks incompatibility between the 2 kits. What is the exact reference number, including the the version number, of each kit ?

This was something I was concerned may come up, I don't have the PC to hand but will get the numbers as soon as I have access.

These numbers are available on the back of the RAM presumably?

Assuming the kits aren't playing nice together is there a chance of getting them to work?

 

[egda23]

This was something I was concerned may come up, I don't have the PC to hand but will get the numbers as soon as I have access.

These numbers are available on the back of the RAM presumably?

Assuming the kits aren't playing nice together is there a chance of getting them to work?

Guess that you already tried to use them at the slowest JEDEC speed, without activating XMP ?

 

[JayJ47]

Guess that you already tried to use them at the slowest JEDEC speed, without activating XMP ?

At the slowest speed my motherboard will let me select the PC will stop booting once all 4 are placed in the slots. Interestingly with XMP on it will boot but will crash eventually.

I was thinking maybe a voltage issue but I've had this RAM for a few years and it wasn't always a problem.

 

[JayJ47]

funny as they shouldn't
see page 3 of manual for ram - https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/E7B98v1.2.pdf

A2 & B2 are Channel A - primary ram channel
A1 & B1 are Channel B - You only use these slots if you have more than 2 sticks

That didn't work as you have to have A2 & B2 used before can use other slots.
A1, A2 & B2 would have worked.

slot order still doesn't explain why all 4 don't work.

I worded this quite badly, I had the Slots wrong in my head so I have updated the first post to be accurate. Sorry about that.

 

[Colif]

having 2 sets work together isn't guaranteed. Especially in XMP

the PC will stop booting once all 4 are placed in the slots. Interestingly with XMP on it will boot but will crash eventually.

It seems odd they stop working now after a few years but sticks can go bad.

could also be one of the sticks is going bad. Memtest would tell you that.

 

[JayJ47]

having 2 sets work together isn't guaranteed. Especially in XMP



It seems odd they stop working now after a few years but sticks can go bad.

could also be one of the sticks is going bad. Memtest would tell you that.

I think based on the advice I've been given I need to get the serials and test them before going any further then.

I will do some testing and get a bit more info.

 

[Exploding PSU]

I think based on the advice I've been given I need to get the serials and test them before going any further then.

I will do some testing and get a bit more info.

I had a VERY similar problem some time ago, just with different RAM kits (Team T-Force 8GB 3200 DDR4s). I had 2x4 GB installed on the system, but later down the road I bought another 2x4 GB kit as 16 GB looked very enticing. The newer kit had the exact same specs, speed, timing, etc. Just different heatsink color (the older one was white, the newer one was black. I asked if this would matter but they say it wouldn't). The symptoms were similar :
Slot 2 and 4 (old kit) work fine
Slot 1 and 3 (old kit) work fine
Slot 2 and 4 (new kit) work fine
Slot 1 and 3 (new kit) work fine
Installing a lone single stick (old and new) on any slot worked
Mixing 2 sticks (old and new) sometimes work sometimes didn't
Likewise, filling Slot 1 and 2 or 3 and 4, or other random combinations was a crapshoot.
Filling all 4 slots with mix of old and new kits would cause the PC to refuse to boot, it would just reboot indefinitely.

I managed to finally get all sticks to boot. Here's how I did it :

1. Reset BIOS, I did this by removing the CMOS battery thing.
2. Install old stick in slot 1
3. Reinstall CMOS battery and boot the PC. PC complained about RAM not installed in the most optimal slot, just skip it and boot to Windows.
4. Shut down PC, remove the CMOS battery again
5. Install new stick in slot 2
6. Reinstall CMOS battery, boot it back, skip all of its complaining and boot to Windows. Check Task Manager to make sure the correct capacity is shown.
7. Shut down PC, remove the CMOS battery.
8. Repeat step 4-6 all slots are filled.

TLDR, it's basically filling the slots one by one, starting from Slot 1, alternating between old and new sticks, while booting into Windows and reinstalling the CMOS battery in-between.

Just so we're on the same page, Slot 1 is the one closest to the CPU socket, it's "the lefmost" one when looking at the motherboard head on. Slot 4 is the furthest one from the socket, near the 20 pin header.

Eventually it did work, XMP worked all sticks were detected. Memtest etc. all passed no problem.

But it wasn't reliable, sometimes only half the capacity was available to Windows (despite BIOS detecting all RAM), sometimes XMP just reset itself, sometimes it refused to boot. Like mentioned above it's probably a compatibility problem (even though both RAM kits had the exact same specs, bought it at the same store, maybe something happened in the factory that made the two incompatible. Or maybe the paint used on the heatsink, I don't know).

I had enough and replaced them with 2x16 GB kit for peace of mind.

I don't know, maybe it could work. maybe not.

 

[JayJ47]

I had a VERY similar problem some time ago, just with different RAM kits (Team T-Force 8GB 3200 DDR4s). I had 2x4 GB installed on the system, but later down the road I bought another 2x4 GB kit as 16 GB looked very enticing. The newer kit had the exact same specs, speed, timing, etc. Just different heatsink color (the older one was white, the newer one was black. I asked if this would matter but they say it wouldn't). The symptoms were similar :
Slot 2 and 4 (old kit) work fine
Slot 1 and 3 (old kit) work fine
Slot 2 and 4 (new kit) work fine
Slot 1 and 3 (new kit) work fine
Installing a lone single stick (old and new) on any slot worked
Mixing 2 sticks (old and new) sometimes work sometimes didn't
Likewise, filling Slot 1 and 2 or 3 and 4, or other random combinations was a crapshoot.
Filling all 4 slots with mix of old and new kits would cause the PC to refuse to boot, it would just reboot indefinitely.

I managed to finally get all sticks to boot. Here's how I did it :

1. Reset BIOS, I did this by removing the CMOS battery thing.
2. Install old stick in slot 1
3. Reinstall CMOS battery and boot the PC. PC complained about RAM not installed in the most optimal slot, just skip it and boot to Windows.
4. Shut down PC, remove the CMOS battery again
5. Install new stick in slot 2
6. Reinstall CMOS battery, boot it back, skip all of its complaining and boot to Windows. Check Task Manager to make sure the correct capacity is shown.
7. Shut down PC, remove the CMOS battery.
8. Repeat step 4-6 all slots are filled.

TLDR, it's basically filling the slots one by one, starting from Slot 1, alternating between old and new sticks, while booting into Windows and reinstalling the CMOS battery in-between.

Just so we're on the same page, Slot 1 is the one closest to the CPU socket, it's "the lefmost" one when looking at the motherboard head on. Slot 4 is the furthest one from the socket, near the 20 pin header.

Eventually it did work, XMP worked all sticks were detected. Memtest etc. all passed no problem.

But it wasn't reliable, sometimes only half the capacity was available to Windows (despite BIOS detecting all RAM), sometimes XMP just reset itself, sometimes it refused to boot. Like mentioned above it's probably a compatibility problem (even though both RAM kits had the exact same specs, bought it at the same store, maybe something happened in the factory that made the two incompatible. Or maybe the paint used on the heatsink, I don't know).

I had enough and replaced them with 2x16 GB kit for peace of mind.

I don't know, maybe it could work. maybe not.

This actually rang a bell with me, I believe I did something similar when I first installed the RAM though I didn't remove the CMOS battery on the board. Doing this I was able to get some results as well.

So here is what I've managed to do since getting back to the PC

Loaded MEMTEST onto a USB to test. I reset the BIOS settings back to factory defaults. Checked each of the RAM sticks and found three numbers on each.

RAM 1: CMR16GX4M2C3000C15 180303651133097 15-17-17-35
RAM 2: CMR16GX4M2C3000C15 180303651133098 15-17-17-35
RAM 3: CMR16GX4M2C3000C15 180606740186550 15-17-17-35
RAM 4: CMR16GX4M2C3000C15 180606740186549 15-17-17-35

The first seems to be the model number and the last I'm guessing is some sort of spec related number so the second number would appear to be serial numbers. 1 and 2 appear to be one kit and 3 and 4 appear to be the second.

First thing I did was place each RAM into A1 on the motherboard to see if it booted.

Something that's new is that the PC did not boot at all with one of the sticks in A2. This is the first time this has happened and may imply that its actually the motherboard that's the problem. I decided to clean the slots again using air duster and a bit of contact cleaner. After doing this I inserted RAM 3 into A2 and checked. It booted without issue. Then I added RAM 4 into B2 and it booted again. So far so good. I inserted RAM 1 into A1 and RAM 2 into B1 and it actually did boot.

Now this doesn't mean its working obviously since I've had it booted before and it crashed however this time I didn't need to use XMP to make it boot. It would seem that perhaps there is a contact issue on A2 as it seems to be having any RAM module in that caused the boot to fail.

I'm now running MEMTEST with all 4 in to see if it gives errors. I don't want to outright remove any right now just in case I cause the issue to return. Assuming MEMTEST does not return an error am I safe to just leave it as is?

 

[Tolis_GR]

I would inspect the socket for bent pins as well. It might be causing a small short which would explain all that strange behavior.