Ram unusable in windows rabbit hole

[Ramdude1]

I have a real toughie here.

So I got a used mobo and cpu ga970a ud3p fx6300. I decided to face my fears and replace my motherboard. Everything went well until I booted windows and saw out out my 8g of ram only 4 was usable....

First thing I tried was msconfig boot options made sure max mem was unchecked. Then again about 8x

Ok so I then rearranged the ram every way thinkable and learned that ram slots 3 and 4 were not working in windows but they read as installed in BIOS and CPUZ.

Slots 1 and 2 no problem in windows. Very strange..
Slots 1 and 3 are and 2 and 4 are the ones recommended in manual for dual channel.
Computer will not boot without a stick in slot 1.

I then thought this must be an OS problem so I contacted Microsoft and after an hour of remote assistance the tech guaranteed it was a software issue and told me to reinstall Windows.
So I did and no luck.
So I talk to Microsoft techs again for hours. (who were really really nice by the way and tried their hardest thank you guys) They were baffled and told me to contact Gigabyte because it has something to do with BIOS

The only change I made in Bios was to use optimized default settings.
I talk to Gigabyte guy and he said if the board reads the ram as installed the board is fine it must be CPU related..

So today I take the CPU out carefully examine it and no broken or bent pins. Re seat it. No luck.

Woohoo what a great time. Building computers sure is fun hey guys?

So what I am going to do now as my swan song grand finale is to run Prime 95 to test CPU and see what that info tells me. BUT if you think you are the smartest person in the room please speak up. Any info would be appreciated.

WARNING: I have combed forums for info, computer tech chat sites, I have talked to Microsoft techs, Gigabyte people, AMD people, multiple IT professionals and I have not come to a solution. I would like to hear other opinions and I would like there to be a record of this in case anyone else suffers with this horrible rabbit hole I have been running down

 

[Rhinofart]

It will show in teh BIOS even if it's defective (controller or memory). Does Memtest86+ see all 8 GB?

Interesting. I will run a memtest with all 8 sticks installed. Will it tell me whether it is a problem with mobo or with the cpu? How will I know what part is defective?

MemTestx86 will tell you which slot the bad ram is in, if that is indeed the problem.

 

[rgd1101]

the ram is 2x 2gb kingston 1333mh cl9 1.5v I have tested it in 1 and 2 works fine. I have not tried the memtest86 but I did try some games with it installed in 1 and 2 no stability issues. I guess I should try that?

[strike]2x2gb is 4gb how did you get 8GB?[/strike]
you have 2 kit, sometime it work, sometime is doesn't. guess you got the doesn't.

 

[Ramdude1]

Take your 2 Ram sticks you know work well in slots 1 & 2. Move them over to slots 3 & 4 and see if they work in there. If they work in there, then we know it's NOT your RAM slots on the Motherboard. It would be something to do with the CPU / Memory Controller. BIOS sees 8GB of RAM, but OS doesn't. Try a different OS to see if it's the OS that doesn't see the RAM. If that other OS doesn't see the RAM then you know for sure it's a CPU / Memory Controller problem. If the other OS does see the full 8 GB of RAM, then you know for sure you have an OS issue. I've told you to try a different (temporary os) quite a long time ago. In the time since I first suggested it, you could have had it downloaded, and the ISO burned to a CD and booted off of it.
Yes, you can do a USB boot with Ubuntu, TAILS, and Kali. Just follow the instructions on creating a bootable USB drive for whichever distro you choose, and go for it.

Alright Rhinofart. Thank you. I appreciate your time and help. I just wanted tho know what I am looking at when using these programs. I will try Ubuntu to make sure this is not an OS issue.

We know BIOS and CPUZ reads RAM in 3 and 4 so not a mobo issue-
lets step ahead - So say if ubuntu has the same result as windows then its not an OS issue.
If it is not an os issue then its a cpu issue?

Is there any way to jump ahead to checking for sure if it is a CPU issue?

I do happen to have a old x 4 945 phenom that just happens to be supported by this board.......Do I sound crazy when I think about swapping them and flicking the on switch?

PS the comp I am working on is stuck between a biilion W7 updates a.t.m....

 

[Ramdude1]

the ram is 2x 2gb kingston 1333mh cl9 1.5v I have tested it in 1 and 2 works fine. I have not tried the memtest86 but I did try some games with it installed in 1 and 2 no stability issues. I guess I should try that?

[strike]2x2gb is 4gb how did you get 8GB?[/strike]
you have 2 kit, sometime it work, sometime is doesn't. guess you got the doesn't.

The manual states when using 2 sticks use slots 1 and 3. i have tried 2 seperate matching pairs. Both work in 1 and 2 even mixed

 

[Ramdude1]

It will show in teh BIOS even if it's defective (controller or memory). Does Memtest86+ see all 8 GB?

Interesting. I will run a memtest with all 8 sticks installed. Will it tell me whether it is a problem with mobo or with the cpu? How will I know what part is defective?

MemTestx86 will tell you which slot the bad ram is in, if that is indeed the problem.

I am pretty darn sure the ram works so no point in memtest

 

[Rhinofart]

Take your 2 Ram sticks you know work well in slots 1 & 2. Move them over to slots 3 & 4 and see if they work in there. If they work in there, then we know it's NOT your RAM slots on the Motherboard. It would be something to do with the CPU / Memory Controller. BIOS sees 8GB of RAM, but OS doesn't. Try a different OS to see if it's the OS that doesn't see the RAM. If that other OS doesn't see the RAM then you know for sure it's a CPU / Memory Controller problem. If the other OS does see the full 8 GB of RAM, then you know for sure you have an OS issue. I've told you to try a different (temporary os) quite a long time ago. In the time since I first suggested it, you could have had it downloaded, and the ISO burned to a CD and booted off of it.
Yes, you can do a USB boot with Ubuntu, TAILS, and Kali. Just follow the instructions on creating a bootable USB drive for whichever distro you choose, and go for it.

Alright Rhinofart. Thank you. I appreciate your time and help. I just wanted tho know what I am looking at when using these programs. I will try Ubuntu to make sure this is not an OS issue.

We know BIOS and CPUZ reads RAM in 3 and 4 so not a mobo issue-
lets step ahead - So say if ubuntu has the same result as windows then its not an OS issue.
If it is not an os issue then its a cpu issue?

Is there any way to jump ahead to checking for sure if it is a CPU issue?

I do happen to have a old x 4 945 phenom that just happens to be supported by this board.......Do I sound crazy when I think about swapping them and flicking the on switch?

It's absolutely NOT crazy to think about trying that other Processor. But, I would first try the less work method first, and try the other OS method. If it still only shows 4Gb, Stick the Phenom in there, and see how it detects the RAM.

 

[Rhinofart]

It will show in teh BIOS even if it's defective (controller or memory). Does Memtest86+ see all 8 GB?

Interesting. I will run a memtest with all 8 sticks installed. Will it tell me whether it is a problem with mobo or with the cpu? How will I know what part is defective?

MemTestx86 will tell you which slot the bad ram is in, if that is indeed the problem.

I am pretty darn sure the ram works so no point in memtest

That was to answer your question about running Memtest, will it tell you where the problem is. Yes, when you run Memtest, it will tell you which stick of RAM is bad. (Slot #) So, that will be a good "trick" to know for the future when you have to run other tests on hardware. Every little trick and tip you pickup along the way will help you to troubleshoot future issues way faster.

 

[Ramdude1]

Take your 2 Ram sticks you know work well in slots 1 & 2. Move them over to slots 3 & 4 and see if they work in there. If they work in there, then we know it's NOT your RAM slots on the Motherboard. It would be something to do with the CPU / Memory Controller. BIOS sees 8GB of RAM, but OS doesn't. Try a different OS to see if it's the OS that doesn't see the RAM. If that other OS doesn't see the RAM then you know for sure it's a CPU / Memory Controller problem. If the other OS does see the full 8 GB of RAM, then you know for sure you have an OS issue. I've told you to try a different (temporary os) quite a long time ago. In the time since I first suggested it, you could have had it downloaded, and the ISO burned to a CD and booted off of it.
Yes, you can do a USB boot with Ubuntu, TAILS, and Kali. Just follow the instructions on creating a bootable USB drive for whichever distro you choose, and go for it.

Alright Rhinofart. Thank you. I appreciate your time and help. I just wanted tho know what I am looking at when using these programs. I will try Ubuntu to make sure this is not an OS issue.

We know BIOS and CPUZ reads RAM in 3 and 4 so not a mobo issue-
lets step ahead - So say if ubuntu has the same result as windows then its not an OS issue.
If it is not an os issue then its a cpu issue?

Is there any way to jump ahead to checking for sure if it is a CPU issue?

I do happen to have a old x 4 945 phenom that just happens to be supported by this board.......Do I sound crazy when I think about swapping them and flicking the on switch?

It's absolutely NOT crazy to think about trying that other Processor. But, I would first try the less work method first, and try the other OS method. If it still only shows 4Gb, Stick the Phenom in there, and see how it detects the RAM.

Right on. Ok thank you my new vaporous pal. We are going to get to the bottom of this hole. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAha....I will keep ya posted... 😛

 

[Rhinofart]

Sounds good man. Good luck, and hope you get to the bottom of it!