Question Ram upgrade causing system freeze

[rfunk83]

Hi, been many a year since I last posted here.

Pc specs
Mb: msi sniper m5
Processor intel i7 4770
Original ram : ddr3 kingston 1600c10d3b1k2/16g
New ram : G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9Q-32GXM
Gpu: Nvidia GeForce gtx 4070

I recently upgraded gpu and my monitor and figured I'd pop in some better ram while at it. After the initial install I had a boot loop which I terminated by manually updating bios. I can now load into windows and operate normally with no issues until I attempt to start a game.

When loading a game I hear a slight pitch from the mb and the machine completely freezes. I have combed through bios repeatedly and under clocked the memory to no avail.

Interestingly I attempted to reinstall the kingston ram and am now dealing with the same issue no matter which set of ram is in there.

I would appreciate any input you might have and thanks for your time.

 

[boju]

What power supply are you using and how old? What was the previous graphics card?

Remove the graphics card and temporarily use igpu. Can you load games properly then having either memory config?

 

[rfunk83]

What power supply are you using and how old? What was the previous graphics card?

Remove the graphics card and temporarily use igpu. Can you load games properly then having either memory config?

Psu is a corsair hx850 replaced within last 5 years.
Previous gpu was GeForce gtx 1070

I should have mentioned, newegg shipped my ram separately and it came in late. Due to this I used the original ram for several days with the upgraded gpu with no issue and it ran flawlessly with maxed graphics.

I will try the igpu with both sets of ram and reply later today.
Thank you

 

[rfunk83]

Also the gpu is rtx not gtx. I just noticed my mistake

 

[rfunk83]

I had a bit of time this morning. I used on board gpu and new ram and it locked up as it has been. I swapped the kingston ram out in the paired slots and it did not lock up loading games. I have yet to push it and see.

Of note I have the ram installed in the green ram slots. I'll have to see if the other slots yield the same results.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

Your system as is, isn't balanced very well. Your system aside from the GPU are well past their prime. You really need to consider a platform upgrade to match your GPU. You will be holding back a lot of performance because of that,

With that said, it could be the PSU, if it's not providing enough juice to the GPU. It could also be the mem, since you have changed it.

Maybe start with testing the ram outside of windows with memtest86+ on a usb key.
Rule that out. It should run for 4 passes (this takes time - run overnight), and with no errors. If there are errors then one or other ram kits are faulty. Don't mix ram, this will just create an additional headache.

Is the HX 5 years old? Do you still have the 1070? Can you swap it out still?

Make sure sure your bios is up to date, to ensure you get best compatibility

 

[rfunk83]

Hey there,

Your system as is, isn't balanced very well. Your system aside from the GPU are well past their prime. You really need to consider a platform upgrade to match your GPU. You will be holding back a lot of performance because of that,

With that said, it could be the PSU, if it's not providing enough juice to the GPU. It could also be the mem, since you have changed it.

Maybe start with testing the ram outside of windows with memtest86+ on a usb key.
Rule that out. It should run for 4 passes (this takes time - run overnight), and with no errors. If there are errors then one or other ram kits are faulty. Don't mix ram, this will just create an additional headache.

Is the HX 5 years old? Do you still have the 1070? Can you swap it out still?

Make sure sure your bios is up to date, to ensure you get best compatibility

Hi Roland and thank you for the advise. I recognize this rig is getting old but I'm not quite ready fir a new setup. I'm not a hard-core gamer so even being throttled it is ok for me until then.

I do still have the 1070 and I will look into a bios update tonight. I'm always afraid to mess with bios after being told I could brick the pc if I did it wrong.

Update for the general thread. I switched back to the 4070 and locked up loading a game right away. I don't understand how it performed so well till the ram swap and now even with the original ram is crashing but it sounds like that hx850 is possibly the culprit.

 

[rfunk83]

Thread update.

I took some needed time and updated fans after realizing I had 2 faulty and while I was at it purchased and installed a new corsair rm1000e psu.

I've been attempting a memtest overnight with 2 sticks of the original ram but the machine is locking up whole testing. I'm currently running a test on a single stick now.

I was going to wait to update thread but when testing I keep seeing

Ram info : pc3-12800 ddr3 xmp 1600mhz / 10-10-10-27 / kingston khx1600c10d3

I have checked and double checked my bios to be sure it's set to 1333 mhz. Is this just a reference to the kingston ram being capable of 1600 or actually running at 1600?

Also.... in relation to bios. Gigabyte has no update that I can tell for that mb. My bios date is 05/13

 

[rfunk83]

Memtest locked up on the new ram but only after confirming errors on the Gskill ram so at least we can confirm that ram is bad.
The original kingston ram tested 4/4 passes on 1 stick and 2/4 passes on the other stick but froze at that point. Just to be sure I retested the stick that passed 4/4 and it froze at pass 3/4 so this does not appear to be a ram issue.
Any ideas?
I'm going to try a BIOS flash shortly with the latest version Gigabyte has in support and see what happens.
.
.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I have left XMP disabled but for some reason every time I enter BIOS the ram performance is turned up to turbo. I set it back to normal each time.

 

[rfunk83]

Thread update: The issue has been resolved. Classic case of not seeing the forest through the trees.
.
The new G.SKILL ram was defective.
.
Even having reset cmos many times, the bios was not updating the ram timing for the Kingston ram which uses a 10-10-10-27 timing. Instead even after CMOS resets and bios changes and saves it was continuing to use the G.SKILL timing of 9-9-9-24. This explains the pc running under light load but freezing under any increase in stress.
.
After manually changing timing to Kingston ram needs my machine is running flawlessly.

Word of wisdom to others. Computers are 1s and 0s. Don't go into diagnosis with preconceptions. Narrow down the possibilities systematically like so many knowledgeable people here suggest and let the machine tell you. Had I started out with memtest results I'd have know right away the new ram was bad and been able to solve this sooner.