[SOLVED] SOLVED - I messed up - RAM too fast for motherboard, any way to make it work ?

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wizbit

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Hi everyone

So, it appears I've made a big screw up...I've been building a new system as I can get the parts together and have:

ASRock Taichi X570
Amd 5950X
Corsair 128GB RAM, specifically 3600Mhz, model number CMW128GX4M4D3600C18

The machine boots fine, but it reports only 32GB RAM, with 8GB per channel.

After a bit of head scratching and updating to the latest BIOS I've realised that I don't think the board supports the RAM, it seems like I should have been using C15/C16 at a lower Mhz instead. Oops.

I wonder what my options are now? Is it possible to undervolt the RAM to slow it down so it works in the board? (I have no idea, I've never changed from stock speeds before as I need stability for working on the machine).

Unfortunately I can't send the RAM back as I've had it for two months...being able to buy the CPU took a lot longer than I initially expected!

I'm wondering if I may have to change the board for something that supports the RAM, but I'm struggling to find one. I bought the Taichi specifically because it has 3 x M.2 drive slots and 8 SATA slots...I'll use all of those so 2 x M.2 & 6 x SATA of most boards really isn't ideal for me.

Thanks for any advice, I'm a bit stuck and really need this machine built asap while I have a few days off.
 
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Hi everyone

So, it appears I've made a big screw up...I've been building a new system as I can get the parts together and have:

ASRock Taichi X570
Amd 5950X
Corsair 128GB RAM, specifically 3600Mhz, model number CMW128GX4M4D3600C18

The machine boots fine, but it reports only 32GB RAM, with 8GB per channel.

After a bit of head scratching and updating to the latest BIOS I've realised that I don't think the board supports the RAM, it seems like I should have been using C15/C16 at a lower Mhz instead. Oops.

I wonder what my options are now? Is it possible to undervolt the RAM to slow it down so it works in the board? (I have no idea, I've never changed from stock speeds before as I need stability for working on the machine)...
Hi everyone

So, it appears I've made a big screw up...I've been building a new system as I can get the parts together and have:

ASRock Taichi X570
Amd 5950X
Corsair 128GB RAM, specifically 3600Mhz, model number CMW128GX4M4D3600C18

The machine boots fine, but it reports only 32GB RAM, with 8GB per channel.

After a bit of head scratching and updating to the latest BIOS I've realised that I don't think the board supports the RAM, it seems like I should have been using C15/C16 at a lower Mhz instead. Oops.

I wonder what my options are now? Is it possible to undervolt the RAM to slow it down so it works in the board? (I have no idea, I've never changed from stock speeds before as I need stability for working on the machine).

Unfortunately I can't send the RAM back as I've had it for two months...being able to buy the CPU took a lot longer than I initially expected!

I'm wondering if I may have to change the board for something that supports the RAM, but I'm struggling to find one. I bought the Taichi specifically because it has 3 M2 drive slots and 8 SATA slots...I'll use all of those so 2x M2, 6x SATA of most boards really isn't ideal for me.

Thanks for any advice, I'm a bit stuck and really need this machine built asap while I have a few days off.

Firstly, there is no issue running ram below its rated speed... secondly usually when you initially install the memory it's usually set to DDR4 default speed anyway (either DDR4 2133 or 2400 depending on the actual memory chips used).

Looking at your motherboard info, it should support a 128gb kit, however you will be limited to DDR4 2666 speed for that to work as per this link: https://www.asrock.com/mb/amd/x570 taichi/#Specification

Your cpu is codenamed "vermeer" which is the first table under the memory section. Due to capacity your kit will be 4 x Dual Drank (listed as 'DR' in the memory table) modules which limits the max speed these will work at.

When you boot up the machine, go into the bios and then memory section, look for manual settings and change the memory speed to DDR4 2666 and see if it recognises the full kit. If you still only see 32gb, try removing two of the modules and see if the machine accepts 64 gb on two modules. If that works, try the other two. You may also need to manually adjust your memory voltage, I'd suggest running at at the voltage specified on the kit itself (default DDR4 voltage is 1.2V however most higher clocked kits specify a bit more than this).
 
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TheJoker2020

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The machine boots fine, but it reports only 32GB RAM, with 8GB per channel.
Adding to the other replies, your system runs "dual channel", perhaps you mean 8GB per slot/memory module, which in itself would be very weird.

I have seen DIMM's being detected at half of their capacity but not at quarter of their capacity.! Perhaps only 1 DIMM is being detected.!

If you uopen up Task Manager, what does that say under the memory section.?

It will list the number of DIMM slots used as well as the total capacity, for more detail, install HWINFO64.
 
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wizbit

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Thank you both for your replies, both posts bring up great points.

cdrkf - I'm going to get a brew and go through your suggestions slowly in a few minutes and see what happens. Thanks very much for the detailed reply!


Secret-Squirrel (love the name and avatar!), it did occur to me, but, honestly, I didn't think it was likely. They were bought new, from Amazon, but directly from Amazon, not a third party seller. I haven't looked closely at them except for the sticker which obviously states that they're the 128GB set.


I did try running memtest last night to see what that said but I couldn't seem to get it to be recognised as a boot USB, despite running the program and selecting the BIOS to boot from USB. Others have had that problem so that's something I need to look into.


Yes, it is the BIOS that's reporting them as 8GB each, it actually says:

Total Memory :32GB
DDR4_A1 : DDR4-2133 8GB
DDR4_A2 : DDR4-2133 8GB
DDR4_B1 : DDR4-2133 8GB
DDR4_B2 : DDR4-2133 8GB

BIOS version is P3.40 btw.
 
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TheJoker2020

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I did try running memtest last night to see what that said but I couldn't seem to get it to be recognised as a boot USB, despite running the program and selecting the BIOS to boot from USB. Others have had that problem so that's something I need to look into.
Some bootbale USB drives need to use the "UEFI" option in the boot menu, others the "non-UEFI" option, try both.

Also, try one stick in the second closest DIMM slot to the CPU (check motherboard manual to confirm that this is the correct slot to use) and see what happens.
 
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wizbit

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Thanks everyone for your replies, let me try and answer the questions in order...

cdrkf
I'm quite happy with the lower speed, I'm not overclocking.
I've changed the settings manually to 2666 and rebooted, still 32GB.
The voltage seemed to be set at 1.35v so I've left that alone.
I did see instead of auto detect, there was an XMP profile, that specified DDR4 3600. I haven't tried loading that, I didn't know whether I should considering 3600 is more than it can do with 128GB.

I can't swap our RAM that easily I'm afraid, the HSF is sitting right over the top of them so I'd have to take that off, clean the CPU and reapply thermal paste each time I swapped things about. I know it's an important step, but it may have to be the last step I try.

TheJoker2020
thanks for your response as well, apologies for not replying to you at the same time as the others, I didn't spot the message as I was writing them a reply.
Nope it seems that 4 DIMMS are detected, but it think they are 8GB each.
In Task Manager it says:
In use 4.2GB
Available 27.6GB
Speed 2667
Slots used 4 of 4
Form factor DIMM

I'll try the UEFI/non UEFI option next, just need to find it.

--SID--
Sorry, I got the numbers the wrong way round! It is P4.30, I flashed it last night.
As I mentioned above, taking the sticks out is a last resort, I'll have to exhaust all other options first. :/

ex_bubblehead
No, it doesn't. :( That's when I realised I'd screwed up, I thought it did when I bought it. sigh
 
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TheJoker2020

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For the sake of testing and not "using" the machine, you can simply skip the cleaning and repasting altogether, (just be careful to not pull the CPU out of the socket) as the CPU wont get at all hot just by doing this for a few minutes with little or no load and it will save time, effort, worry and thermal paste.

Out of curiosity, what is your heatsink and fan(s).?
 

wizbit

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For the sake of testing and not "using" the machine, you can simply skip the cleaning and repasting altogether, (just be careful to not pull the CPU out of the socket) as the CPU wont get at all hot just by doing this for a few minutes with little or no load and it will save time, effort, worry and thermal paste.

Out of curiosity, what is your heatsink and fan(s).?

Ha ha, I managed to burn out a CPU back in the day doing that once, the smell of burning silicon still haunts me, I don't know if I dare chance that again, especially with this CPU, not easy or cheap to replace!

It's a Bequiet Dark Rock 4


OK....I think we may have an answer, I really hope it's wrong but several of you called it earlier. This is the CPU-Z report:

Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM # 1
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR4
Module format UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Corsair (7F7F9E0000000000000000)
Size 8192 MBytes
Max bandwidth DDR4-2132 (1066 MHz)
Part number CMW32GX4M4C3600C18
Nominal Voltage 1.20 Volts
EPP no
XMP yes
XMP revision 2.0
AMP no


That part number is for the matched set of four isn't it, 32GX - 32GB / 4 = 8GB DIMMS...

Is there any way that CPU-Z could be reporting that wrong? Nothing to do with what the BIOS is reading and giving false information to CPU-Z?

Because if that's correct, I've been mightily stiffed out of a serious chunk of change...
 

wizbit

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I've run Memtest now, it's showing the same thing as CPU-Z....four sticks of 8GB...

So that seems to be the diagnostic tests done, is it definitive now then? As I said before, there's no way the motherboard could be making them report incorrectly?

Thanks.
 

wizbit

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No not yet, it didn't occur to me until I was talking to the knowledge people in here, I thought it was a motherboard incompatibility issue.

The seller was Amazon UK itself, not a third party seller on Amazon, which is why I'm really surprised.
 

Secret-Squirrel

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wizbit, your findings are conclusive - you were sent the 4X 32GB kit.

Fortunately you bought directly from Amazon so they may be able to help. Hopefully in your region there'll be an Amazon call-back service where they phone you and then you can explain everything you've discovered and submit evidence if needed.

Best of luck.
 
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wizbit

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Well...at least I know it's not something I've done.

Thanks for the help guys, I should note that it's in a 128GB box (naturally) and there is a sticker over the main barcodes (I assumed a standard Amazon sticker), shining a light from the underside of the box I can see through the sticker and that says it's 128GB as well.

The box was sealed, but with different stickers, a clear square of sticky on the bottom and a small round sticky on the top. The stickers don't look like they've been peeled off and new ones put on.

It honestly looks like they've come out of the factory like that.

There is a call back service in the UK...this should be fun...I wonder if it's worth taking it up with Corsair as well?
 

bignastyid

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No not yet, it didn't occur to me until I was talking to the knowledge people in here, I thought it was a motherboard incompatibility issue.

The seller was Amazon UK itself, not a third party seller on Amazon, which is why I'm really surprised.
I'd contact Amazon first. Possible it was a mistake at the factory, also possible some scumbag bought the 128gb and the 32 gb kit swapped stickers and sent it back for a refund and Amazon resold it. Wouldn't be the first time that has happened.
 
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wizbit

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Still on live chat. :oops:

I've sent them pictures of the RAM and box, waiting to see what the resolution is going to be. Whether they'll swap out to new ones, or offer a refund....or be difficult...I don't know.

Should I be refunded, what would you guys recommend as replacement 128GB? I'm not going to play with overclocking, I just want stable, fast (within reason with prices) RAM that won't let me down when I'm in the middle of editing a 4K video and the whole system crashes with a BSOD.
 

wizbit

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Well, I have good news. After a lot of back and forth and sending them pictures, they are going to refund me and are sending a courier to pick up the dodgy RAM, so that's a good result!

So now, I need new RAM...and the options are rather limited for 4x32GB sticks.


Thanks very much for all the help everyone.
 
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