Trouble Installing RAM - Gigabyte H67MA-UD2H-B3

[PunkSkunk]

Hi there.

So I'm having what seems to be an unusual problem installing RAM.

I currently have 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 Trancend Chips in my machine, and I am trying to install 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 Patriot chips in to increase my total RAM to 16GB.

I installed them, and everything worked fine for the weekend, my machine was stable as a table from Friday to Sunday, then this evening my PC wouldn't boot.

I decided to trouble shoot, but accidentally took out one of the new chips and left an old one in, and it booted. Realizing my mistake, I thought the new chip I took out was faulty, tested it with one of the old chips and it also booted.

After that I decided to try just the new chips... machine didn't boot.

Long story short, every combination I try the machine boots except for when the 2 new patriot chips are in the machine together.

I have tried the following combinations:

Slots 1 & 3:
Trancend A & Trancend B - Boots
Trancend A & Patriot A - Boots
Trancend A & Patriot B - Boots
Patriot A & Patriot B - Doesnt Boot

Slots 2 & 4:
Trancend A & Trancend B - Boots
Trancend A & Patriot A - Boots
Trancend A & Patriot B - Boots
Patriot A & Patriot B - Doesnt Boot

To me this makes no sense.

It also seems that I cannot change the RAM voltage settings in my BIOS, so I haven't been able to check that. It just jumps past that setting when I try select it.

Is there someone out there that knows something I've missed or should I just toss these Patriots in the garbage?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[kaptainkuftic]

Sounds like one of those Patriot modules is DOA, if at all possible, RMA the kit and get replacements

*edit*
Reread the post. Probably not a DOA stick or one of them would always not be working. Refer to Jwpans for what I would have said next

 

[Jwpanz]

The problem is probably the fact that you mixed RAM modules from different manufacturers. You could try clearing your CMOS to see if it clears out any bugs the different RAM has caused and try booting but I would say that you will continue to run into issues with the mixed RAM.

I would advise getting another pair of the Patriot or Transcend sticks and run them together.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Scrap the advice to get another mixed pair of RAM. If you're going to bother buying more RAM, buy the size you want in a kit rather than gamble you'll find something compatible with what you already have.

Take each module individually and run RAM testing software with just that module installed. You may end up finding that all four modules will pass testing by themselves.

Once you have determined that you have working, or non working RAM module(s), you can proceed to the next step.

RMA any defective kits, as a pair. You'll get a matched pair in return.

If no errors are found, you likely have bad settings. Unfortunately, not all settings can be made to be compatible with all memory kits, especially voltage.

Find settings that will work for both kits and set your BIOS timings manually. For example, say one memory kit lists timings of CL16-18-18-38 @ 1.35V and the other kit lists timings of CL18-18-18-35 @ 1.25V. Since higher numbers are more conservative, and more likely to work with memory than lower numbers, you would need to set the memory to run with the higher numbers of both kits, including voltage. You would end up with CL18-18-18-38 @ 1.35V, provided you can set those in BIOS. Both sets would then be working with numbers they should easily tolerate error free.

If your RAM is specced and calls for voltage higher than what your motherboard is providing, for the timings you have available, you may be able to under clock the RAM, otherwise, expect the modules to never be fully reliable.

Gigabyte has some stupid ideas for when they will allow a user to modify certain settings in BIOS. You may for example have to enable an XMP memory profile before you can adjust the setting. In some cases it wouldn't surprise me if the board was built cheaply and can not safely handle supplying more voltage to the RAM modules, so they simply capped it in BIOS.

 

[Jwpanz]

To be clear, my advice was to not mix RAM but, rather, to use only RAM that is identical to whatever you have now. Or, you can buy a new kit in a larger size that you want.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Unless all modules come in the same kit, it's considered mixed.

 

[Jwpanz]

I would actually disagree there. I have 16GB of DDR4 RAM in my system from Crucial. I bought two kits of 1x8 on separate dates and they work very well together. The model number is exactly the same and the kits are identical. The only difference is that the modules were packed separately.

My point is that if this person were to track down the exact set of RAM he currently has it would work just fine. Call it mixing RAM if you must but I would define it as mixing sticks from two separate manufacturers with different CAS latencies, speeds, etc. I respect your opinion but my point was as I have stated.