[SOLVED] Upgraded RAM giving issues, I hope not all hope is lost.

[MAXlMUS]

Hey everybody, hope everyone is doing well.

I have a question regarding RAM, specifically my RAM I just recently purchased. Long story short I have a old rig I put together back around 2011 or so. It got outdated, so I wanted to bring back life to it. If I would have known now how this all went I probably would have just bought a new computer. My thinking was I could up my specs and keep the original motherboard/case.

Any who, here is the issue. I have a motherboard X58 sabertooth, a once powerful motherboard. I wanted to buy 4-5 years more then just get a new PC.

I purchased a Intel 990x Extreme (Max CPU for this board), installed and it went well.

Then I purchased a GeForce 2060, and that went well. (Big upgrade from a GTX 660 I had haha)

And finally, I purchased RAM. This is where I messed up, I am not a "expert" would call myself, somewhat middle of the road. I purchased 6 sticks from a MemoryMasters for 24g's (which is max for the board). I did not look at the Certified Vendors List when finding this RAM but I went for compatible speeds, DDR type, and size. So I purchased 6x4 "mt16ktf51264az-1g6m1 pc3l-12800U-11-11-B1".

Once I installed the RAM, it accepted it all (Windows 10 system info only showed 16) from what I can tell. I read a few places online Windows 10 wont show more than 16, so I dont know if all cards are good or if that is correct to only show 16 when it really is 24. Anyways once I installed the RAM I noticed the Red RAM LED on the motherboard lit up, I played around for a few days and noticed some strange things like it restarting 2 times before booting. So I turn it on, it shots off 2 times and on the 3rd power up it boots. Also have had some blue screen of death errors. So I decided to put back my old RAM in, and the problems went away. Clean boot ups, no blue screen error, things in some areas seemed better but under heavy load the other RAM cards performed much better.

So my question is, if this RAM is not on the certified vendor list for a X58 motherboard can it still be used? I tried looking around on the forums and seen a few say its fine as long as its set to the right speed (1600MHz) which I set in the BIOS and timing, I changed the frequency of the RAM in BIOS to 1600 but not the timing. If I don't change RAM TIMING in BIOS will this cause my problems? I tried looking up this RAM card online and cant find the TIMING to configure the BIOS too. Any help would be appreciated greatly. Thank you.

 

[Gerald6049]

Hey everybody, hope everyone is doing well.

I have a question regarding RAM, specifically my RAM I just recently purchased. Long story short I have a old rig I put together back around 2011 or so. It got outdated, so I wanted to bring back life to it. If I would have known now how this all went I probably would have just bought a new computer. My thinking was I could up my specs and keep the original motherboard/case.

Any who, here is the issue. I have a motherboard X58 sabertooth, a once powerful motherboard. I wanted to buy 4-5 years more then just get a new PC.

I purchased a Intel 990x Extreme (Max CPU for this board), installed and it went well.

Then I purchased a GeForce 2060, and that went well. (Big upgrade from a GTX 660 I had haha)

And finally, I purchased RAM. This is where I messed up, I am not a "expert" would call myself, somewhat middle of the road. I purchased 6 sticks from a MemoryMasters for 24g's (which is max for the board). I did not look at the Certified Vendors List when finding this RAM but I went for compatible speeds, DDR type, and size. So I purchased 6x4 "mt16ktf51264az-1g6m1 pc3l-12800U-11-11-B1".

Once I installed the RAM, it accepted it all (Windows 10 system info only showed 16) from what I can tell. I read a few places online Windows 10 wont show more than 16, so I dont know if all cards are good or if that is correct to only show 16 when it really is 24. Anyways once I installed the RAM I noticed the Red RAM LED on the motherboard lit up, I played around for a few days and noticed some strange things like it restarting 2 times before booting. So I turn it on, it shots off 2 times and on the 3rd power up it boots. Also have had some blue screen of death errors. So I decided to put back my old RAM in, and the problems went away. Clean boot ups, no blue screen error, things in some areas seemed better but under heavy load the other RAM cards performed much better.

So my question is, if this RAM is not on the certified vendor list for a X58 motherboard can it still be used? I tried looking around on the forums and seen a few say its fine as long as its set to the right speed (1600MHz) which I set in the BIOS and timing, I changed the frequency of the RAM in BIOS to 1600 but not the timing. If I don't change RAM TIMING in BIOS will this cause my problems? I tried looking up this RAM card online and cant find the TIMING to configure the BIOS too. Any help would be appreciated greatly. Thank you.

What is your old RAM specs ? 990x Extreme need RAM with 1066Mhz speed.
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/i...n-12m-cache-3-46-ghz-6-40-gt-s-intel-qpi.html

You can use the higher RAM speed, they will automatically downclock the speed matching the CPU. But the consequence, they are not stable.

 

[MAXlMUS]

Oh wow, I never thought to check the cpu compatibility with ram, just the motherboard. Makes sense why I was having issues. So I should add my first set of DD3 sticks is 3x1gb 1066 and 3x2g 1066 (this set is stable but not the power I need). When I installed the new DDR3 6x4gb 1600 the BIOs set the frequency to 1066. So I changed the frequency back up to 1600, and everything seems fine the speed increased dramatically over my old set but in a 4-5 day window I got 2 blue screens and I had problems booting up and waking up the pc from hibernate. So taking it to the frequency that the new ram is and supported by motherboard, but not cpu will cause instability. Hmm learned something new, never thought to check.

I will put the new ram back in today after work and take it to 1066 and see if it is stable. I desperately need more power for my applications.

Thank you for the help.

And if I may ask a stupid question, if turning down the frequency to 1066, will it slow the overall performance the ram? And should I just buy 1066 sticks, instead of these and down setting the frequency?

 

[MAXlMUS]

Also I found this post
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/will-the-i7-990x-work-with-1600mhz-ram.230056/
stating the 990x can run along side 1600 if the motherboard supports it. I don’t know how true that is given my issues I’ve been having.

I asked the seller of these new ram cards for the timing/multipliers and he hasn’t responded.

How can I find the RAM timing numbers to input in the BIOS?

 

[MAXlMUS]

Update: Got home from work, installed the old ram and set the frequency back to 1066. Installed 3 of the new ram cards, and kept 3 old ones in. The speed was set at 1066, and it was stable and ALOT faster than my old cards so that’s great. Tried putting 3 more new cards in and took out the old, same speed 1066. Computer would not boot. Took 3 out and put 3 old ones back in, and it worked. I’m not going to soak anymore money into this rig, I’ll get new when it’s time. Its a shame I cant use all 6 new sticks down rated at 1066. But half is better than none.

 

[Gerald6049]

And if I may ask a stupid question, if turning down the frequency to 1066, will it slow the overall performance the ram? And should I just buy 1066 sticks, instead of these and down setting the frequency?

Actually the Mboard will adjust all the RAM to the slowest speed automatically when you mix the RAM (mix 1066 with 1600, the speed will follow the 1066). Might be slower, but I guess you won't notice it.

stating the 990x can run along side 1600 if the motherboard supports it. I don’t know how true that is given my issues I’ve been having.

Every setup has a different characteristic, different brand of The Mboard and the RAM have different result. They may work stable in their systems, but not with your systems.

Update: Got home from work, installed the old ram and set the frequency back to 1066. Installed 3 of the new ram cards, and kept 3 old ones in. The speed was set at 1066, and it was stable and ALOT faster than my old cards so that’s great. Tried putting 3 more new cards in and took out the old, same speed 1066. Computer would not boot. Took 3 out and put 3 old ones back in, and it worked. I’m not going to soak anymore money into this rig, I’ll get new when it’s time. Its a shame I cant use all 6 new sticks down rated at 1066. But half is better than none.

In the case of mixing RAM, just try to find the most stable configuration. Try each RAM with each combination (A1, B1,C1 or A2,B2,C2). Refer to manual to find the layout : https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1366/Sabertooth_X58/e5995_sabertooth_X58.pdf

Please read section 2.2 and 2.4 for configuration / combination.