Question upgraded to 32gb ddr4 and now it wont boot above 2133mhz - help appreciated

[SophieTheMeh]

i already had 16gb but i added 2 more sticks, they arent matching but are very similar and i heard thats enough for it to be compatible. it took a long time for me to be able to get it to boot, i think it was one of my usb devices or something after unplugging them all i was able to get to the bios, and now im able to get into my computer mostly fine and it registers all 4 sticks of ram but it gets stuck in a boot loop every time i try to set 3200mhz and gets auto set down to 2133 again

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-16GVKB​

Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model TLZGD416G3200HC16CDC01​

those are the two sets of ram in my system, theyre both rated the same referring to like

• DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600)
• Timing 16-18-18-38
• CAS Latency CL16
• Voltage 1.35V

but besides that i have an msi b450 tomahawk, ryzen 5 5600g, and rx 9070xt

turning xmp on i remember always making my pc crash even before this but i was able to set the mhz just on my own by clicking the "3200mhz" option and thats normally always worked it's just now that also messes it up

 

[rgd1101]

i heard thats enough for it to be compatible.

sometime yes, sometime no.

 

[punkncat]

Using mismatched kits are not recommended. Get a match kit of the capacity you desire.

 

[Eximo]

those are the two sets of ram in my system, they're both rated the same referring to like

• DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600)
• Timing 16-18-18-38
• CAS Latency CL16
• Voltage 1.35V

If you really want to go down the rabbit hole:

Those are the main timings. Memory modules also have sub timings. These may be visible in your BIOS.

Install each set one at a time. Head to your BIOS and look at your detailed memory settings after applying XMP/AMP/EXPO. Also a good chance to boot into Windows and run zen timings, a neat program that will show you everything about the memory.

ZenTimings v1.36 Beta Download

ZenTimings is an easy to use, lightweight, Windows application that can read and monitor the memory timings of AMD Ryzen processors on the AM4 platfo

www.techpowerup.com

Digging into manual memory overclocking is probably the only way to make this work. But essentially the basics are to find the 'worst' values shared between these memory modules, and give that combination a try. For a cruder effort, you could just loosen (larger numbers) all the timings a little bit to see if that will boot.

 

[Bob.B]

i already had 16gb but i added 2 more sticks, they arent matching but are very similar and i heard thats enough for it to be compatible. it took a long time for me to be able to get it to boot, i think it was one of my usb devices or something after unplugging them all i was able to get to the bios, and now im able to get into my computer mostly fine and it registers all 4 sticks of ram but it gets stuck in a boot loop every time i try to set 3200mhz and gets auto set down to 2133 again

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-16GVKB​

Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model TLZGD416G3200HC16CDC01​

those are the two sets of ram in my system, theyre both rated the same referring to like

• DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600)
• Timing 16-18-18-38
• CAS Latency CL16
• Voltage 1.35V

but besides that i have an msi b450 tomahawk, ryzen 5 5600g, and rx 9070xt

turning xmp on i remember always making my pc crash even before this but i was able to set the mhz just on my own by clicking the "3200mhz" option and thats normally always worked it's just now that also messes it up

Proper bios?

It looks like the gskill is made for intel so that may not work well with ryzen.

 

[Misgar]

i already had 16gb but i added 2 more sticks,

Four sticks of RAM place more load (strain) on the CPU's IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) channels and the result is often lower overclocks.

It's not surprising you can't achieve the same 3200MT/s overclock with 4 DIMMs, especially when you're using two mis-matched pairs.

Even two pairs with exactly the same part number can give trouble, because it's highly unlikely they'll both be from the same "bin". Subtle manufacturing timing differences between pairs can lead to unstable overclocks.

If you want to stack the odds in your favour, either get a single pack containing 4 matched DIMMs (not two packs of 2 DIMMs) or ditch the 4 x 8GB and buy 2 x 16GB.

An example of a quad pack is shown below:
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/32g...200-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-16-135v-amd-x399-o

You may need to lower your expectations on dual-channel desktop systems when you fit 4 DIMMs. It's one of those facts motherboard manufacturers frequently forget to mention, which catch out the unwary.

 

[SophieTheMeh]

If you really want to go down the rabbit hole:

Those are the main timings. Memory modules also have sub timings. These may be visible in your BIOS.

Install each set one at a time. Head to your BIOS and look at your detailed memory settings after applying XMP/AMP/EXPO. Also a good chance to boot into Windows and run zen timings, a neat program that will show you everything about the memory.

ZenTimings v1.36 Beta Download

ZenTimings is an easy to use, lightweight, Windows application that can read and monitor the memory timings of AMD Ryzen processors on the AM4 platfo

www.techpowerup.com

Digging into manual memory overclocking is probably the only way to make this work. But essentially the basics are to find the 'worst' values shared between these memory modules, and give that combination a try. For a cruder effort, you could just loosen (larger numbers) all the timings a little bit to see if that will boot.

hey so ive been starting to try and figure it out, i tried manually tweaking the things to the lower of the two values for everything. i got the numbers from my bios because there was a thing in there telling me what the xmp settings would be. but afterwards it stopped booting entirely, i cant figure out a way for the pc to turn on when there are 4 sticks plugged in at all anymore. i did then try doing xmp with just the new ram and just the old ram to see the differences in zentimings. can include pictures of it all

https://imgur.com/a/kKKrP1j

View: https://imgur.com/a/kKKrP1j


i can plug in one extra stick and get the xmp settings to look like this,

https://imgur.com/a/FV2KQBr

View: https://imgur.com/a/FV2KQBr
even putting it down to 2133 myself doesnt make the 4 sticks boot anymore though

i dont have more money to spend on this i need to get these sticks working. i got a gpu upgrade for 1000$ but then wasnt able to play half my games because they were stuttering because they need more ram, which only became an issue after i started being able to use the higher graphics settings of the new gpu. so i wait for ram to arrive so i can stop getting below minimum warnings from forza and oblivion and now theyre stuck being way slower so i cant play anything anymore. this was supposed to be one upgrade where i plopped one thing in and now i havent been able to use my computer in fucking weeks.

also. what is the performance impact of it not having an even amount of sticks because rn i can seem to have 24gb of ram at 3200mhz but 3 sticks sounds like it would have problems of its own

 

[Eximo]

hey so ive been starting to try and figure it out, i tried manually tweaking the things to the lower of the two values for everything. i got the numbers from my bios because there was a thing in there telling me what the xmp settings would be. but afterwards it stopped booting entirely, i cant figure out a way for the pc to turn on when there are 4 sticks plugged in at all anymore. i did then try doing xmp with just the new ram and just the old ram to see the differences in zentimings. can include pictures of it all

https://imgur.com/a/kKKrP1j

View: https://imgur.com/a/kKKrP1j


i can plug in one extra stick and get the xmp settings to look like this,

https://imgur.com/a/FV2KQBr

View: https://imgur.com/a/FV2KQBr
even putting it down to 2133 myself doesnt make the 4 sticks boot anymore though

i dont have more money to spend on this i need to get these sticks working. i got a gpu upgrade for 1000$ but then wasnt able to play half my games because they were stuttering because they need more ram, which only became an issue after i started being able to use the higher graphics settings of the new gpu. so i wait for ram to arrive so i can stop getting below minimum warnings from forza and oblivion and now theyre stuck being way slower so i cant play anything anymore. this was supposed to be one upgrade where i plopped one thing in and now i havent been able to use my computer in fucking weeks.

also. what is the performance impact of it not having an even amount of sticks because rn i can seem to have 24gb of ram at 3200mhz but 3 sticks sounds like it would have problems of its own

Lower of the two values would generally be considered faster, and wasn't what I suggested. That was you trying to make the slower ram catch up to the faster ram. What you want is the opposite where you take the larger of the numbers and apply it across both sets of memory.

3 sticks working is interesting, it does say there is some middle ground, but it could be that only one of the sticks will play nice with the timings of the teamgroup memory. Might be all single channel unless the board supports having a dual channel bank and a single channel bank. A1/B1 seems like it should be dual channel

Just setting the main speed isn't really the goal.

Memory is quite cheap, though it sounds like you exceeded the return window already I am guessing. You can always sell the two memory kits, though you won't get that much out of it. Still should be able to cut your costs in half on getting a 2x16GB kit.

 

[Misgar]

i tried manually tweaking the things to the lower of the two values for everything.

When you say "the lower of the two values" do you mean you selected the smaller integer value for the two dissimilar DIMM pairs? If so, instability is the likely result. For most settings you need to select the higher value, not the lower.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integer

As an example, if one manufacturer's DIMM requires tCL=16 and another manufacturer's DIMM needs tCL=18 (at the same clock frequency) you should manually set both DIMMs to tCL=18. The numbers 16 and 18 indicate the number of clock cycles the CPU needs to wait, after setting a memory address, before attempting to read back the data.

If you set DIMMs requiring tCL=18 (eighteen clock cycles) to a shorter time period of only sixteen clock cycles, the data will probably not be ready the system may hang.

The same applies if for memory settings defined in 'ns' (nano seconds). If one DIMM requires tRFC=350ns and another DIMM requires tRFC=500ns, choose 500ns figure when programming both DIMM pairs. If you select 350ns for 500ns RAM, the RAM won't have enough time to settle.

As I said earlier, mismatched pairs sometimes cause instability, or complete failure to work together.

I recommend returning the RAM timings to Auto with XMP disabled. Fit the slowest pair in default slots (probably A2, B2) and boot the PC without the faster DIMMs.

Then, power off the system completely and fit the faster DIMMs (in A1, B1) and switch on. If you're lucky, the BIOS will apply the slower timings (from DIMMs in A2, B2) to the faster DIMMs (in A1, B1). No guarantee though.

If your RAM is unstable, the last thing you need is to make things worse by enabling XMP and overclocking the RAM. XMP is bad news on flaky systems. It can make things even worse.

If you manage to boot into Windows and the system seems OK, reboot the PC from a USB memory stick with MemTest86 and allow the test to finish (several hours). If you get even one error in MemTest, your RAM configuration is not stable.
https://www.memtest86.com/

If all else fails, sell both pairs of RAM and buy a single pair of DIMMs, i.e 2x16GB (32GB kit). You've discovered the hard way that two dissimilar pairs don't always work together.