Upgrading Memory on ASUS P7P55D-E Pro

[kenster]

My 10 year old son uses this system for his gaming and it currently has 4 gig memory.

The existing memory is Kingston KVR1333D3N9K2/4G kit. I ordered the Kingston KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G which is 2 sticks of 4G RAM.

When I put the new memory in the BIOS will recognize the RAM but it won't boot past the Windows Splash screen and it goes to a Blue Screen.

I tried resetting the CMOS and swapped the memory out and tried different configurations using only on of the new modules in each slot but I can't get it to load windows.

I'm thinking this memory should work but I'm at a loss.

The CPU is an i3-550. Running WIn 7 Home Premium 64 Bit.

I'd appreciate any help I can get.

 

[Tradesman1]

Try with 1 stick in slot 1 and see if it boots, if so then add the second stick in slot 3, ensure DRAM voltage shows correctly in BIOS

 

[kenster]

Wow tradesman, thanks for the quick response. I already tried 1 new stick in slot 1 and then tried 1 in slot 3 and got the same error.

But I just ran through the same thing again as you asked - put 1 new stick in slot 1 and it ran all the way up to the Windows Starting Screen then went to blue screen. On recycle I entered BIOS and checked in Bios Information and that showed Memory Usable Size of 4088MB.

Then I went into AI Tweaker Tab and it showed the DRAM Voltage set to [AUTO] and it showed a voltage reading that went between 1.553V and 1.559V.

Also, just wanted to say the BIOS was reset to all default settings when I originally tried the new sticks this afternoon.

Again, I really do appreciate the help.

 

[kenster]

I repeated the above test with each of the two new sticks and got the same result with the second one.

An FYI - I updated the BIOS to the most recent before I traded out the memory for the first time.

 

[Tradesman1]

Do you have the latest BIOS, if not try that, if you do then would go back to a single stick in slot 1 and set up manually

 

[kenster]

I have the lastest BIOS. I've built all my computers for the past 25 years but when it comes to the details of setting this kind of stuff manually I'm at a loss and could use a little guidance.

Is there any indication of what could be the problem? Memory is recognized in BIOS but Windows blue screens. Does that mean anything? Is there a starting point?

Sorry but when it comes to this kind of detail I'm quite the noob.

 

[Tradesman1]

Go into BIOS manually set DRAM freq to 1333, then the base timings to 9-9-9-27 and the DRAM Voltage to 1.5, also look for Command rate or command timing and ensure it's at 2T or 2N

 

[kenster]

Went into BIOS and manually set the DRAM to 1333, set the timings to 9-9-9-27 and the DRAM V to 1.5 - also set the timing to 2N. Blue screen at "Windows Starting" splash screen.

Repeated the whole process with the second new stick in slot 1. Same thing.

This is a bit frustrating. What happened to the days when all you were concerned about was the size of the memory stick? lol

 

[kingstonhq]

Hello, I'm Jewel with Kingston Technical Support. The symptoms you are experiencing are exactly what we tend to see when Single Rank 4GB modules are installed in systems that do not support it. The BIOS sees that the memory is there but the memory is used for more than a minor degree like when Windows starts the system crashes. It is very likely that the 4GB HyperX memory modules you purchased are Single Rank usgin 4Gbit DRAM instead of the previously common 2Gbit DRAM as we have moved over to that configuration mostly due to part availability. Some older motherboards are not able to fully communicate with the larger capacity DRAM chips. If your motherboard supports 8GB modules than that would not be the issue, if it does not than that is the problem. If you see a "1R" on the Kingston memory label that would indicate it is Single Rank, if that is not present than we can verify that by referencing other information on the module. Knowing which motherboard is in question would be very helpful in figuring out the exact issue. For further assistance, please call us at 1-800-435-0640 (USA and Canada only) M - F 6am - 6pm PT and I or another available Technician will assist you. Please be sure to have the part in question on hand when you call.

Thank you for selecting Kingston as your upgrade partner.

 

[Tradesman1]

Hello, I'm Jewel with Kingston Technical Support. The symptoms you are experiencing are exactly what we tend to see when Single Rank 4GB modules are installed in systems that do not support it. The BIOS sees that the memory is there but the memory is used for more than a minor degree like when Windows starts the system crashes. It is very likely that the 4GB HyperX memory modules you purchased are Single Rank usgin 4Gbit DRAM instead of the previously common 2Gbit DRAM as we have moved over to that configuration mostly due to part availability. Some older motherboards are not able to fully communicate with the larger capacity DRAM chips. If your motherboard supports 8GB modules than that would not be the issue, if it does not than that is the problem. If you see a "1R" on the Kingston memory label that would indicate it is Single Rank, if that is not present than we can verify that by referencing other information on the module. Knowing which motherboard is in question would be very helpful in figuring out the exact issue. For further assistance, please call us at 1-800-435-0640 (USA and Canada only) M - F 6am - 6pm PT and I or another available Technician will assist you. Please be sure to have the part in question on hand when you call.

Thank you for selecting Kingston as your upgrade partner.

________________________________

In title of thread: mobo is the ASUS P7P55D-E Pro

 

[kenster]

Jewel,

Thanks for the reply. I went ahead and called your Technical Support Number and opened up a case number - #130748.

I was asked to run memtest on each of the sticks. I'm going to do it later on tonight.

Tradesman is it ok for me to keep posting any tests/results I go through with Kingston customer support so I can get feedback by the community here and also a record if we are successful and someone else runs into the same issues?

 

[Tradesman1]

Sure, hopefully there will be good info that will someone in the future

 

[kenster]

Put new stick #1 into Channel A1 and set BIOS to default. Setup boot from Memtest86 disk and the test ran for a few seconds then froze at test #1 - 14%. Tried multiple times to reboot, reset stick, etc. Went into BIOS and manually set DRAM to 1333, set timings to 9-9-9-27. Boot to memtest disk and test freezes at same spot - test 1 @ 14%.

Tried above with new stick #2 in Channel A1. Same result.

Then tried new stick #1 in Channel A2. Same result.

 

[kenster]

kingstonhq,

I don't see a 1R on the label of the memory. How can we identify if it is a single rank? I tried to explain your post to the technician on the phone today but it seemed he wasn't interested in pursuing that line of thinking. However, it seems you are identifying my problem as one which you've seen before with the same symptoms. With the memory test running for only a few seconds I am more inclined to say it seems to mirror the exact symptom of the windows splash screen starting up and then freezing.

My other question is this - if my problem is indeed the one you've identified with the 1R issue, is there a work around with this memory or a case of me returning the memory sticks and getting something else?

Thanks,

Ken

 

[Tradesman1]

Dropped them a line to check back

 

[kenster]

Thanks Tradesman. I've been coming to tomshardware for so many years as my go to place for recommendations whenever I decided to either upgrade or build a new system. This is the first time I've come to the forums for technical help and I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to help me with this issue.

 

[Tradesman1]

Can you boot into safe mode?

 

[kenster]

No it won't boot into safe mode. I tried that the other day - it starts loading files then goes to blue screen.

 

[Tradesman1]

Could try reloading Win

 

[kenster]

Last night I burned a copy of Knoppix and booted up with the one new stick in. It loaded and ran for a few minutes before it locked up. I ran it a few times and it froze each time. I put the old memory back in and ran the Knoppix disk again just to make sure it wasn't something happening with Knoppix and the computer ran for a while like that. I'm thinking Jewel is dead on with an incompatibility issue with this memory and my gear. I'll wait to hear back if there's a fix or I have to return the memory.

 

[Tradesman1]

May well be the problem

 

[kingstonhq]

Sorry for the delayed response. We should be able to verify whether the module is 1R or not based on a revision number on the label that looks like this 9912345-123.A00LF

 

[Maqsood_3]

Hi, just wanted to know whether you have been able to sort this issue out? getting exactly the same problem with kingston. thanx if you could help out

 

[SHARK_34]

Hi, just wanted to know whether you have been able to sort this issue out? getting exactly the same problem with kingston. thanx if you could help out

I mailed the issue to Kingston customer support.
My Asus MB and new version of Kingston RAMs are not compatible.
Kingston started to produce new type of RAMs with 2Gbit chip density in 2014.

 

[Lihamatti]

Hi,

I got an firend's old dektop with Intel i5-661 on a P7P55D mobo. He took the memsticks out of it so I bought some new, namely 2 x 4 gb Kingston KVR16N11S8/4. Had exactly the same problem, no matter the configuration of the sticks Windows BSODed right at the start and MemTest86+ froze at 16% (and all other memtesters I ran at some point as well).

I got the feeling it was memory issue and tried flatmates Hyper X memstick, but no success. Then I looked into bunch of other stuff including reseating all the components and CPU to no avail. I was a bit desperate, but still decided to try a friends older 4 gb Kingston KVR1333D3N9/4G memstick and volia, it worked just fine!

I read one thread in some other forum about another manufacturers older mobo that had the same problem (unfortunately can't find it anymore). The support for him immediatley told, that the problem is with the memory being one-sided, i.e. all the chips on the stick are physically on the same side. Some older mobos for some reason doesn't support this. This seemed to be the case with my problem also, only the older dual-sided stick worked, note any of the four different single sided sticks I tried.

I'm not sure if this correlates with being dual-ranked (and very quick googling didn't reveal this), but information here suggests that the problem is with the new single-ranked memory. So the question is, does any manyfacturer produce dual-ranked memories anymore, so I could upgrade from the existing 4 gb?