Question Upgrading RAM on an ASRock z77 Pro4-m

[tilmaen]

Hi,

I'm using an ASRock Z77 Pro4-M Mainboard.
So far i had been using Teamgroup Elite Ram: 4Gb DDR3 1333Mhz 9-9-9-24 on Ram Bays 1 and 3. The system was working well with that combination in Dual Channel Mode.

Obviously i needed an upgrade (8Gb not being enough any more), so i bought 2 16 GByte Modules. I'm not into Gaming so RAM Speed was not my first priority.
I got 2x 16 Gbyte PC3-12800 (faster), however with slower timing (11-11-11-28). Whenever i use one of the 16 Gbyte Modules on Ram Bay 1 i get 3 long Beep codes and the computer won't start (into BIOS/UEFI). When i use my old RAM on Bay 1 and the 16 Gbyte RAMS on 3 and 4, the computer starts, the UEFI Board Display (a visual depiction of what is on the mainboard) shows 4 the 4gbyte RAM on Bay one and the 16 Gbyte RAMS on 3 and 4 (1 and 2 mixed wont start, 4 short beeps). However only 4 Gbyte RAM are registered and used by the system, probably because of the differing timing and clock speed of the RAM.

i thought i could use a faster DDR-3 RAM in my board, considering they should be downward compatible.

Any idea as to why my Mainboard wont work with the new RAM Modules?

one of my "ideas" was that mybe they're to big - max RAM is specified with 32 Gbyte for the Mainboard by ASRock, that would be achievable with 4x8Gbyte. i am trying to use 2x16 atm.
or maybe the Board is just not compatible with the Vendor (mushkin Proline, some noname RAM).

thanks in advance
greetings
tilmaen

 

[tilmaen]

As an addition: i just found the official supported RAM list and there is no 16 Gbyte module listed there, also of course not the vendor, however a vendort not being on the list shouldnt rule out the possibility of it working ....

shoud i try taking out the battery and resetting the mainboard?

 

[tilmaen]

As an addition: i just found the official supported RAM list...
shoud i try taking out the battery and resetting the mainboard?

I tried the battery move - no success.

however i found information that the Board will only work with RAM that has 16 cells, so it has to look like this:

The Mushkin Ram has way more RAM chips soldered on top in a rather random fashion. so i guess that will make it incompatible.

There is a list published by ASRock quite some time ago with supported RAM. The list hasnt been updated lately. i can find almost no RAM to buy that is on that list.
Supported RAM List
Do you think i should try a brand name RAM like GSkill, Kingston or Corsair with 16 chips and 8GB max per Stick , even though it is not on the list? for example this one: G-Skill Memory

greetings

 

[Third-Eye]

Pretty much any 8GB DDR3 or DDR3L module will work on your board. I have a 2x8GB DDR3L 1600Mhz CL9 G.Skill F3-1600C9D-16GXLL kit on my Asus P8Z77 V-Pro that has worked just fine for 3 years. You unfortunately picked a terrible time to buy a new DDR3 kits as most retail sources are becoming very expensive or just out of stock. You are better off buying used on ebay for 1/2 to 1/4 the price of new.

There is this CL10 1600Mhz kit on newegg you could get, but you can probably get the same or better CL9 version for 2/3 the price on ebay.
https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-240-pin-ddr3-sdram/p/N82E16820231489?Item=N82E16820231489

 

[tilmaen]

awesome. thank you. i will try to get some on ebay. i feel really dumb for buying 2x 16 Gbyte modules without checking the specs of the mainboard first. my thinking was as long as it's DDR3 and no S0-DIMM i should be fine.... :/