[SOLVED] Using all 4 RAM slots with different capacity - MSI Z97 PC Mate Motherboard

[manchestermd]

Not sure if I'm trying to do something that is unsupported or not. My son has a PC with MSI Z97 PC Mate Motherboard. For the past 5 years it worked fine with two 4GB modules in slots 2 and 4 (black slots). I recently bought two 8 GB RAM modules and we put them in slots 1 and 3 (blue slots). The PC just goes into a boot loop with no POST even showing up on the monitor.

Are we in an unsupported configuration with two 4GB and two 8GB modules?

We have put the two new 8 GB modules into the black slots (2 and 4) and it works fine with 16 GB. So we have doubled the RAM. But if we could get all 24 GB working that seems better.

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC Mate
Existing memory: two 4 GB Crucial Ballistic Sport (non-ECC 1600 MHz)
New memory: two 8 GB Crucial CT102464BD160B (non-ECC 1600 MHz)

Thanks,
Chuck

 

[punkncat]

Most likely that there is some timing issue that the motherboard cannot work out during post. Go with the larger quantity matched set.

 

[Karadjgne]

Some ppl claim that size matters. Most will argue that it really doesn't, and on your case they'd be right.

Ram in mixed sets will default to the worst timings, the slowest speeds and highest voltage of the 2 kits. So what yous get is the timings on the 8Gb sticks, 1600MHz, and whichever is higher. That can play funky with the 4Gb sticks unless you manually adjust and tweak the timings to something both can use comfortably. Not always an easy thing since there's over 40 timings in the Secondary and Tertiary tiers.

You'll get better performance, that's plug and play stable by using just the 16Gb kit.

 

[MeanMachine41]

Not sure if I'm trying to do something that is unsupported or not. My son has a PC with MSI Z97 PC Mate Motherboard. For the past 5 years it worked fine with two 4GB modules in slots 2 and 4 (black slots). I recently bought two 8 GB RAM modules and we put them in slots 1 and 3 (blue slots). The PC just goes into a boot loop with no POST even showing up on the monitor.

Are we in an unsupported configuration with two 4GB and two 8GB modules?

We have put the two new 8 GB modules into the black slots (2 and 4) and it works fine with 16 GB. So we have doubled the RAM. But if we could get all 24 GB working that seems better.

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC Mate
Existing memory: two 4 GB Crucial Ballistic Sport (non-ECC 1600 MHz)
New memory: two 8 GB Crucial CT102464BD160B (non-ECC 1600 MHz)

Thanks,
Chuck

A classic mistake, trying to mix RAM modules from different kits.
Just use the 16GB kit to prevent Latency mismatch and keep the others for spares.

There is a binning process at the factory whereby DIMM modules are tested and matched to work as a kit. The better quality,/faster Dimms are sorted to ensure they work together then priced accordingly. It is complex and a very accurate process. Slight variations in Latency cause sudden reboots and unexplained shutdowns.
Don't mix RAM.

 

[manchestermd]

OK, thank you everyone for the quick replies. We will just stick with the 16 GB. It is notably faster already.

 

[Bob.B]

Not sure if I'm trying to do something that is unsupported or not. My son has a PC with MSI Z97 PC Mate Motherboard. For the past 5 years it worked fine with two 4GB modules in slots 2 and 4 (black slots). I recently bought two 8 GB RAM modules and we put them in slots 1 and 3 (blue slots). The PC just goes into a boot loop with no POST even showing up on the monitor.

Are we in an unsupported configuration with two 4GB and two 8GB modules?

We have put the two new 8 GB modules into the black slots (2 and 4) and it works fine with 16 GB. So we have doubled the RAM. But if we could get all 24 GB working that seems better.

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC Mate
Existing memory: two 4 GB Crucial Ballistic Sport (non-ECC 1600 MHz)
New memory: two 8 GB Crucial CT102464BD160B (non-ECC 1600 MHz)

Thanks,
Chuck

You may never get the 2 kits to play nice together.
Try clearing the bios and let the pc go through a ram training session.
If there is a bios update try that.