AsRock Z97 Fatal1ty Gaming Motherboard but cant find a way to upgrade from 16 to 32 GB Memory, HELP!

James Daley

Reputable
Dec 16, 2014
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4,510
Hello everyone,
Sorry I am posting here but it was a suggestion after I have had no solutions since I posted awhile back on the memory forum. Hopefully the extra exposure will help! Anyway on to my problem:

I have this old motherboard:
ASRock ASRock Fatal1ty Gaming Fatal1ty Z97 Killer LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16...

I have this memory now as my old:
Team Xtreem 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2666 (PC3 21300) Desktop Memory Model TXD316G2666HC11CDC01
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16...

I wanted to upgrade my 16GB kit to 32GB using this very same memory but alas there is not a single vendor that carries them anymore. I cannot even find old ones on EBAY. I messaged the company but Team is centrically located in Tawain with offices in China/Japan. I guess my email was ignored at best since lack of translation options right?

So I jumped the gun using my motherboard specs to find something reasonable and high quality brand. I ended up buying this:
Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB 4 x 8GB DDR3 2400MHz C11 Memory Kit 1.65V
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W53KR6R/ref=oh_aui...

After it arrived I installed it on the same day on my PC, carefully cleaning out my 240pin slots with a small paint brush and a micro vacuum. Went to turn on my PC after the install and it fails to POST. It kept resetting and resetting itself, powering off and on through several attempts. I immediately disconnected the power suspecting damage from the memory. I then tried two at a time in each of the slots, sometimes dual channel mode and then single channel mode. To no avail none of the memory would work. I was reading about how you have to reset the CMOS battery to force the system to accept the new memory so I tried that. Tried taking out the battery and powered on the machine and it continues the resetting/failing to POST. I reinstalled the battery and began to worry that I damaged my PC somehow. That a electrical static discharge event destroyed the sensitive components. I decided to just pull out all the new memory and put back my two old sticks from Team. I then powered back my machine and it POSTs, boots to Windows 10 like nothing every happened...

So now I am baffled... My motherboard supports memory at the speed listed, why wouldnt it take 4 sticks of the same everything but just at a lower speed (2400 instead of 2666)?. So I want to get to 32GB of memory but not sure what I can possibly get that my motherboard will accept.

Anyone with some knowledge can you please help?

I already contacted Amazon and TimeTec to return my products because I suspect them being of poor quality or damaged. Let me know what you guys would do in either upgrading or replacing my memory. Remember the goal is to get to 32GB as I am getting into doing graphics and video production for home use.

Thanks guys
James
 

PhysX_HW

Distinguished
I can suggest you to get modules that use the same chips as your old modules. I know it's difficult, but those do work, so it's likely that a different module with the same type of chips would also work. But be careful, as even similar modules may have different revisions with different chips. The best would be if you could try them and see if they rum together with your old modules, but it's unlikely that you can do that.
 

James Daley

Reputable
Dec 16, 2014
15
0
4,510
Same chips? Not sure what you mean? I thought the voltage was the only thing that needed to be the same and that you just need to find the speeds supported by the mainboard to operate. Thats why I bought the Corsair Vengeance Pro because the Voltage and the speed was supported if actually a downgrade since it was slower than my old memory.