New RAM not usable?

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mrsweet1991

mrsweet1991

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Hi All,

popped to CEX for a new stick of 4GB DDR3 and was surprised to find a Patriot Viper 4GB stick for the same price (£12)!

Unfortunately I seem to be having issues with it, I'm not sure if it's faulty or because I need to tweak some settings but basically with the stick alone the PC won't boot, with both sticks of RAM in the computer will boot but in the BIOS only one stick is detected, but the strange thing is Windows will detect 8GB total, but only 4Gb usable. Speccy and also CPU-Z detect the RAM so it's quite strange..

What I've tried so far is:


  • moving the RAM front A1 to B1 vice versa, there's only two DDR slots available on the motherboard

  • Updating the BIOS to the latest version

  • Resetting BIOS to defaults

  • Going to MSCONFIG > Boot > Advanced Options > unticked Maximum Memory

But nothing seems to work.

Below are some screenshots that should help and just to confirm I'm running Windows 10 x64:

What the BIOS shows

zSQzcpB.jpg


What Windows shows
ZYohu5v.jpg


CPU-Z Memory

HVGV3Y3.jpg


CPU-Z SPD 1

yLjBYjC.jpg


CPU-Z SPD 2

ZWGaGsi.jpg


CPU-Z Mainboard

FNfzyFl.jpg


The actual RAM itself

SvKLZl2.jpg






 
Solution
R
Again it's the BIOS that's not accepting the RAM. With the newer OS - Win10 has the newest hardware hooks which might be able to detect the presence of the RAM, and even read the SPD/XMP/AMP timings. However, if the BIOS and the motherboard don't support the type of memory then it's not going to work.

If you have a spare computer lying around, toss it in there and see if it works. I've run into compatibility issues like this before with the 1Rx8 and 2Rx8 issues, and there are no real fixes for it other than replacing the RAM with a compatible stick.
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HamBown81

HamBown81

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They are different brands and different speeds. That is not always an issue but sometime they won't play nice together.

Have you tried each DIMM by itself to make sure it works properly on its own?

Considering what else you have tried I would suspect that it is a compatibility issue.
 
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mrsweet1991

mrsweet1991

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Hi mate, yes I have tried the RAM on it's own and I just get a black screen... I would say it's just a faulty stick but I'm intrigued to then understand why CPU-Z, Speccy and Windows can detects the stick ?
 
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mrsweet1991

mrsweet1991

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Haha, maybe I have a "special" system. But even if I try to run the Patriot on its own to rule out compatibility issues with mix and match it won't boot at all.. but as I said above I'm confused if this is a faulty stick how CPU-Z, Speccy and windows has no issues detecting the RAM and detecting all of the specs
 
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HamBown81

HamBown81

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Interesting indeed. I would guess that it is running off of the one stick and the other is somewhat alive but not enough to work.

Crazy that it will actually get into Windows under those conditions though!
 
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R

Rookie_MIB

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Well, this is one reason why generally you should only buy a secondary stick that matches the one you have. I can't find the details on the Patriot stick specifically, but sometimes the way the RAM is made can affect whether or not the memory controller can actually use and access the RAM. The older RAM could be a single rank RAM stick while the newer one could be a dual rank stick. Your motherboard may not be able to work with the dual rank modules which is why it doesn't recognize it.

Best thing to do is to return it and get one more similar to what you had before. Also, your motherboard website should have a QVL (qualified vendor list) which lists tested RAM sticks which are guaranteed to work (assuming they're not broken...). Always best to use that as the reference for the RAM you buy.
 
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mrsweet1991

mrsweet1991

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Hi mate,

No they're way off with timing speeds and what not.. but to put all of the miss match specs aside I tried to run the one stick alone but I just get a black screen which then leads me to wonder how if it's a faulty stick I can boot with the both sticks in and Windows, CPU-Z and Speccy all can detect the second stick and the details of it..

 
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mrsweet1991

mrsweet1991

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As awesome as it seems, it's a shame it can't just magically use the RAM despite the crazy conditions haha, while I've been writing this I've had an idea which I may try.. I'm going to take a picture of the timing speeds and go into the BIOS and manually adjust the timing speeds to the Patriot as best as possible and when I save changed I'll power off the system and leave just the Patriot RAM in and see if it works then. Long shot but doesn't seem like there's much more to try haha.
 
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mrsweet1991

mrsweet1991

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That's a good explanation as to what may be happening, although I've read through the QVL and Memory compatibility and despite it not listing Patriot it does support some good RAM brands that are OC'd into the 2000+ speeds so I can't imagine sticks like that running a single bank.. but as you've stated that is just one of many things that could be preventing the RAM from working.. CEX have a free 14 day returns and 2 year warranty so I'm covered in that respect.. but man it's a £50ish stick on fleebay.. would have been an amazing deal if it worked. I may try it in another system just to completely rule out. :)

 
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mrsweet1991

mrsweet1991

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Well.. took a shot in the dark and applied these timing speeds. I have no idea if I put them in the correct place but I tried to copy the timing speeds of the Patriot RAM on CPU-Z, add them into the BIOS settings and once I save changed I shut the power off from the PSU, took the old RAM out and tried booting with the Patriot hoping that with the same timing speeds applied it may boot but nothing again.. Any ideas if I did put those timing speeds into the right BIOS timing settings? the names of the speeds aren't the same

P2bVkLJ.jpg
 
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HamBown81

HamBown81

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Yes, those look like the right timings; however, tightening the timings will make it more unstable if anything. I would say that it is just a bad DIMM.

Regardless, it is unlikely that set would work properly together anyway AND if it did work it should automatically clock to the speed and timings of the slower DIMM
 
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R

Rookie_MIB

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Again it's the BIOS that's not accepting the RAM. With the newer OS - Win10 has the newest hardware hooks which might be able to detect the presence of the RAM, and even read the SPD/XMP/AMP timings. However, if the BIOS and the motherboard don't support the type of memory then it's not going to work.

If you have a spare computer lying around, toss it in there and see if it works. I've run into compatibility issues like this before with the 1Rx8 and 2Rx8 issues, and there are no real fixes for it other than replacing the RAM with a compatible stick.
 
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Solution
HamBown81

HamBown81

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This is possible. I looked up a bunch of the DIMMs on the compatibility list and all of the ones I searched were "single rank" modules

I got tired of searching...

Best thing you can do is look in the list that is in the manual: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM3+/M5A78L-M_LX3/E8025_M5A78L-M_LX3_Series.pdf
 
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