All 4 ram sticks work but not at the same time

kirby1

Reputable
Jul 21, 2015
4
0
4,510
Specs:

5820K
Gskill F43200C16Q-16GRK (16GB DDR4 3200mhz quad channel kit)
Asus X99 Deluxe motherboard

So my rig was working normally for a while with my ram at 3200mhz in quad channel, and then I started getting a bunch of blue screens. At this point I noticed only 12 of my 16GBs of ram was showing up in bios and windows. I kept getting blue screens until I backed the ram speed down to 2133mhz. I tried taking out different ram sticks and It didn't matter which combination of ram sticks I used, they all worked just not all 4 at the same time. I figured it was a motherboard or CPU issue so I replaced them with an 8700k and an ASrock Z370 Extreme4 motherboard. (This means I went from a mobo/cpu that uses quad channel ram to one that only uses dual). So I am now still having crashing, and I still cannot get the ram to work all 4 sticks, yet they all work by themselves. This time its a bit weirder, sometimes I can get three sticks to work, sometimes it wont even work with one. I am now running with just two sticks at the proper 3200mhz speed and it is currently stable. The ram I am using is on the QVL list for both motherboards.


To make this story a bit longer, with the original setup I actually had a lot of issues getting the ram to work then. I tried 3 different motherboards before I got it to work. The first motherboard was an Asus X99a/usb3.1 but I was using a different ram kit that was quad channel but wasn't on the QVL list, so that was when I switch to the ram I have now and it still wouldnt work. Ended up getting a different gigabyte mobo and it still wouldnt work but in that case is was always the 3rd dimm that wouldn't work so I figured it was the motherboard, finally got the asus X99 deluxe motherboard and though it still took some tinkering, I did eventually get the ram to working normally on that motherboard.


Given the fact that this issue has kept happening, is it possible that the power supply could cause this issue ifits fault? It's a corsair 750CX PSU. If not that... I guess I replace the ram again? I'm lost.
 
Solution
What slots did you use on the X99? Both sides of the socket? If just using the 4x to the right of the socket, you weren't in quad channel, but in 2xdual channel, same as the lga1151 board.

QVL is qualified vendor list, not qualified ram list. There's only a few OEMs that make 3200MHz ic's and they'll put their ic's on several different brands and models. If gigabyte was to test every single model, color, size, speed, brand ram for its QVL on that particular mobo, the list would be 1000 pages long, take 1000's of manhours to complete and would be out of date before it was finished. So they'll test only a few brands, models, speeds, but out of those will be different OEMs. Meaning just about every IC is covered, any ram not on there...

QwerkyPengwen

Splendid
Ambassador
I've personally had issues with motherboard ram slots failing.
You say each stick works individually and even in dual channel?
and you also say only 12 out of your 16GB was recognized?
sounds like one of the ram slots is bad.

Try a single stick in each of the slots. I recommend unplugging all storage drives so that you only boot to bios for this. Makes the testing process faster.
So just try each slot one at a time with a single stick until one of the slots provides booting issues.
The slot or slots that give you issues when it comes to booting and getting to bios is the slot that is bad. and you should avoid putting anything in this slot.

P.S.- I assume you are aware, but I will say it just to be safe.
When you turn the system off after booting to bios be sure to flip the switch on the power supply then press the power button on the system to force it to drain residual energy before removing the ram stick to ensure you don't cause a short of some kind that effs your ram or ram slots.
 

kirby1

Reputable
Jul 21, 2015
4
0
4,510
Getting to the bios is never really an issue. All the slots work and all the sticks work but not all at the same time. I tried reseating the CPU and it didn't help.

I have built hundreds of computers. I worked for a PC manufacturer on their assembly line for a while and outside of that I have personally built and overclocked at least half a dozen PCs. Suffice to say I have tried the basics.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
What slots did you use on the X99? Both sides of the socket? If just using the 4x to the right of the socket, you weren't in quad channel, but in 2xdual channel, same as the lga1151 board.

QVL is qualified vendor list, not qualified ram list. There's only a few OEMs that make 3200MHz ic's and they'll put their ic's on several different brands and models. If gigabyte was to test every single model, color, size, speed, brand ram for its QVL on that particular mobo, the list would be 1000 pages long, take 1000's of manhours to complete and would be out of date before it was finished. So they'll test only a few brands, models, speeds, but out of those will be different OEMs. Meaning just about every IC is covered, any ram not on there under your brand prolly has ic's tested under another brand. Same ic's. Different brand. So take QVL with a grain of salt and just because a particular ram isn't on there doesn't mean it's not been tested elsewhere.

I'd rma the ram. The memory controller in the 5820k is plenty strong enough to handle quad channel ram at stock settings or even xmp profiles without needing to be tinkered with. I could understand needing a bit of OC or a ram voltage bump on the 8700k for 2x Dual-channel but not from the 5820k. With multiple mobo's, 2x cpus the only common denominator is the ram, which shows the same issues either way. Boiling down to a timings incompatability, probably in 2nd or 3rd tiers. That'd be my guess.
 
Solution