MSI Z170A Ram problems

Have you tried resetting CMOS and see if that helps at all?

Try installing a single stick in slot A2, which is the second one over from the CPU. Then, with the power off and unplugged from the wall, remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. During that time press the power button for 30 seconds. Then reinstall the CMOS battery, plug the unit back in and power on. Report back on whether or not it will POST.

If it will not, try the same procedure again using the other stick of memory.

If it will still not POST, remove the graphics card from the motherboard, plug the monitor into the motherboard video output, and try the above procedure again.

If you still get nothing, I would try to borrow a stick of memory that is compatible, any speed as long as it is DDR4, and try that using the above procedure. If that still doesn't work, then I'd say the motherboard is faulty unless there is a power supply issue.

What is the EXACT model number of your power supply?

Probably, it would also be a good idea to completely recheck all of the connections to the motherboard. Sometimes you don't get them seated well in the beginning, but it works, but then later on the connection breaks because it wasn't actually seated well when you first built it. Unplug and reseat the 8 pin EPS 12v connector to the motherboard, the 24 pin ATX connector. You may also want to disconnect everything if none of the above works, remove the hardware and bench test it all as follows.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1753671/bench-troubleshooting.html

That is not a very good PSU. Not the worst one EVGA sells, but close to it.

How old is that PSU?

It would be a good idea to test it with a multimeter because unfortunately there really ARE no PSU codes. Generally, when something is wrong with the PSU, it makes everything ELSE look like there's something wrong with it, but at that point it's practically impossible for the motherboard to say "Hey, something is wrong with the PSU", because something else bugs out before that would even be on it's radar, if they even gave them the ability to do that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac7YMUcMjbw

Dammit. Well, not a configuration problem then. Gotta be something physical. Something faulty or not plugged in, or bad power delivery. Could be motherboard.

Not a fan of MSI motherboards for exactly this reason. I see a LOT of quality control issues on MSI motherboards, more than other brands at least.

Doesn't mean that's THE problem, but certainly could be.

Whoa, what did you buy? What brand and model?

What is the MODEL number or at least the series? EVGA Silver is not a model number. Let me explain, in detail.


Higher 80plus certification, like Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc., doesn't mean anything, UNLESS it's on an already known to be high quality PSU platform. For example, a Seasonic Prime platinum unit is going to be a better product than a Seasonic Prime Gold unit, because we already know the Prime platform is very good, and platinum efficiency along with it shows there are some improvements internally to account for the higher efficiency.

Often, on cheap units, the 80plus certification may be faked, or a cherry picked unit used for certification testing while the retail units cannot even begin to achieve those efficiency ratings due to poor quality and materials.

https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/power-supplies-with-fake-80-plus-badges/

In a case like that, it might be worth it. It's likely the unit will create less heat, it will probably have better performance in regard to ripple, noise and voltage regulation. It might shave a few pennies, or dollars, off the electric bill over the course of a year.

Other than that, it is not going to perform any better than the same platform with Gold efficiency. On the other hand, just because a unit has Titanium 80plus ratings doesn't mean the unit is any good at all. For example, there are Raidmax units with Titanium efficiency and I wouldn't trust one of those to power a light bulb. There are a lot of units like this out there.

80plus only has relevance if the platform is already known to be a good one.

Seasonic. Just about anything made by Seasonic is good quality for the most part. There are really no bad Seasonic units and only a very few that are even somewhat mediocre. They do make a few less-good quality OEM style units, but mostly those are not going to be units you come across at most vendors, and they are still not bad. Also, the S12II and M12II 520 and 620w units are older, group regulated models. At one time they were among the best units you could buy. Now, they are outdated and not as good as almost any other Seasonic models. They are however still better than a LOT of newer designs by other manufacturers.

The Seasonic 520w and 620w S12II/M12II units CAN be used on newer Intel platforms, if you turn off C6/C7 in the bios, but I'd really recommend a newer platform whenever possible. Prices are usually pretty good on those though, so sometimes it's worth accepting the lack of DC-DC on the internal platform. Higher capacity versions of the High current gamer are not based on that platform, so they are fine. Those being the 750w and higher versions. Antec Edge units are ok too, but reviews indicate that they have noisy fan profiles.

Corsair. The CX and CXm units are ok as a budget option, but I do not recommend pairing them with gaming cards. The newer 2017 models of CX and CXm are better than the older ones, so if it specifically says 2017 model, or it has a capacity other than an even 100, like 550w, 650w, 750w, etc., then it's likely at least better than those older ones. Aside from that, any of the TX, RMx, RMi, HX, HXi, AX or AXi units are good. Those are listed from best to worst, with the best being the AX and AXi units.

Antec. The True power classic units are made by Seasonic, and are very good, but are not modular. The High current gamer 520w and 620w, or any other PSU you see on the market that is 520w or 620w, are also made by Seasonic, based on the S12II and M12II platform for modern versions, and are pretty good units but again they are an older platform that is group regulated so if you go with a Haswell or newer Intel configuration you will want to avoid those because they do not support the C6/C7 Intel low power states.

The Antec High current gamer 750w and 850w units are very good and are not the older design, which came in 520w and 620w capacities and were good for back then but again, are an aging Seasonic platform that is not the best choice most of the time these days. Occasionally, these older units MIGHT be the best unit available and you could do worse than one of them, but a newer DC-DC platform is desirable when possible if it doesn't mean sacrificing quality elsewhere in the platform. There are however older and newer HCG models, so exact model number will likely be a factor if choosing one of these however both the older models and the newer models are good.

Super Flower. They are like Seasonic and they make power supplies for a variety of other companies, like EVGA. Super Flower units are usually pretty good. I'd stick to the Leadex, Leadex II and Golden Green models.

EVGA. They have good and bad. Bad are the W1, N1, B1, B3 (All models except the 650w model) and G1 NEX models. Good models are the B2, B3 650w, G2, G2L, G3, GQ, P2 and T2 models.

FSP. They used to be very mediocre, and are a PSU manufacturer like Seasonic and Super Flower, although not as well trusted based on historical performance. Currently the FSP Hydro G and Hydro X units are pretty good.

I would avoid Thermaltake and Cooler Master. They do have a few good units, but most of the models they sell are either poor or mediocre, and the ones they have that ARE good are usually way overpriced.

This is just ONE example of why I say that. Very new and modern CM unit. One of the worst scores ever seen on JG for a well known brand name product. Doesn't look to be much better than a Raidmax unit. Sad.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=563

And most of the models I have linked to the reviews of at the following link are at least good, with most of them being fantastic.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3612443/power-supply-discussion-thread.html

BIOS don't normally "corrupt themselves", but it's always possible to have a bad BIOS ROM. Not common but not unheard of either. More likely, in the case of a motherboard problem, is something else on the board being defective or something on the board having been damaged.

Sigh. So, do you not want to tell me the model number of the unit you purchased, or what. If not, that's fine. It's your business. I'm just trying to help you. Chances are good you could still cancel that order and get a good PSU in the same price range, IF that unit isn't a recommendable model. But that's up to you.

As for the rest of it, like I said, it's probably going to have to wait to make sure it's not the PSU, and if it's not, then you may have to ask around and see if you can borrow some memory from somebody if you have friends that have compatible memory, in order to eliminate that as the problem. If different memory doesn't work, then there's a good chance it's the motherboard. There is really no way for the average person to "test" a motherboard, so you just have to pretty much eliminate everything else.

Also, your memory should be installed in slots A2 and B2. NO OTHER SLOTS. At least not with two modules installed. SO if that is not where they are, put them there, and then try to CMOS reset again with the battery. Try disconnecting all other hardware including all drives. Make sure the CPU cooler is not overtightened if you have an aftermarket cooler.

Even if you completely removed the CMOS battery, it would not downgrade the bios. Whatever the bios is flashed to, is what it is. Always. Unless you actually flash it back to a previous version.


That being said, a dead CMOS battery can cause ALL kinds of issues, including losing settings, or just mild glitches. I recently had to replace the CMOS battery in my Z170x-Gaming 5, which is probably about the same age as your board. I ended up recently replacing that board with a Hero VIII anyhow, but the CMOS battery issue on the other board WAS a problem and replacing it solved the issues on that board.

For two bucks, it's definitely worth trying. If you've replaced it already, then no, the battery would not cause it to go back to an older bios.

Probably though it's worth making sure you DO have the very latest bios version installed.