RAM Incompatibility - Ryzen 2600?

Solus · 27 Apr 2019 at 21:21

Okay, strange one this. I'm experienced in problem solving these things but this is so strange. Not my system, dealing with it for a client.

System is:

Ryzen 2600 CPU (Replaced once to be sure, not faulty.)
8GB cmk8gx4m1a2400c16 Corsair Vengeance LPX (Single Stick) NOT ON QVL
Crucial m.2 PCI-E NVME 500GB SSD
Radeon RX480
ASUS Prime Pro X470 Motherboard
RM750X PSU
Corsair H115i Cooler

Customer has been through 4 boards, complained that 15 to 30 mins in to use the machine gets a black screen and then wont boot up at all afterwards. 1 long beep and 2 short heard from speaker.

With these boards, this is NOT a VGA fault as previously found in older boards, it's RAM.

I ordered a new board myself (same Asus Prime Pro X470). Verified everything to be good with the build before I pushed power. I left this stress testing for over an hour, everything was snappy and fully functioning. All of a sudden the screen just goes black, I turn off and back on and get the same beep code again!

After a couple of hours of leaving it (changing nothing), it did post once more, got to the ASUS UEFI loading screen for Win10 and it froze there. Ever since that it wouldn't post at all and got it RMA'd.

Okay, i'll try another board I thought. Bought a Gigabyte Aora X470 Gaming from here, delivered today. Get the board installed and it won't post at all. LED's cycle split second on CPU (passes) then moves to DRAM and sticks there for 15 seconds. Rinse and repeat.

Main thing that don't make sense:

Each Asus board was CMOS reset, gone right back to basics with the stock cooler as a breadboard on the box. Never posts again. The new replacement boards all POST when they first arrived, but soon fail within 1 hour. Could it be that the ASUS board somehow is utilising faulty or incompatible RAM then developing a fault because of it? Doesn't make sense to me, never seen a board fail because of RAM before.

This gigabyte board has been stuck on the DRAM fault since it arrived and has never posted with this RAM, which is the main difference.

Now, I've heard of certain RAM not getting it's full XMP profile speed, but I can't even get this to post from default, and it's apparently killed 5 other boards? Do these Ryzen systems really have such issues with RAM compatibility?

wakadoo · 27 Apr 2019 at 21:32

i have the 2600 and the Gigabyte Aoura X470 Gaming 7, i have used cheapo ram, tried the t-force delta and the older avexir red led stuff, no issues.

only ran them at 2400 speed though, i had the asus prime x470 before the gigabyte and it was shocking, lasted few weeks and died.

you have tried 4 motherboards but have you tried different ram.

Solus · 27 Apr 2019 at 21:36

wakadoo said:
i have the 2600 and the Gigabyte Aoura X470 Gaming 7, i have used cheapo ram, tried the t-force delta and the older avexir red led stuff, no issues.

only ran them at 2400 speed though, i had the asus prime x470 before the gigabyte and it was shocking, lasted few weeks and died.

you have tried 4 motherboards but have you tried different ram.

No, i've ordered a 16gb kit from the QVL just now.

So, what you think is that all 5 Asus boards failed due to their quality, nothing to do with RAM? I suppose, it's a rare possibility and that the RAM was compatible with that board but not the gigabyte board (even though it's not on the QVL list for either).

Once I have the 16gb kit I will know for certain, but it's sent me round in circles a bit as it doesn't make sense that all of those boards would die in the exact same way.

wakadoo · 27 Apr 2019 at 21:42

Solus said:
So, what you think is that all 5 Asus boards failed due to their quality, nothing to do with RAM?.

no i dont. i think you should have tried the ram in another machine after the first board and maybee consider that the processor could be faulty.

i dont envy the struggle you have right now, hope the new ram sorts it for you.

Solus · 27 Apr 2019 at 21:46

wakadoo said:
no i dont. i think you should have tried the ram in another machine after the first board and maybee consider that the processor could be faulty.

i dont envy the struggle you have right now, hope the new ram sorts it for you.

I did consider the CPU, it's been replaced (check original post). RAM was never on my hit list to begin with as the board and CPU were my main concerns. Would never have expected RAM to kill a board.

muon · 28 Apr 2019 at 15:20

Even if its not on QVL, at stock speeds that RAM should be fine if not faulty.

RAM is the most likely component to be faulty whenever you have problems.

Next is GPU, then PSU and very rarely CPU or motherboard.

I doubt 5 motherboards are dead.

Solus · 28 Apr 2019 at 20:35

muon said:
Even if its not on QVL, at stock speeds that RAM should be fine if not faulty.

RAM is the most likely component to be faulty whenever you have problems.

Next is GPU, then PSU and very rarely CPU or motherboard.

I doubt 5 motherboards are dead.

But explain why each board posted and worked for an hour each time if the memory was faulty? But failed to do so once failed, even if cmos reset?

phrases · 28 Apr 2019 at 20:49

Does it power loop?

muon · 28 Apr 2019 at 20:55

Solus said:
But explain why each board posted and worked for an hour each time if the memory was faulty? But failed to do so once failed, even if cmos reset?

You tried the boards with good RAM?

The only component that could consistently kill boards like that is the PSU.

Solus · 28 Apr 2019 at 22:14

muon said:
You tried the boards with good RAM?

The only component that could consistently kill boards like that is the PSU.

As I said, same stick throughout. Ram errors on all boards afterwards. All boards power as you would expect without looping but give the ram errors once they fail. Whether the stick is good or faulty, it shouldn't cause such severe effects to a board. PSU is brand new and has been tested on another system for over 3 hours. In all cases with this ryzen system the boards have died within an hour.

muon · 28 Apr 2019 at 23:54

Solus said:
As I said, same stick throughout. Ram errors on all boards afterwards. All boards power as you would expect without looping but give the ram errors once they fail. Whether the stick is good or faulty, it shouldn't cause such severe effects to a board. PSU is brand new and has been tested on another system for over 3 hours. In all cases with this ryzen system the boards have died within an hour.

If you are using the same stick, how do you know the boards were dead?

Solus · 28 Apr 2019 at 23:55

muon said:
If you are using the same stick, how do you know the boards were dead?

Because they wouldn't post with the same stick? But the replacement boards did?

muon · 28 Apr 2019 at 23:57

Solus said:
Because they wouldn't post with the same stick? But the replacement boards did?

There's no way the memory is killing boards. Either they aren't dead, seems likely to me, or the PSU is faulty.

Solus · 29 Apr 2019 at 11:48

The 16gb corsair kit from QVL arrived this morning. This gigabyte board boots now.

LePhuronn · 29 Apr 2019 at 12:21

Solus said:
But explain why each board posted and worked for an hour each time if the memory was faulty?

Because the power supply is duff and killing everything. Or the client is a little bit simple and doing something odd.

Solus · 29 Apr 2019 at 22:38

All seems well and good now with the new ram and gigabyte board. I suspect maybe the Asus boards were a little bit more friendly to the duff ram for a bit until each time the ram failed, not the board. In the meantime while waiting for RMA, the memory cooled or something and would work for a short period again?

Only thing I can think of that makes any sense.

Anyway, finally working which is the main thing.