3 long beeps in dual channel mode (but system still POSTs)

dannyboy75

dannyboy75

dannyboy75

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19
Hi all

I've been tearing out what's left of my hair for many months on and off, with this one. My system intermittently (always from cold boot, 50% of time from warm boot) gives me 3 long beeps, but then still POSTs and boots successfully. However, this only happens when I use the dual channel DIMM slots, and when XMP is enabled.

I know the 3 beeps generally point to a RAM issue, however I've done a lot of testing and found as follows:

1 stick of RAM in any slot is fine
2 sticks of RAM in single-channel mode are fine (even if XMP enabled)
2 sticks of RAM in dual-channel mode are fine if XMP is disabled (i.e. RAM running at 2133MHz)
2 sticks of RAM in dual-channel mode, with XMP enabled - issue as described above.

By process of elimination, I RMA'd my original Viper 16GB 3733MHz RAM, but the replacement stuff they sent was the same. I also recently bought 32GB of Crucial 32GB 3200MHz, and this gives exactly the same results. Default vDIMM for both RAM is 1.35v, but on both cases I tried upping it to 1.4v, again no improvement.

At this point I'm guessing you're thinking faulty mobo (I would be too). However, a few months ago I bought a similar, but not identical mobo (MSI z370 Tomahawk, as opposed to MSI z370 PC Pro). Again, exactly the same issues with the replacement board.

So at this point I'd just welcome any thoughts on this head-scratcher. The best I can come up with at the moment is there's just some issue with MSI z370 boards running RAM in dual-channel with XMP profile enabled. I've thought about trying a different brand of z370 board to see if it's any better, but other than that I'm all out of ideas.

cheers
Danny
 
dannyboy75 said:
Hi all

I've been tearing out what's left of my hair for many months on and off, with this one. My system intermittently (always from cold boot, 50% of time from warm boot) gives me 3 long beeps, but then still POSTs and boots successfully. However, this only happens when I use the dual channel DIMM slots, and when XMP is enabled.

I know the 3 beeps generally point to a RAM issue, however I've done a lot of testing and found as follows:

1 stick of RAM in any slot is fine
2 sticks of RAM in single-channel mode are fine (even if XMP enabled)
2 sticks of RAM in dual-channel mode are fine if XMP is disabled (i.e. RAM running at 2133MHz)
2 sticks of RAM in dual-channel mode, with XMP enabled - issue as described above.

By process of elimination, I RMA'd my original Viper 16GB 3733MHz RAM, but the replacement stuff they sent was the same. I also recently bought 32GB of Crucial 32GB 3200MHz, and this gives exactly the same results. Default vDIMM for both RAM is 1.35v, but on both cases I tried upping it to 1.4v, again no improvement.

At this point I'm guessing you're thinking faulty mobo (I would be too). However, a few months ago I bought a similar, but not identical mobo (MSI z370 Tomahawk, as opposed to MSI z370 PC Pro). Again, exactly the same issues with the replacement board.

So at this point I'd just welcome any thoughts on this head-scratcher. The best I can come up with at the moment is there's just some issue with MSI z370 boards running RAM in dual-channel with XMP profile enabled. I've thought about trying a different brand of z370 board to see if it's any better, but other than that I'm all out of ideas.

cheers
Danny
Click to expand...

Sounds like the CPU to me, thats where the memory controller is after all, but for now, just remove it and check the pins in the socket, have you at any point de-lidded the chip ?, I de-lidded my first haswell which was a brilliant overclocker, it used to do 4.8ghz, however, this was before the de-lidding tools were about, so it was 2 blocks of wood, a hammer and a razor blade, I got the tiny'est of niks in the PCB that you've ever seen, to see it clearly, you needed a magnifying glass, however, that chip never ran in dual channel mode ever again, it still worked in single channel, so I brought another one and successfully de-lidded that one properly, disappointed though because it would only clock to 4.4ghz.
 
Hey thanks for the reply. CPU hadn't even occurred to me, that's an interesting thought. I've never even OC'd it though (it's an 8700 non-K), let alone de-lidded it :)

I wonder if it's just a duffer though. Maybe I'll see if I can pick up a cheap Coffee Lake i3 to swap out temporarily, for comparison.
 
dannyboy75 said:
Hey thanks for the reply. CPU hadn't even occurred to me, that's an interesting thought. I've never even OC'd it though (it's an 8700 non-K), let alone de-lidded it :)

I wonder if it's just a duffer though. Maybe I'll see if I can pick up a cheap Coffee Lake i3 to swap out temporarily, for comparison.
Click to expand...

Two completely different kits of ram is what makes me suspicious of the CPU. I may be suspicious of the board, but as you are getting the same problem on a different board, all fingers point to the CPU.
 
Well I picked up a cheap i3 8100 from eBay, so will see what happens when that arrives next weekend. Kinda hoping it is the CPU now, as the 8700 still has a few months of warranty left. I'll post back once I've had chance to test anyway
 
Just to keep the thread updated.....the i3 arrived over the weekend. I tested it today but still get the intermittent 3 long beeps. So, at this stage, I think it must be a board issue. Guess I'll just live with it for now, but will be interesting to see if a Z370 board from a different vendor gives different results.
 
Sorry for the necro, but just for closure (and for anyone else reading this with the same issue), in the end I bought a totally different mobo (9th Gen Asus Prime Z390-P) and it's completely resolved the issues. So it was that damn MSI mobo all along.
 
Lol, thought it was longer than that :D

I now have a battle with Scan on my hands, as even though I originally flagged this issue within the warranty period, they're now saying too much time has elapsed since then. Wish me luck:rolleyes:
 
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