Asus M5 A99X EVO Clarification please...

Elysiumfire

Elysiumfire

Elysiumfire

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10 Dec 2013
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Hi There,

Here are my specs...

AMD Phenom II 955 BE 3.2ghz
Asus M5 A99X EVO
Corsair Vengeance X2 8gb sticks 1866 (16gb total) Blue

I have 2 8GB sticks that I am using in slots A2 and B2 (manual designation), but the system is only seeing 8GB, as is windows, as is CPU-Z. I want to use the whole 16GB total running at 1866. Can I do this with this motherboard?

My current understanding is that for this motherboard, each memory slot is limited only to 4GB? The manual suggests to use slot A2 even when using just one 8GB stick, but when I do this, the system only sees 4GB, and not 8GB. What's going on?

I know I have to set the memory speed manually in BIOS. As things stand, I have both sticks in their designated slots, and I have memory running at 1866, but only 8GB is showing.

How do I get the system to recognise 16GB.

How the hell does one update the BIOS on this motherboard. There is a BIOS update I can do, but this board just will not let me. The Asus Suite is utter rubbish, and keeps telling me this environment is no update change.

Help please...
 
Go into the BIOS and as the manual instructs update to the latest BIOS (1708) via Asus EZ Flash 2 Utility. I never do it from Windows.

As for your memory I would test both DIMMs in A1/B1 or A2/B2 as the board is designed to accept up to 32GB (8GB per slot).

Can you confirm if the DIMMs work individually?
 
Hi There,

Thanks for your response. I can confirm that both sticks work individually and in different slots. I am quite sure that this is a software not hardware issue.

To be honest, I am like yourself when it comes to flashing BIOS, and not doing it through windows, but Ausus have a very convoluted way of upgrading the BIOS via their EZ Flash Utility. I was hoping they would be a less complicated way of doing so, but I knew I would have to do it the 'EZ' way, which is a non sequitur.

I cannot afford to get it wrong, for doing so would be calamitous to say the least. Do you think by upgrading the BIOS the memory issue would resolve, or is it possible that the CPU is the limiting factor?

Many thanks.
 
CPU is 64bit so not limiting factor. I would flash to 1708 then retest. For me Asus boards have been a bit picky with memory so I stick to their QVL. What model of Corsair Vengeance is it?
 
Hi There,

I have flashed the BIOS up to v.1708. Everything fine. Just followed the instructions here...

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20070215223109668&board_id=1

...it was simple enough. I'm sure I made it out to be more a larger fuss than what it transpired to be, but perhaps that was because I was being overly delicate with my pride and joy.

The Corsair memory is as stated above in my first post with model No: CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9(XMP). Both sticks are the same. Unfortunately, the system still sees each 8GB stick as only 4GB. How do I get the system to recognise each sticks real size?

Best wishes
 
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Okay. Having updated my BIOS successfully, I am still left with the original problem.

The board or BIOS is not recognising the correct amount of memory. Just to clarify I will reiterate the issue.

I have 2 sticks of 8GB memory, both are the same model number as highlighted in earlier posts, and both work fine. BIOS only sees them as 4GB, and so obviously, I want it to see 16 GB total. That is to say, with both sticks in their correct module slot, each slot would register 8GB each.

I have taken out 1 stick for now, so only have 1 8GB stick in the correctly designated B2 memory slot, which still registers only 4GB. Neither BIOS or Windows register the correct amount of memory.

The model number of the memory is listed on the board's QVL, so there should be no problem. I believe the problem to be due to BIOS settings, probably voltage settings. I have done various tests and everything checks out fine, components are okay.

What would be the correct manual settings I need to apply to get the board to register 8GB?

Here are my specs again.

AMD Phenom II 955 Quad Black Edition
ASUS M5A99X EVO Rev.1.01 BIOS updated to v.1708 (current version)
Corsair Vengeance X2 8gb sticks 1866 (16gb total) Blue Model No: CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9(XMP).
XFX ATX750W Power Supply Black Edition
XFX ATI 6850 graphics card
Xonar D2X sound card
Windows 7 64bit
 
I would start by increasing the DRAM voltage in small increments in the AI Tweaker Menu. Maybe the memory needs a little extra voltage. I would leave all the timings at standard for now. I am not sure if you have answered this already but can you confirm if both sticks are detected in a different board?
 
Hi IPBA,

I appreciate your information and the time you are giving to me.

However, before I actually start messing around with voltages, I want to understand the reason why my BIOS is not registering the correct amount of memory.

As far as I am concerned, you should be able to buy memory sticks that are on the QVL, pop them in, and SPD should detect everything correctly. No 'overclocking' by manually adjusting voltages and such should be required, the board should automatically detect the correct size and speed of memory, and adjust the settings, voltages and timings of CPU, FSB, and memory.

The manual states that the components I bought happily work on this board. There is no explanation in the manual that states what you have to do, and specifically how to do it. It just says..."Yeah, it will take 32GB (8GB a slot)," but neglects to supply the important information on how to get the correct settings, which should be a mandatory inclusion.

The frustration is not knowing 'why' it is not registering the correct memory size, and that is what I want to know?

Regards
 
I agree that it should work out of the box. As I said make sure you confirm the memory is good. Test in a friends system if possible. If the 16GB registers at POST then I think its down to the ASUS board being fussy. At this point you are none the wiser if its the board or the RAM. You have already ruled out the BIOS being the culprit.
 
Hi Guys,

Many thanks for your responses. The issue has now been solved.

The problem was not the memory, the problem was a big gormless beggar (i.e., me), not knowing his **** from his elbow! I was sold a kit of memory, equalling 2 sticks of 4GBs. What threw me was the labelling on the sticks, each one stating 8GB (2 x 4GB). I misinterpreted this as meaning each stick was 8GB. My humble apologies. Think I will go back to using the earliest form of computer...the abacus!

Regards to everyone
 
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I was reading this with intrigue thinking of possible things to try, then read your concluding post.

Gave me a good chuckle :D
If it's any consolation you're certainly not the only person to have misread a DRAM kit label before.
 
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