Compatible PC build won't boot with all 4 sticks of DDR4 ram

ChaosRipper · 17 May 2020 at 22:18

Hi all,
Thanks in advance for any advice, I'm pulling my hair out over my new PC build. The motherboard on my PC is a MSI Z390-A PRO, and it claims to support DDR4 ram with speeds up to 2133MHz, with an XMP overclock to 4400MHz.
So with that in mind, I have 4x8GB sticks of Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro (3200MHz).
So I've tried all combinations and can confirm that no specific stick of ram is faulty, and none of the ram ports on the motherboard are broken, but the problem is that the PC only boots with 3 sticks of ram (24GB).

When all 4 sticks are in (32GB):
At first, the PC wouldn't even boot, it would reboot over and over with the DRAM error light on the motherboard.
I went ahead and updated the bios firmware to the latest. (7B98v18 - 27/12/2019)
From that update onwards, the PC will sometimes boot to the BIOS menu, with 3/4 of attempts just boot looping with the error light.
When I reach the BIOS menu, it confirms that it's got 4 sticks of ram, with a DRAM frequency of 2133MHz, which is the maximum the motherboard can do before the XMP overclock.
Proceeding to boot with OC genie and XMP disabled results in the blue screen of death in Windows every time with an error message of "The operating system could not be loaded because the kernel is missing" Which is beyond confusing because I think that means the Windows boot is corrupted, but as soon as I remove a stick of ram, everything is perfect again.

And finally, booting the PC with 4 sticks of ram with either OC Genie, or XMP enabled, or BOTH enabled at the same time, will always result in an immediate shut down with DRAM error on the motherboard.

Thanks in advance and sorry if I've made this confusing!

Just in case it's relevant, my CPU is the Intel Core i5-9400F, and my GPU is a Palit GTX 1070 Dual fan

Here is a pic of my bios with all 4 sticks in on one of the lucky occasions that it even gets this far:

Quartz · 17 May 2020 at 23:18

How are you cooling that CPU? You could have the cooler overtightened. Have you checked that that RAM is on the official compatibility list?

ChaosRipper · 18 May 2020 at 01:51

Quartz said:
How are you cooling that CPU? You could have the cooler overtightened. Have you checked that that RAM is on the official compatibility list?

I think you might be onto something there,
I have a Coolermaster 212 Evo and it was pretty tight. I loosened it a bit, but now it won't take more than 2 sticks of ram instead of 3. I tightened it back up but it still won't take more than 2.
I'm not sure if it's related ofcourse, everytime I hit the power on button it's a mystery what's going to happen.

And I haven't checked any official compatibility lists from either Msi or Intel, but the parts picker website said its all good

BongoHunter · 18 May 2020 at 02:14

Is the motherboard screwed into all the motherboard standoffs in the case? Does it look in anyway warped?

ChaosRipper · 18 May 2020 at 02:36

BongoHunter said:
Is the motherboard screwed into all the motherboard standoffs in the case? Does it look in anyway warped?

Yep, they're all in, and there's no signs of any warping

ChaosRipper · 18 May 2020 at 16:23

So as an update. I took the CPU out, cleared all the paste off and completely reapplied the whole thing. Now the PC gets to BIOS with all 4 sticks of ram like it did at my original post, but again.. god knows if it's even related to reinserting the CPU. Anyway, it won't boot past the BIOS, it gives one of 3 error messages at random each time it tries to boot...

1-----------------------------------
The header chechsum for this file doesn't match the computed chucksum.

File: \Windows\System32\winload.efi
Error code: 0xc0000221

2------------------------------------
The operating system couldn't be loaded because the kernel is missing or contains errors.

File: \windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Error code: 0xc0000221

3------------------------------------

(This one happens when any recovery USB or installation USB is inserted)
Error sending post message to me
(Followed by)
The digital signature for this file couldn't be verified
Error code: 0xc0000428

No recovery environment, either internal or USB can be accessed.
and ofcourse, all of this just goes away and everything boots absolutely fine as soon as I remove a stick of ram.

opethdisciple · 18 May 2020 at 18:10

I went ahead and updated the bios firmware to the latest. (7B98v18 - 27/12/2019)

So you had the four sticks in before the bios update and it was working?

If so can you try a bios downgrade?

ChaosRipper · 18 May 2020 at 18:16

opethdisciple said:
I went ahead and updated the bios firmware to the latest. (7B98v18 - 27/12/2019)

So you had the four sticks in before the bios update and it was working?

If so can you try a bios downgrade?

Noo, I've only ever been able to use the PC with 3 or less sticks of ram and I've been fed up of the 4th stick sitting here unused. I did the bios update with the 3 stick config. Now that I can actually get to the bios but no further with all 4 sticks in, maybe I should try re installing the latest bios firmware with all 4 sticks in??

opethdisciple · 18 May 2020 at 21:27

Have you tried to apply the XMP profile?

Skynet5 · 19 May 2020 at 00:21

If all pins look good on cpu, the fact that loosening the cooler made another stick go bad, I'd say your mobo is bad.

Shac · 19 May 2020 at 00:48

With those error messages it looks more likely that your windows install has been hosed while experiencing your issues.

opethdisciple · 19 May 2020 at 00:55

If you haven't got much configuration in the bios could try reverting to defaults and the PC should boot with the ram at base 2133MHz timings with all four sticks.

I would then apply the XMP profile and if you think it wont work with just the xmp profile ad more voltage to the dram. Try 1.4v

Mcnumpty2323 · 19 May 2020 at 00:59

Going through exactly the same with 32gb of new ram
X570 board
Any 3 sticks boot fine but 4th causes
Pmu memory training error at boot
And only 24gb recognised and only at 2133mhz
I really like the rgb on the ram and the Thermaltake software is miles better than my gigabyte rgb fusion which sucks big time
So holding out for a bios update and hoping it cures it
Nothings wrong with my motherboard or cpu putting 32gb of different ram in works fine
So may be your board might just not like that particular ram

ChaosRipper · 19 May 2020 at 13:58

Honestly guys, I've done everything you've mentioned many times in the past few days. I've taken the Cmos battery out about 7 times, just to find that dragon center is still forcing an overclock I never told it too. My bios and and dragon center aren't in sync at all, if I want something changed, I have to do both and hope for the best.

At the moment, my PC is back to not taking more than 2 sticks. I've reinstalled the motherboards firmware a couple times for good measure but now I can't even access the Mflash, it comes up with 'media not found' unless I put in a specific memory stick, and even when I do insert that stick, I can't back out of it to select another memory stick.

I'm tempted at this point to just get a completely new motherboard and reinstall windows.

If I can't solve this issue with my current set up, I'd appreciate any reccomendations for a 1151 motherboard that can take 9th gen intel out of the box, and have no issues with the 4 sticks of corsier vengeance pro

Quartz · 19 May 2020 at 15:21

ChaosRipper said:
So with that in mind, I have 4x8GB sticks of Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro (3200MHz).

I'm looking at the RAM compatibility list for your motherboard and a lot of Corsair RAM isn't supported in four DIMM configurations, only two. You might want to double check the compatibility.

ChaosRipper · 19 May 2020 at 17:26

Quartz said:
I'm looking at the RAM compatibility list for your motherboard and a lot of Corsair RAM isn't supported in four DIMM configurations, only two. You might want to double check the compatibility.

Thankyou for looking, I was having difficulty finding an answer to the official compatibility! I'm definitely fed up of this motherboard if it is the culprit. Could I be a total noob and ask for any advice on the ideal motherboard that wouldn't have any issues with my 4 sticks of 3200Mhz 8GB?
I've been looking at the Gigabyte Aorus range

Quartz · 19 May 2020 at 17:53

ChaosRipper said:
I've been looking at the Gigabyte Aorus range

OCUK sales should be able to help you here. With specific regard to Gigabyte, @GIGA-Man is your man with the answers here. But you'll likely need the exact model(s) of RAM as per that page; 'Vengeance RGB' isn't sufficient.

ChaosRipper · 23 May 2020 at 19:52

Hi everyone, I thought I'd give an update. I've been slaving away the past couple of days with this and finally bought a new motherboard, I got the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus pro Wifi, and was completely mortified to see that I had the exact same issue!
Coincidentally, my dad has asked me to make him a powerful desktop PC, so among the parts I bought, I got 4x8GB 3200Mhz of the exact same corsair ram, except not in RGB. I plugged it into my PC for the sake of it, and my god the bloody thing worked first time with all 4 sticks making 32GB of ram.

I'm unfortunately out of the return period for amazon, but Corsair has a limited lifetime warrenty that I'm hellbent on using. The only issue is... how am I supposed to make an argument to return 4 sticks that all work perfectly fine individually, but not together

Quartz · 23 May 2020 at 19:58

If the RAM isn't on the motherboard's compatibility list as working in four DIMM configuration you're going to have difficulty.

Mcnumpty2323 · 23 May 2020 at 20:10

Just fixed mine

Double check the ram is absolutely correctly seated
Ideally if possible lay the pc down to insert the ram
All my modules clicked when putting them in
Was about to rma for the 2nd time and as I went to take the ram out my fingers felt 1 module was 1 or 2mm proud of the others
Turned out even though they clicked the catches because my pc was upright it still hadn't quite been pressed in hard enough
The qvl list is only for rough guidance
Motherboard vendors only check a fraction of possible modules
So not being on this list means little
Ie it does not mean they have been tested but don't work with the board
Also I had no issues with rma I explained the only 3 out of 4 would work at same time
That was with ocuks biggest competitor
As ocuk didn't have these rgb modules