Faulty RAM slot?

Ryder_1990

Ryder_1990

Ryder_1990

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Joined
20 May 2013
Posts
43
Hi all

I'm in a bit of pickle with this brand new rig I just built. Boot times were awfully slow comparing to my previous Zen 3 machine. Memory training, future BIOS fixes etc etc I thought it might get better in coming months - it's a brand new platform after all. First of all games would just crash or I would get straight BSOD. Opened 2 or 3 tabs in Firefox, yeah browser crashed... I tried using one stick of RAM only - works perfectly. Tried a second stick only afterwards. Same result - works as it should. Surprisingly quick boot time and no crashes/BSODs etc etc. I made sure that CMOS is reset after every change and used default BIOS settings at all times. Then I plugged in both sticks again and it only got worse. Four BSODs: critical_process died, pfn list corrupt, page fault in non paged area, irql not less or equal. I reckon that B2 slot is the culprit here. I tried both sticks in A2 slot as per motherboard manual.

Current situation: automated repair does not work and I can't even get into Safe Mode. It tries to go through same circle of repair but to no avail. Am I destined to RMA my motherboard? I will try it again with one stick only and run some games/benchmarks to see if it's stable when stressed. I will be curious to see if I can even boot into Windows now lol. Any other tips would be appreciated. What else can I do troubleshoot this?

Specs:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
Motherboard: ROG Strix X670E-A
RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 DRAM 5600MT/s C36 AMD EXPO
GPU: Geforce RTX 4080 FE
SSD: WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2
SSD: WD 2TB Blue SN570 M.2 NVMe
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P6
AIO: NZXT Kraken X73
+ Windows 11 Pro 22H2 and all the newest drivers. No bundled thrash installed.
 
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Have you tried a single RAM stick in the suspected slot that's having troubles? Or just tried them all in the default (manual suggested) slot thus far?

As you currently have eliminated the RAM as the possible problem with both working when used singularly in the same slot. You need to eliminate the (suspected) RAM slot as the problem. So I would try in that suspected faulty slot(s) to confirm it is a problem. If it is, RMA it or exchange, etc.

If the system is stable, the issue might be actually end up being a bad IMC on the processor instead, rather than the RAM slot on the motherboard.
 
Have you checked that when you enable EXPO it is setting the right DRAM voltage?

I assume it doesn't work any better at stock? (probably 4800 @ 1.1v)

With AM4 Ryzen CPUs memory/slot issues could sometimes be caused by overtightened heatsinks, but that seems less likely with an AIO.
 
Thanks for all advice :) I have unplugged and replugged all the componets including cables. Checked for any bent CPU pins, luckily there are none. Did a fresh install of Windows 11. Then I tried one stick of RAM in A2 and B2 slot so four combinations if that makes sense. It worked ok on each attempt. Ultimately I tried both sticks and it works! Boot time is MUCH better now. Not as good as Zen 3 but still it's a massive improvement to what I was experiencing initially and it boots with no hickups each time now. It's also all stable in day to day use. I have enabled Memory Context Restore previously too but I can't tell if it made any difference at the time. It was a s***show anyway. I would like to think that it does now.

It doesn't like EXPO though. I get BSOD with MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error before even getting into Windows. I reverted back to stock settings for now. Funnily enough EXPO worked before the rebuild :D
 
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Spoke too soon... crashes in games returned. I think I will start RMA one by one (CPU/mobo/RAM) starting with CPU :( Honestly it shouldn't be that painful.
 
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have you tried to update the bios, first release's are always a bit iffy with ram, check the asus website and see what is the latest one, dont download a beta version as that will cause more issues than it fixes, try it after a newer bios and see if the ram works, with any luck the pc should start working corectly. you have a 4080? i'm sure most maiboard manufactures released a updated bios to improve vga compatibility for rtx 40 series too

i just moved from a msi board to and asus and the transition has been flawless, working out of box expo applying and overclocking to 5.4ghz on a 7950x :), the poor msi i havd before would always freeze, lockup and expo would never stay applied, crashes in windows and games would CTD all the time.
 
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Yup, I have updated to latest version for X670E-A which is 0805, it's a non-beta version. All troubleshooting was done after that. I have also updated firmware on my 4080. I have ordered new CPU, motherboard and RAM... it's on QVL list this time around. It doesn't have EXPO and "optimised for AMD" splashed all over but hey if it works then who am I to say. Either way I will keep y'all posted. I just want a stable system.
 
So coming back with another update, I hope it's final one. All these weird boot/XMP issues truly went away after... updating firmware on my SSDs. I have WD SN850X 1TB for boot and and SN570 2TB for storage - updated both via WD Dashboard. Looking forward to next BIOS revision from Asus. I see some mobo manufacturers already released AGESA 1.0.0.4 updates. My previous AM4 system was silky smooth and rock stable with XMP @ 3200 MHz. 4 sticks, 16 gig each. I was borderline ready to dump this AM5 bs alltogether and jump on Intel for a change.
 
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