Have I bought the wrong RAM?

Red Arrow

Red Arrow

Red Arrow

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13 Jun 2006
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Current system specs:

  • Intel i5 2500k
  • GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 - spec page
  • MSI NVIDIA GTX 970 Gaming Twin Frozr
  • Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz

I went an ordered the other day HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C10 1866MHz from another retailer who had it on sale.

My motheboard supports RAM up to DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz, but the i5 2500k only supports 1333/1066 MHz.

I was under the impression that RAM can be downclocked so that it should run at 1333MHz with no issues, as that is what it currently does with the older sticks. I've removed the old RAM, replaced it with the 2 new sticks and the PC won't boot correctly. It starts up for a second then shuts down, restarts then shuts down. Doesn't even gets as far as the BIOS post screen.

I've tried the following:
  1. Removing the CMOS battery to reset the settings but that didn't work.
  2. Put in the old RAM and then go into the BIOS and manually set the RAM to 1333MHz and put in the new sticks with no luck.
  3. Tried each new stick one at a time in each RAM slot.

Is there anything I should try?
Have I made a school boy error and bought RAM that just won't work with my setup?
Or does this sound like the new sticks could be faulty?
 
Try updating the bios with the old sticks installed.

You haven't bought the wrong stuff - it should be able to just run at lower speeds. Otherwise I would conclude that it is faulty.

BTW you can run your current stuff at XMP settings which will be 1600Mhz.
 
Thanks Disco_P, good to hear it from someone else that I haven't bought the wrong sticks.

I will give it again, see if the BIOS needs updated. Otherwise I will return them for a replacement.
 
OK so I've updated the BIOS and got a little further this time but with some odd results.

With the old RAM in I set the BIOS to 1333MHz instead of auto for the RAM speeds. Shut down the machine and then removed the old RAM and put in one of the new sticks. This time it booted up to the BIOS post screen and it showed that the RAM was now set to 1600MHz :confused: After which it displayed an error about voltages and shut itself down. When you tried to reboot again it went back to the original problem of shutting down and restarting after a second or two.

I don't quite understand why despite me telling the BIOS to use 1333MHz it's reverting to 1600MHz, which is causing the problem.

XMP was disabled, but I also tried it enabled and no luck either.

What would cause the BIOS to ignore my settings?

Edit - Meant to add, when I put back in the old RAM and go back into the BIOS, it's still set to 1333MHz. So the settings are being retained. Do I need to edit the RAM timings or something?
 
Last edited:
I assume that post bios update you gave tried clearing all the cmos completely and trying to boot with the new ram. I don't think it carries the settings over when you swap the ram, during post it should detect new ram and reset some settings.
 
Disco_P said:
I assume that post bios update you gave tried clearing all the cmos completely and trying to boot with the new ram. I don't think it carries the settings over when you swap the ram, during post it should detect new ram and reset some settings.
Click to expand...

hmmm, issue with that is once the new RAM is in I can't get into the BIOS to change the settings.
 
Try this.......

Install old RAM, go into BIOS, load defaults, save and exit, let PC boot then shut it down.
Install new RAM, go into BIOS, load defaults, save and exit, hopefully the PC will boot ok. Once you are happy it is now working go back into the BIOS and redo any settings for your hardware.
 
flowrider99 said:
Try this.......

Install old RAM, go into BIOS, load defaults, save and exit, let PC boot then shut it down.
Install new RAM, go into BIOS, load defaults, save and exit, hopefully the PC will boot ok. Once you are happy it is now working go back into the BIOS and redo any settings for your hardware.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but the problem is as soon as the new RAM is installed the BIOS seems to automatically set the RAM speed to 1600MHz before I get the chance to even go into the BIOS settings. After which I get the voltage warning and the computer powers down.

Once it powers up again it reboots after 1-2 seconds so again I'm unable to go back into the BIOS.

When I put the old RAM back in the BIOS correctly sets the speed to 1333MHz and it boots correctly.
 
This just keeps getting weirder. Put old RAM in, set it to 1333MHz as I've done before. Turned the machine off, replaced the RAM with the new sticks but this time it booted at 1333MHz :D

Went into the BIOS, checked all the settings, didn't save any changes then rebooted. Upon the second reboot it went back to 1600MHz and then shut down :(

I didn't save any settings, so no idea why it would boot fine first time but then decided to change the settings on the second boot. Does this sound like a case of a faulty stick?
 
OK so as an experiment I tried doing the following:

  1. Installed old RAM.
  2. Went into the BIOS and changed the speed to 1066MHz.
  3. Machine rebooted and BIOS post screen showing RAM is now at 1066MHz.
  4. Rebooted a few times and still showed the same result.
  5. Took old RAM out and put in the new sticks.
  6. Machine rebooted and BIOS post screen showing RAM is now at 1600MHz, followed by the voltage warning and the machine then shuts down.
  7. Put back in old RAM and BIOS post screen now showing RAM at 1333MHz.
  8. Rebooted the machine a few times, each time it shows at 1333MHz.
  9. Went into BIOS and the settings clearly show BIOS speed is not set at Auto, but 1066MHz.
  10. Make no changes, but saved it anyway.
  11. Machine now reboots and shows RAM at 1066MHz.

So it seems whenever I make a physical change to whatever stick is in the machine, upon rebooting it ignores whatever I've set the speed at in the BIOS and reverts to something higher until I go back into the BIOS and "reinforce" the settings. But I can't do this with the new sticks as I don't get the change to boot into the BIOS before it shuts down. I'm at a lose to what to try.
 
Use x1 stick of old ram to set ram speed/timings and voltage. Replace with x1 stick of new ram.

If it boots, do the same with x2 sticks.

If it does not boot, try lowering speed and loosening the timings untill it boots.

When it does boot, start incrementing again to see what happens.
 
Threepwood said:
Use x1 stick of old ram to set ram speed/timings and voltage. Replace with x1 stick of new ram.

If it boots, do the same with x2 sticks.

If it does not boot, try lowering speed and loosening the timings untill it boots.

When it does boot, start incrementing again to see what happens.
Click to expand...

Thanks, tried that at it's lowest settings with no luck. I'm going to return them for a replacement.
 
For info if anyone finds this thread later after searching. I sent the RAM back and the retailer said they did some tests and confirmed the sticks were faulty.

Replacements should be here hopefully tomorrow :)
 
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