New Kaby Lake Build - RAM compatibility

valerislysander · 20 Apr 2017 at 18:08

Hi, I just built a new i7-7700k PC with a z270 motherboard (Asus ROG Maximus IX Hero Intel Z270).

I boot up and the MB is showing error 55 no RAM installed.
I bought this RAM:

Corsair
Vengeance LPX 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black

Now I'm wondering did i buy the wrong RAM. I know it says Quad Channel but it says it supports z170 so i thought it would support z270 either way.

I wanted 4 sticks of 8GB and they all say quad channel but i do see now that some say dual/quad.

RJC · 20 Apr 2017 at 18:51

The quad / dual channel tends to mean match sticks and it's the memory controlller which determines how the ram is configured.

What happens when you try one stick at a time in various slots? Also try a CMOS reset.

pastymuncher · 20 Apr 2017 at 18:55

The only difference between dual and quad channel ram is 4 sticks or 2 sticks. The ram are just matching sticks so should work in dual channel with no problems. Have you checked the cpu socket for any bent pins? Is the heatsink of the bolt down type? If so I have seen similar problems if they are bolted down too tightly and slackening off usually fixes it. Something else that is a possibility is a memory/ram incompatibility which you don't see very often with Corsair memory. This can sometimes be fixed by flashing to the latest motherboard bios which will increase memory compatibility. Version 0906 is the latest for your board and you can download it here. Extract it to a usb stick and either use the EZ-Flash tool in the bios or if you can't get into the bios use the usb flashback option, see here for instructions.

mattyfez · 20 Apr 2017 at 19:02

When I built typical in my sig, I had a head scratching moment when I got a ram failure error. I only have 2 sticks, swapped them round and it worked.
Maybe one wasn't seated properly, dunno.

Try 1 stick at a time to verify they all work, then add more.

valerislysander · 20 Apr 2017 at 20:40

Thanks for the advice guys!

CMOS reset didnt work so I removed 3 sticks and it booted fine with 1 then 2 and then all 4. Maybe i hadn't seated one right or something but its working now

Thanks for clearing up the whole dual/quad channel thing as well. should be clearer

Now to enjoy

Habakkuk · 21 Apr 2017 at 06:26

I had an old motherboard that liked RAM being added in a specific way: slots 2,4,1,3 - I do this when adding 4 sticks now, and in reverse to remove them.