RAM issue?

dandos23 · 30 Jan 2025 at 21:48

Hi everyone, I recently upgraded my old system to something a bit quicker after getting advice on here about what to get. Everything has been working fine for about a month, so I know it was all working together.
Yesterday, I did a windows update which required a restart. Since then the PC wont post or even make it past the DRAM check. I removed everything from the motherboard that wasn't required to get to the BIOS and it still did nothing. As a last resort I removed all but one stick of RAM and it worked, I got to the BIOS. Everything in there looked fine and only has the standard settings with nothing overclocked.
To cut a long story short, it will now only post if I have nothing in slots A1 and B1. I checked all 4 sticks of RAM and they all work fine so I don't think the issue is there. After a bit more searching it seems that I have bought some RAM that is not on the compatibility list for the motherboard. That said, it was all working fine for about a month. Could this be a compatibility issue or something else?

Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-4800040 6000MHz Dual Channel (I have two sets of this to give me 128GB)
Asus TUF GAMING X870-PLUS WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor

Any help will be greatly appreciated as I don't really want to spend more money on RAM unless I really need to (although I might be cheaper to replace the motherboard lol)

dandos23 · 30 Jan 2025 at 23:00

Tetras said:
If you lose one channel it can sometimes be a cooler mount issue, though it doesn't sound you moved the PC so I wouldn't expect anything to have shifted.

What speed does running 4 sticks of 32GB get you? It must be pretty darn slow. It can be tricky to get that much memory to work, did you try a full CMOS clear? Though, keep in mind that doing this can potentially impact your TPM and may break Windows Hello and/or disk encryption.

Compared to the old system it was quite a bit faster lol. I didn't actually look at the speed it was running at as it was working fine. I have done the CMOS clear and had to deal with the disk encryption after. When it stopped working, nothing had moved, so I don't feel it could be the CPU cooler (I could have course be wrong though). The way this started, after an update, makes me think that it might be a software/compatibility issue.

Rob_B said:
check for bent pins in the socket too if you dare.

I have looked and cant see any bent pins, my eyes are not what they used to be though. Although, it started after a windows update, I don't think that there will be any bent pins as it was all working before the update.

dandos23 · 30 Jan 2025 at 23:29

I had heard that it can take a while to boot, but I am unaware of just how long. So, I have all 4 sticks in and have turned the pc on. I will see if it has posted by the time I get up tomorrow lol.

dandos23 · 31 Jan 2025 at 06:07

Well, i don't know how long it actually took, but it did at some point sort itself out and booted up with all 4 sticks in. I will have to look at it properly when I get back from work.

dandos23 · 1 Feb 2025 at 14:08

Well, it is still working and not once has it crashed since booting with all 4 sticks in.
So, would I be better off running less RAM then, as it would be running quicker. Or would the increased capacity compensate for the slower speeds?

dandos23 · 1 Feb 2025 at 14:16

Well, I use Fusion 360 a lot and that recommends 32GB or more. How can I check the speed of my RAM? Is it only in the BIOS?

dandos23 · 1 Feb 2025 at 14:36

So, it looks like it is running at 3600MT/s. I don't do gaming on this PC though. Would I still be better off with only 2 sticks of what I have or would I be better off with 2 sticks of say Corsair Vengeance 96GB (2X48GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel and just try and sell the RAM I have?

dandos23 · 1 Feb 2025 at 20:19

Well, I definitely should have done a bit more research before hand lol.
So this is what CPU-Z looks like.

I haven't tried playing with any settings yet as I wanted to see if it was actually working first.
I have just left all settings on auto, so EXPO is how ever it is as standard.

I must admit that I have no idea about playing with these settings though. Is there a chance that I could make it worse?

dandos23 · 1 Feb 2025 at 21:10

Well, it been about 40 mins so far and it hasn't posted yet to get in to the BIOS. If this is how long it will take to boot then there is no way I can use 4 sticks of RAM.

dandos23 · 1 Feb 2025 at 21:16

Just restarted the PC and it hasn't posted since lol

dandos23 · 2 Feb 2025 at 09:50

So, it still hadn't posted when I got up so I forced a shutdown and it started up straight away. It is still running at the same speed though (3600MT/s).
This is what the timings look like on CPU-Z

It is the same for every slot. The recommended voltage for my RAM is 1.25v. I don't know what the voltage is at the moment, 1.1v or 1.35v (i thought the max was 1.3v)
I have no idea how to change the timings or frequency (or if its even worth it).

dandos23 · 2 Feb 2025 at 13:57

So, I have managed to disable memory context restore, enable EXPO and get it to 4800MHz. Reckon this will be the best I will get with 4 sticks.

dandos23 · 2 Feb 2025 at 18:12

I have even managed to restart the PC and it still boots up properly. Thank you to everyone that has helped get to the bottom of this and also educate me in the ways of DDR5 and AM5.

dandos23 · 2 Feb 2025 at 18:43

Im still blaming the update, whatever it was. It only happened when the PC needed to restart to complete an update, then it wouldn't post. Although looking back at it now, it might have been that it would have posted if left long enough and I was too impatient and didn't wait long enough. Regardless, I'm just glad its over (for now lol).

dandos23 · 2 Feb 2025 at 21:05

Well, this was yesterday

And this is today

Should be a bit better than it was.