ROG STRIX Z790-E GAMING WIFI II RAM problems, intermittent boot failure

[andreykul]

I have RAM problems with ROG STRIX Z790-E GAMING WIFI II. Serial Number : R9M0KC207580***
In the system:
CPU - I9-14900KF
GPU - ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX® 4090 OC Edition
Cooler - ASUS ROG Ryujin III 240 ARGB
PSU - ASUS ROG Strix 1200W Gold Aura Edition
M.2_1 slot is empty
M.2_2 occupied by WD_BLACK 4TB SN850X NVMe Gen4 PCIe,
M.2_3, M.2_4 and M.2_5 occupied by SABRENT 8TB Rocket 4 Plus NVMe 4.0 Gen4 PCIe
Everything are new purchases.

I'm using all 4 memory slots - 2 sets of 2x16GB DDR5.
ALT_PCIE_MODE switch set from Auto (default) to 1st step (Gen 4)
All settings in BIOS kept in default values except changes made during troubleshooting:
 
1) At first I was not able to get system 1st boot with G.SKILL Trident Z5DDR5 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) 6600MT/s CL34-40-40-105 1.40V (F5-6600J3440G16GA2-TZ5RK). Having Q-CODE 54 and orange LED with 4 or 2 or only 1 RAM module installed.
2) I was able get the system 1st time boot with only one module from TEAMGROUP T-Force Delta RGB DDR5 Ram 32GB (2x16GB) 6600MHz PC5-52800 CL34 (FF3D532G6600HC34DC01). With 4 or 2 modules installed the same Q-CODE 54 and orange LED.
3) After 1st boot I was able to boot the system with all 4 modules installed for both (G.SKILL and TEAMGROUP) memory sets, but both memory sets failed the Memtest86+ right after the test started. I tried XMP I and XMP II profiles for both brands with no luck (with XMP II failure occurs a little bit later compared to XMP I).
4) Updated to BIOS 0801 - no change in Memtest86+ results
5) I did disable XMP and start playing around with timing and voltage with G.SKILL memory set (basically I was using timing and voltage for lower frequency memory for the same brand - 6400MHz  and 6000MHz). Note - G.SKILL  set was originally purchased for the build and TEAMGROUP memory used just because with G.SKILL memory the PC was not able boot for the 1st time.
The results: For G.SKILL memory set with 6400MHz settings Memtest86+ failed on 3rd pass and with 6000MHz settings Memtest86+ passed.
6) I kept 6000MHz settings and installed Windows 11 pro, everything works fine until I find out that after reboot sometimes (intermittently) system failed to boot with Q-CODE 54 and orange LED or Q-CODE 55 and no LED lit.  After power cycle the system boot to BIOS  in safe mode and than works fine until the next failure. Approximately fails to boot ones on 4-6 reboots.
7) I assumed the manual memory settings does not work sometimes for modules designed for different speed and purchased 2 sets of G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB Series (Intel XMP 3.0) DDR5 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MT/s CL36-36-36-96 1.35V (F5-6000J3636F16GA2-TZ5RK). I did enable XMP (XMP II), the system passed Memtest86+ but the intermittent failure to boot still exists - exactly the same.

I'm often using this system remotely and if the PC fails to boot after restart I can not do anything until I physically get to the computer. Very frustrated - I can not run high performance memory on this motherboard, intermittent boot  failure problems with lower frequency memory.

If someone have the same issue please advise if solution found.

Update 2/12/2024:
I continue trying to figured out what the problem is and found out that if 'Fast boot' is disabled in BIOS the system boot to safe mode (RAM speed 3600MHz) or never boot. Enabling fast boot fixing the problem, but intermittent failure to boot still exist. I purchased today memory from QVL and will see what happens. Kingston KF560C40BBAK4-64 4x16GB XMP 6000 40-40-40-80 1.35V. Note : QVL show support only for 1 or 2 sockets but I believe it is a mistake - this is 4 modules set and same memory from QVL but white (KF560C40BWAK4-64) support 1,2,4 sockets. Will keep updated.

[andreykul]

Note : QVL show support only for 1 or 2 sockets for Kingston KF560C40BBAK4-64 but I believe it is a mistake - this is 4 modules set and same memory from QVL in white  color (KF560C40BWAK4-64) support 1,2,4 sockets

[andreykul]

I continue trying to figured out what the problem is and found out that if 'Fast boot' is disabled in BIOS the system boot to safe mode (RAM speed 3600MHz) or never boot. Enabling fast boot fixing the problem, but intermittent failure to boot still exist. I purchased memory from QVL and will see what happens. Kingston KF560C40BBAK4-64 4x16GB XMP 6000 40-40-40-80 1.35V.

[andreykul]

Update 2/14/2024:

Amazon screwed up with order of Kingston KF560C40BBAK4-64 4x16GB - I received incomplete set (only 2 ram modules), so, testing with QVL memory set postponed until next week. I figured out that if with XMP II settings enabled set manually in BIOS DRAM speed to SPD 4800Mhz (stock speed for current memory set 2x F5-6600J3440G16GX2-TZ5RK or F5-6000J3636F16GA2-TZ5RK) the intermittent boot failures will be resolved. But this is not the speed I want for the memory which advertised be able run at 6600MHz or 6000Mhz

[andreykul]

Setting RAM speed to SPD 4800Mhz with XMP II settings did not resolve the intermittent boot failure problem completely - just got some improvements. On about 10th reboot issue occurred again (see attached photo). Still waiting for QVL RAM Kingston KF560C40BBAK4-64 4x16GB to arrive. So next step I did - with RAM speed set to 4800Mhz set overclock tuner to "auto", reboot, set overclock tuner to "manual" and replace DRAM timing and voltage settings from auto to the values shown on the left. Since then no RAM failures on reboot so far (15 reboots).

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello, @andreykul 

Due to the ongoing local holidays in our area, my response time may experience delays.
I apologize for any inconvenience the delayed replies may have caused.

As the product serial number contains personal information, I'll obscure the last three digits.
We recommend trying to install a single memory module in the DIMM_A2 slot, as suggested in the user manual, and clearing CMOS to confirm if the system boots correctly with default BIOS settings before gradually overclocking or adding more memory modules.
When configuring memory overclocking, it's advisable to test the XMP I setting, as it optimizes memory timing and parameters per ASUS specifications.

Thank you.

[andreykul · Accepted solution]

Update 2/22/2024:
DRAM Kingston KF560C40BBAK4-64 4x16GB from QV supported memory list resolved the intermittent boot failure due to DRAM initialization problems. This is the 1st time in many many years (since XMP was implemented) that I have this kind of problem (see original post). Never looked in the QVL supported memory list - if RAM matches the supported RAM type and has XMP it always worked, until I bought ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-E GAMING WIFI II motherboard. The not working RAM is not defective - the motherboard is just too picky with the RAM. And ASUS support is worthless as usual - they did not even read the original post and suggested things that were already done and did not help.