Bundled DDR5 modules not working with Strix Z690-F

[Chainbold]

I got a Rog Strix Z690-F that Asus (in Japan) is bundling with 2x16 GB Samsung DDR5-4800. These Samsung DDR5 modules (M323R2GA3BB0-CQKODRAM) are listed as validated by Asus for their Z690 boards.


(1) My Strix Z690- F will not boot with the modules in any of the A sockets. The recommended A2/B2 combination isn't working as well. I claimed the RAM as faulty, the vendor kindly changed the RAM. However, the new modules as well do not work in sockets A1/A2. The latest, unofficial, Bios "08" does not change anything in this regard.

(2) I found out that the board is only working with the modules in either of the B sockets.

(3) CPU-Z reads the JEDEC value for the RAM correctly as 4800MHz, but the Z690-F Bios clocks it down to 4000MHz by default (when left on auto). I need to manually change the frequency.

(4) Running the RAM in the B sockets, I get these 4800 rated modules up to 6000 MHz. The modules are ok.

Any idea how I can make it work in the recommended combination in sockets A2/B2, or why the board would not boot with the modules in any of the A sockets?

EDIT: THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN SOLVED.

[Zalamander]

Sounds like its the A slots that are broken onyour motherboard then and not the RAM that is faulty?

You get the RAMs correct speed by setting it to XMP-1 in BIOS

[Chainbold]

Zalamander wrote:
Sounds like its the A slots that are broken onyour motherboard then and not the RAM that is faulty?

Initially, I also thought the A sockets are "dead". But I do not think so now, because if the modules are in the A slots, the boot LED goes from red to orange. This means the DIMM modules are recognized, otherwise the boot LED would stay in red. The modules are also getting warm. I think it's a BIOS issue. I increased the memory voltages - but to no avail. Very frustrating.

[lLegendaary]

even if they fix this issue Z690 Is under beta test for next generation and performance enhancement .
DDR5 is such a laugh and joke atm with high NS and prices atm .
Motherboards are going high price for no reason atm but lets say " supply shortage " .
--------
Z790 will get perfromance and advanced DDR5 memory speed and GOOD NS timing .
Z890 Will be good jump for all of generation and beast .
i suggest anybody want to upgrade wait 2023 .. will be very good year for upgrade and peformance wise .



-DDR5 under beta and still not good atm .
-PCIE 5.0 GPU still not out yet .
-CPU facing issue regarding gaming performance and 8p-8e core still under beta and for me 12900k is just an demo for 13900k and 14900k for example.
-Motherboard are facing high demand than supply shortage in market isn't big deal to upgrade atm .

[Chainbold]

lLegendaary wrote:


-DDR5 under beta and still not good atm .
-PCIE 5.0 GPU still not out yet .
-CPU facing issue regarding gaming performance and 8p-8e core still under beta and for me 12900k is just an demo for 13900k and 14900k for example.
-Motherboard are facing high demand than supply shortage in market isn't big deal to upgrade atm .

I agree regarding DDR5. Regarding cost, availability, and reliability, it isn't really ready for market atm. Too many issue.

As far as the Z690 chipset + 12th generation are concerned, I think I disagree. What I get for gaming, is outstanding, well functioning hardware. The BIOS for these boards seems to be still work in progress. But that can be fixed easily. Regarding the shortage of mobos, it seems to depend on the market. I live in Japan, and there is ample supply of DDR5 and DDR4 Z690 boards.

[Chainbold]

My problem has somehow been solved. 🙂 The vendor gave me / changed another Asus DDR5 memory kit. And finally the Strix Z690-F accepted the modules. The Asus DDR5 kit looks like attached. The Samsung modules are rated as 4800MHz. They do not come with XMP. However, Asus is selling the kit for just 280 $$ (when bundled with a Z690 board), which is a bargain at this moment.

[eezeypeezey]

Hmm, so new RAM sticks fixed your problem?
I'm having the same issue with slots A1 or A2 in use --> barely boots win11 the first time, and thereafter won't even boot to Windows. This is with either XMP or XMP turned off.
The RAM I have is a 2x16GB (32GB total) Corsair Dominator DDR5 5200 (CMT32GX5M2B5200C38).
Corsair support either wants me to run 8 billion memtests to help my any farther. On Reddit, their support has claimed that the issue lies with the CPU (or CPU seating or CPU cooler pressure), or is a problem with the motherboard.
Memtest passes fine when I use any combo of the B slots (using both B1 and B2, using either one individually with one stick of the RAM). Memtest can't even finish if I put a stick in either A1 or A2. It has numerous errors as well when using these slots. It seems doubtful that it is a problem with the RAM itself. XMP runs fine while using slots B1 and B2.

Anyone have ideas?

I have checked the CPU and CPU socket for any physical defects - there are none visible. When checking on this, I reseated the CPU and re-attached my Arctic Freeze 240 cooler (the top part - I have not tried adjusting the backplate screws, because who wants to remove their entire motherboard for a slim chance of rectifying the problem?). BTW, I am using Arctic's LGA1700 backplate kit.
The only simple recourse left here to try, is to reapply the cooler again using a new tube of thermal paste (already have it in hand). I didn't have much paste when applying the cooler the first/second time, so its a bit sparse. Attaching the cooler again with more paste is the only thing I can think of to try.


Thanks for any help you all can provide.

[Chainbold]

eezeypeezey wrote:
Hmm, so new RAM sticks fixed your problem?
I'm having the same issue with slots A1 or A2 in use --> barely boots win11 the first time, and thereafter won't even boot to Windows. This is with either XMP or XMP turned off.
The RAM I have is a 2x16GB (32GB total) Corsair Dominator DDR5 5200 (CMT32GX5M2B5200C38).
Corsair support either wants me to run 8 billion memtests to help my any farther. On Reddit, their support has claimed that the issue lies with the CPU (or CPU seating or CPU cooler pressure), or is a problem with the motherboard.
Memtest passes fine when I use any combo of the B slots (using both B1 and B2, using either one individually with one stick of the RAM). Memtest can't even finish if I put a stick in either A1 or A2. It has numerous errors as well when using these slots. It seems doubtful that it is a problem with the RAM itself. XMP runs fine while using slots B1 and B2.

Anyone have ideas?

I have checked the CPU and CPU socket for any physical defects - there are none visible. When checking on this, I reseated the CPU and re-attached my Arctic Freeze 240 cooler (the top part - I have not tried adjusting the backplate screws, because who wants to remove their entire motherboard for a slim chance of rectifying the problem?). BTW, I am using Arctic's LGA1700 backplate kit.
The only simple recourse left here to try, is to reapply the cooler again using a new tube of thermal paste (already have it in hand). I didn't have much paste when applying the cooler the first/second time, so its a bit sparse. Attaching the cooler again with more paste is the only thing I can think of to try.


Thanks for any help you all can provide.

For now, my problem seems to be solved. The new modules are working when using the A sockets. However, I still feel strange, because I do not understand why the 2 previous kits would not work in the A sockets. Running them in the B sockets was ok. So, I think it wasn't an issue with the memory.

In your case, Corsair support claims yours is probably an issue with the board or the CPU? That's interesting, because finally I had completely dismantled my system, CPU, AIO, retention kit, etc. to return it for RMA. Instead, vendor suggested me to try once more another memory kit. Maybe in the process of reinstalling the mobo, I somehow fixed the problem? When I re-installed the CPU and AIO, I found some extremally small scratches around the 4 holes for the stands for the AIO. If you look carefully, it seems there are printed circuit lines in the area around the holes for cooler that seem (?) to provide current to the DIMMs. It's a bit far fetched, but to be sure I put thin paper washer between the metal stands and the PCB to prevent contact. As I said, it's far fetched, that this was the reason for my previous problem. I still believe it's more likely a matter of still required fine tuning the BIOS so that at any rate DDR5 modules are properly recognized. For me, this is a somehow bizarre experience. I have been building systems for almost 30 years, but I have never been running into such an issue.

Yet, after things are now working, I am very satisfied. The Z690 chipset with a 12th generation i5 and DDR5, are delivering outstanding performance.

[eezeypeezey]

Chainbold wrote:
For now, my problem seems to be solved. The new modules are working when using the A sockets. However, I still feel strange, because I do not understand why the 2 previous kits would not work in the A sockets. Running them in the B sockets was ok. So, I think it wasn't an issue with the memory.

In your case, Corsair support claims yours is probably an issue with the board or the CPU? That's interesting, because finally I had completely dismantled my system, CPU, AIO, retention kit, etc. to return it for RMA. Instead, vendor suggested me to try once more another memory kit. Maybe in the process of reinstalling the mobo, I somehow fixed the problem? When I re-installed the CPU and AIO, I found some extremally small scratches around the 4 holes for the stands for the AIO. If you look carefully, it seems there are printed circuit lines in the area around the holes for cooler that seem (?) to provide current to the DIMMs. It's a bit far fetched, but to be sure I put thin paper washer between the metal stands and the PCB to prevent contact. As I said, it's far fetched, that this was the reason for my previous problem. I still believe it's more likely a matter of still required fine tuning the BIOS so that at any rate DDR5 modules are properly recognized. For me, this is a somehow bizarre experience. I have been building systems for almost 30 years, but I have never been running into such an issue.

Yet, after things are now working, I am very satisfied. The Z690 chipset with a 12th generation i5 and DDR5, are delivering outstanding performance.

Thanks for the tip regarding the CPU cooler mounting holes. I think I might have to try removing the motherboard from the case and remounting the cooler bracket from scratch, just to test the possibility of issues here. What a pain in the a** though - the Prime z690-A is ATX size and it is a very tight fit in my case, the Fractal Meshify Compact 2. It was actually quite an ordeal to get it in the case. So that will be fun... However, it could be better than dealing with customer support from multiple manufacturers that just blame each other and ask you to jump through ridiculous hoops to get a resolution :mad:.

I updated to bios 802 build last night, moved a RAM stick from B1 to A2, and the system wouldn't even post (RAM error light was orange, posting wouldn't move past that even with multiple off/on resets of the system). With the new bios B1+B2 configuration worked at 5200mhz XMP 1 just as before.
When testing I did forget to set bios XMP to off/disabled prior to moving the stick to A2, so I guess it was trying to post with XMP 1 enabled still. I presume I would need to make the change to XMP disabled before the change, since with the change (stick moved to A2 from B1), it won't even post to bios and therefore I can't change XMP setting at that point. Is that correct? Is there another way to ensure the system will post to bios with the problematic RAM configuration? Like a bios safe mode or something? I've never had to resort to that or explore options regarding this before this PC build, so I don't know how it could help.

[Chainbold]

eezeypeezey wrote:

I updated to bios 802 build last night, moved a RAM stick from B1 to A2, and the system wouldn't even post (RAM error light was orange, posting wouldn't move past that even with multiple off/on resets of the system). With the new bios B1+B2 configuration worked at 5200mhz XMP 1 just as before.

This was exactly my situation as well. I think one or two other users has been reporting on this forum the same situation: Posting is only possible with the B sockets populated. Although my problem seems to be solved, I think Asus should look into this.

Edit: The small scratches around the retention holes were so small that they were basically only visible with a magnifying glass. But I could see they went over the circuit prints that are running all around the sink area. These circuit prints seem to run to the DIMM sockets. As I said, it is maybe far fetched, but to be safe, I put paper washer between the PCB and the stands, to avoid any contact between the printed lines and the metal stands. As shown in the attached picture. I am not sure at all this was the reason, because at the same time I used a new DDR5 memory kit. Then for the first time, I could use the A sockets as well.