32 GB RAM seen but not used; stuck at 2133 MHz

[martine-dee]

Hi,

Do you remember me? I had a similar thread in the past. Not the same. Back then, one module was invisible, now all four are visible but not used.

So, for reminiscence. I have:
* ASUS ROG Strix X299-E Gaming
* Intel Core i7-7820X

I used:
* 4x RAM Crucial 16 GB DDR4-2133

Now I would like to use:
* 4x RAM Corsair 8 GB DDR4-3200; tag CMK32GX4M4B3200C16; timings 16-18-18-36

I use the clots A1 - D1 as recommended in the manual. Two problems with that:
* Even though all four modules are seen as sitting in the slots (BIOS), and also HWiNFO reports seeing 32 GB RAM; BIOS and Windows 10 only show 16 GB RAM available
* Clock seems stuck at 2133 MHz. I tried using Auto, XMP and setting clocks manually (clocks, voltage, frequency). It won't budge. If I set it at higher frequency, the boot up gets tuck at state 'bd' (photo below). Is that for 'bad'?

A curious thing. Every stick has reg number, say from *34 to *37. When I ordered them as:
* B1: 34; A1: 35; C1: 36; D1: 37 -- it saw 24 GB RAM, but with
* B1: 35; A1: 34; C1: 36; D1: 37 -- it sees 16 GB RAM

That is it in short. Can you help me on the journey to get these 32 GB to run? (thanks)

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Hypothesis I: the MOBO is broken and cannot run RAM at more than 2133 MHz. I didn't notice it, because the previous RAM was 2133 MHz.
Hypothesis II: I missed something trivial, either when wiring up the MOBO or in the BIOS and it keeps the memory stuck at 2133 MHz. I did try loading the optimized defaults.
Hypothesis III: Somehow, I really need to find the right order of the RAM sticks. There are only 24 combinations #fml...
Hypohtesis IV: These sticks and the MOBO are just not compatible

---

Here is a curious situation:



---

This is the state at which the MOBO gets frozen. The lamp is at the orange color when this happens. I think I unfroze things when I agreed with the MOBO to keep the RAM at 2133 MHz.

[martine-dee]

Update.

Now I set timings manually to 16-18-18-36, 2T, 1600 MHz, 1.3500 V. It sees 3 out of 4 modules (24 GB RAM).

I suppose it may be about finding the right settings. Well, selecting the XMP takes the box down so it shan't be that simple I guess. I could still use help figuring out this one.

[martine-dee]

This works now, still on probation, because the system started to freeze and overheat the CPU at some point.

But it was a strange adventure. So, I was setting the XMP profile, but it wouldn't do any good. The system was getting stuck and the bios was defaulting to 2133 MHz.

Then I reseated the D1 stick and continued probing with manual settings. At some point I stabilized it at 3200 MHz, 24 GB. Then I went to BIOS again and saw that the issue from the first thread reappeared: the D1 stick wasn't visible anymore.

After three more reseats, it was picked up, and I am not taking it out without buying new MOBO!! Or a grave need.

Anyway, after that, the machine was starting with 32 GB @ 3200 MHz, but upon every Windows start, it was freezing and the Dark Rock Pro 3 would begin to run faster and faster. Damn. After a few more attempts to stabilize the manual setting, I tried the XMP again. It worked. I am typing from Windows now and hope I won't get any more freezes and deaths.

The freeze isn't even the blue screen. Everything just freezes. Maybe one or two screens go black.

What is it? What does it mean if the freezes come back?

Thanks

[martine-dee]

This stabilized. Now that I roll back memories, there is a slight possibility that I was setting the voltage to 1.5V. Oops. ^^

[Hopper64]

I had a similar issue caused by the cpu cooler being too tight. I loosened it, actually took it off and reseated it. Problem solved.

Have you tested the memory? *Maybe with ramtest?*https://www.karhusoftware.com/ramtest/

[martine-dee]

Hopper64 wrote:
I had a similar issue caused by the cpu cooler being too tight. I loosened it, actually took it off and reseated it. Problem solved.

Have you tested the memory? *Maybe with ramtest?*https://www.karhusoftware.com/ramtest/

No, I haven't. Then again, all is stable now. I am inclined to believe that the RAM is fine, despite having traveled all the way from Germany. xD

[Hopper64]

Glad it’s working.