Asus Z170 Gene strange memory issues...

[sahafiec]

hi guys,

I have already red other topics about memory issues with this particular motherboard.
but my issue seems a bit different, thus I decided to open a new topic.
I'm using the Asus Z170 Gene (bios 1402), Intel i5 6600K (no OC) and Corsair 4x4GB 2400MHz ram (CMK16GX4M4A2400C14).

the motherboard and the ram are both in each others QVL lists so I expected them to work flawlessly.
the cpu, motherboard and ram combo is about 2 months old and I'm facing some random stability issues.
the range goes from a freeze to a BSOD, always random and not really reproducible.

I've been investigating that together with the great guys over at "tenforums" but was not able to find the real cause.
suspecting a driver issue I performed a clean install of my Windows 10 Pro so drivers should not be a problem anymore.
only a minimum of the only needed driver are cleanly installed: vga, audio and chipset (all up to date).

what I realize is that I never have a BSOD or freeze while running my rams on auto settings.
as soon as switch the rams to XMP and run them on 2400MHZ (instead of 2133MHz) I get random issues.
to be clear I never have issues to boot the system, the issues come later on and are not predictable.

additionally while troubleshooting the BSODs I ran a Memtest on the rams for more than 8 loops with no errors.
so there seems to be no physical issue with the rams but still XMP causes problems.

what's the problem with that motherboard, why is an overclocker motherboard not able to run 2400MHz ram on XMP?

the rams supports even 2666MHz on XMP (second profile) and the motherboard is advertised even with speeds up to 3800MHz.

I just don't get what's the bottleneck here, what's causing the issue?!

I appreciate any help I can get, especially by users of the same motherboard.

note:
for those interested hier is the link to my BSOD troubleshooting.
http://www.tenforums.com/bsod-crashes-debugging/40664-bsod-attempted_write_to_readonly_memory-window...

[dannyboy292]

I'll have a look at the kit mentioned above 🙂

[dannyboy292]

I went ahead and ordered G.SKILL TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) That Nate152 suggested ....I really hope this solves my problem ......http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231929

[Nate152]

Give us an update when you get it installed.

Power down your pc and install the new ram, clear the cmos then boot into the bios and set XMP or set your ram manually.

[sahafiec]

that's a great move dannyboy292, for that price this memory is a gift really.
hope your issue gets solved with them.

[dannyboy292]

Unfortunately I didn't get it for the sale price of $79 that was going on in the States , I paid $137.00 Canadian including tax and shipping, but well worth it to me if it solves my problem.

[Nate152]

I got my fingers crossed dannyboy292, if you need help setting it up just say so.

[sahafiec]

crossing fingers dannyboy292, as long as it solves your problem the ram is really worth the money.

I also seem to have solved my problem by means of cpu replacement and slight voltage increase.
just to share for others having the same issue, as suggested by Nate152 I increased Dram (1.35V), VCCIO (1.2V) and System Agent (1.2V) voltages.
it worked with no crash for a week so I'm fine adjusting the voltages now to keep them as low as possible.
I'll share the final values when I'm done testing.

[dannyboy292]

My new GSkill TridentZ F4-3200C16D-16GTZB KIT has arrived and it working as intended....I cleared the cmos , powered down the comp and unplugged it and installed the new memory and set the xmp in the bios and it is running at 3200 and seems to be steady and my computer over all seems to be snappier .....Thanks for the help guyz , it was much appreciated 🙂

[dannyboy292]

I will now send the old set back to Corsair to be replaced and save it for maybe a 2nd build down the road.

[Nate152]

Awesome dannyboy292, thanks for giving us an update and glad to see you have your new ram running at its rated specs. 🙂