Recently got new RAM Memory, BSOD on startup, even in safe-mode

zubaja · 30 Oct 2012

Hello guys and girls,

New poster here. So, as the title says I bought some new RAM Memory today (Kingston HyperX 2x_2GB DDR3-1600) to get some extra speed.
My other 2 RAM modules are also HyperX. Should be no biggy I thought.
So I inserted my RAM, booted up my PC and it worked. CPU-z recognised my RAM and even a dxDiag showed I had 8GB.

Later today I tried booting, and during this process the following message popped up:
"Memory has changed!!! Please enter Setup by pressing F1".
Pressed F1, MSI-Motherboard BIOS Interface popped up, saw it auto recognised my RAM and saved and quit (No changes were made).
So the booting process continues, till it gets to the graphical appearance of the Windows Logo on Windows 7. It stutters, freezes and a flash of the BSOD appears and it reboots.

I have tried several things, like setting my RAM speed and voltage to a set amount instead of [AUTO].
I have tried removing the new modules and trying it again with the old ones.
I have also tried booting with only the new RAM Modules.

Nothing works, not even Safe-Mode. Everything gives me a BSOD so I can't access anything, not even post a screencap of it.

I hope someone can help me with this particular problem.
My specs are:
MSI Z68A-GD65(G3) Motherboard
MSI 1GB N560GTX-Ti from nVidia
Intel Core i5-2400 3.1Ghz per core
60GB OCZ SSD
1TB Samsung HDD
(Old)RAM Modules: D3 4GB (2x 2GB) 1600-999 Blu, Kingston HyperX
(New)RAM Modules: D3 4GB (2x 2GB) 1600-999 Blu XMP
Both RAM Modules have the K2 KHX Notification added to them.

Kind regards,

Zubaja

essenbe · 31 Oct 2012

When you go into bios, set the ram voltage, frequency and timings that are on the stick. If your ram has an XMP profile you can enable that in bios, but I would still set the timings and voltage manually. If you still can't boot, go into bios and set everything to Optimized defaults. Set your sata controller the way it is now (IDE or AHCI), set the boot order, and ram timings, frequency and voltage, save and exit and see if that helps.

Also, ram in sets are usually tested to work together. It is not uncommon to have problems when you add a 2 kits together, even the same make and frequency. Try at first to use 1 set of ram, either the new ones or the old ones. If you get it to boot and run right for a while, add in the other set and see if they work together.

Britton30 · 31 Oct 2012

It would certainly appear to be a RAM problem unless this BSOD has happened before, yes, no?
Set you RAM manually as essenbe suggests too.
Test each RAM stick in each slot, follow this.

Some hardware tests to run. You will do this before booting to w7.

RAM (memory):
This will require memtest on a bootable CD or USB stick.
RAM - Test with Memtest86+

zubaja · 31 Oct 2012

Thanks Essenbe for the information.
I just managed to get my old set of RAM Modules to work perfectly again. I've written down any changes I've made to the BIOS this time to make sure I can reset everything.
I will try and see what happens when I add my new Modules later on this day.

Britton30,

Assuming that this BSOD has never happened before was correct. It all started yesterday when I added the new RAM modules.
Is it still advised to try memtest or not in case some sneaky error comes my way?

**EDIT**
I've just added the new memory and it comes up with the message that my Memory has changed again. So I go into the BIOS, turn on XMP, reboot, and then it tells me my Overclock Settings failed to be applied. This message happens after about 4-5 quick automatic reboots of my system.
This step can not be skipped, so I'm at a loss once more, since I can't even get to my desktop.
Atleast my BSOD is fixed.

Britton30 · 31 Oct 2012

Yes rune memtest please, as in the tutorial, it will take several hours, but don't skip anything.