Solved Installing more RAM. PC-don't start.

[Alenor]

Hi.





I bought more Ram on my PC but it wont start. It is the same model than my first ones.
G.Skill 2x4GB Ripjaws X Performance GSK-F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL-DDR3 1600Mhz-2x4GB

So now I have 4 of them but PC only works whit 2?

Thank you for advance.

 

[Mellon Head]

Can you get into BIOS? If so, set the sticks at 1333 and try to boot again. If it boots, we'll try to get you running with your RAM at the proper speed.

 

[Alenor]

Can you get into BIOS? If so, set the sticks at 1333 and try to boot again. If it boots, we'll try to get you running with your RAM at the proper speed.

Thanks for the quick response. I set the Sticks at 1333 and it boots now.

I also put the RAM voltage to 1,6V because someone suggested it, should I put it back to 1,5V?

 

[Mellon Head]

That RAM is only rated at 1.5 Volts. You shouldn't raise the RAM voltage above that. It could damage it.

Can you have a look in BIOS and tell me what the timings are? I need your CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS settings, and your command rate, please. If they aren't labeled or identified in the BIOS, it's usually the first three numbers given, plus the larger number a little bit below. I would imagine, if your RAM is set at stock, that the numbers will be 9-9-9-24, with a command rate of 1 or 2.

EDIT:

Also, the amount of RAM in your computer can alter how the computer uses it. Often four sticks of RAM can change up the timings or speed that the RAM runs at. The RAM might run fine at speed for two sticks, but adding two more causes the speed to go down, or the timings need to be relaxed to get it to run. I have a machine at home that is this way. With 2 sticks it works fine, but with 4, it won't boot unless I back off the timings. It's not a crisis, because it's hard to notice, except on benchmarks, but it is unfortunate when RAM won't work as advertised.

Once we get the timings on your RAM, we can see if relaxing them will help you boot at 1600. You can also try a software package named CPU-Z to look at the timings of your RAM. It's under the "Memory" tab, and it will also show you any XMP profiles available for your RAM. If you could use that package and take some screen shots of the memory tab for each stick, that would really help us diagnose the problem.

CPU-Z | Softwares | CPUID

 

[Alenor]

Ok, here is the screen shot.

 

[Mellon Head]

That's perfect, thanks. Now, can you take screen shots of the SPD tab for each stick of RAM, please?

(Sorry, I should have asked that when I asked for the other shot)

 

[Alenor]

They are all identical.

 

[Mellon Head]

Well, it's a bit of a procedure, but at this point at least we know what the timings are, and what they should be to successfully boot.

I would try enabling the XMP profile and testing for a successful boot. I expect that to fail. According to G.Skill, that is all you should have to do. If it fails, they suggest an RMA.

Next, I would set the timings at 11-11-11-29 and test for boot at 1600. I expect that to fail too.

Since the two boot attempts will probably not be successful, the next step would be to take out all the RAM sticks but one, and run Memtest86+ overnight. If that passes, swap out a RAM stick with another and repeat until all four RAM sticks have been tested. This will take a few days.

If one of them can't pass the test, you have found your problem. If they all pass, I would suggest contacting G.Skill for more expert advice than we can give. (Note: They will probably make you run Memtest86+ and do the swapping, so you might as well do it before you contact them. )

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

 

[Alenor]

Ok I'll try that.

 

[AddRAM]

I would not use the XMP profile, I would just set the ram speed to 1600 in the bios, you know your old sticks work, so just test the new ones by themselves in the previously unused slots, if they work at 1600 you should be good to go with all 4 installed.

Your board supports 32 GB, so 16 should not be an issue.

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1150 - GA-Z97P-D3 (rev. 1.0)

Even though the sticks were not all bought at the same time, there should be no issues, as long as they are the same models

 

[Alenor]

I think I found the problem... It is my lousy processor, because it can only handle DDR3-1333, DDR3L-1333 @ 1.5V Intel® Pentium® Processor G3258 (3M Cache, 3.20 GHz) Specifications

Sorry that I waste your time. But thank you for helping me, I learn a lot from you!

 

[Mellon Head]

Well, at least you got it figured out. Sad that you can't run your RAM at 1600, though.

 

[AddRAM]

So then, upgrade that cpu

Put a 4690K in that thing.

Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Refresh Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I54690K - Newegg.com - Newegg.com

 

[Alenor]

Actually I was thinking to bay new processor. Is that good or should I bay something else, like i7-4790k? Is it worth the extra one hundred?

 

[wasnotwas]

At stock speeds, the i7-4790K is nearly 3X as fast as the G3258 comparison here

Depends what you use the pc for - for video rendering etc you'd really see the difference (esp with apps that can use all the threads eg Handbrake). The K versions are unlocked, so can be overclocked.

 

[AddRAM]

Of course it`s worth the extra $100, but do you need an i7 ?

If you can afford one, I highly recommend it

Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Refresh Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I74790K - Newegg.com - Newegg.com

 

[matts6887]

Of course it`s worth the extra $100, but do you need an i7 ?

If you can afford one, I highly recommend it

Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Refresh Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I74790K - Newegg.com - Newegg.com

I agree! it is worth the extra $ to get the unlocked processor because of the fact that you can over-clock it and make it run even faster. I have a much older(3 years now) i7 2600k processor that I can overclock via 7. But I may upgrade my processor to the fastest one that my motherboard will support. But yes it is worth spending the extra dough!

 

[Alenor]

Thanks for the advice! I just ordered one.