Hello folks, long time lurker, first time poster.
So I just got some new memory for my rig. I was running with 32gb, HyperX Fury 2666mhz memory, 2x16gb,( https://www.hyperxgaming.com/us/memory/fury-ddr4 ). I need more for work, so I got another set of 32gb, the very same ones for a total of 4x16gb sticks.
It booted fine, but once into windows, I experienced a series of BSOD, each one with a different error message. I ran Windows Memory Diagnostic, riddled with errors. I thought it is maybe faulty ram, so I swapped out my old ram and only put in the new sticks. Everything runs smooth and fine.
For the record, I am running with Ryzen 7 3700x, on a ASUS ROG B450-F Gaming motherboard ( https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-B450-F-GAMING/ ). I've never Overclocked anything, I just want a stable work machine.
From there, I did the following steps:
- Individually use each memory stick one at a time in each slot. Each boot was stable. I have not run Memtest86 because I am fairly confident my ram is not the issue.
- Went into the bios, reset all my settings there to defaults. I have a few Asus auto-tuner EZ-mode overclock settings enabled. Removed those and everything set to stock speeds.
- The stock voltage for my ram is 1.2v. It had been set to 1.35v prior to resetting to defaults. Memory frequency prior to resetting to defaults : 2745Mhz, reset this to 2666.
- I install the 4 sticks of ram again, but this time, it would not even boot. So I removed two, and it boots fine. Weird.
- I set the DRAM voltage to 1.37 (.02v more than what it had been initially, before I reset to default values in the BIOS, since I was able to boot with all 4 sticks), put all 4 sticks back in.
- After setting the DRAM Voltage to 1.37, I manage to boot just fine again. However, after running a Memtest64 memory stress test, I get many, many errors almost right away.
- I go back into BIOS, decide to lower the frequency from 2666 to 2400. It boots, I run memtest64 stress test again for 1.5 hours, not a single error. Seems quite stable. I left it alone and went to take a shower, when I came back, the screen was black, and the mouse/keyboard unresponsive, but on. Unusual, weird, but upon rebooting, I ran the memtest64 for another 45 minutes and all was good. Not perfect, but better results than I had.
- PS, I left the latency at default 16-18-18 TL:DR; At stock memory settings of 2666mhz and 1.2v DRAM voltage, I can't boot with all 4 sticks. Only 2/4. Increasing voltage, and decreasing memory frequency gives me a stable boot.
Now I've installed ram many times over the years, but never have I experienced this before. I would not consider myself to be an experienced/advanced pc builder, but this still seems... odd to me?
I have never had to fiddle with DRAM voltages before, nor had to underclock the memory frequency at all. Am I doing something COMPLETELY wrong? I think my next step is to boot into Memtest86 and really figure out if it is faulty memory once and for all.
Thank you in advance for your time!