PSA: AsRock Motherboard + Crucial RAM Compatibility Issue Fix

[WaggishOhio383]

For those having constant BSODs using an AsRock motherboard with Crucial Ballistix RAM, I have found a fix that not many people have suggested, and I want to make it more known. If I had known to do this earlier, it would have saved me from a week of troubleshooting and trying to fix blue screens. My build uses an AsRock B450 Steel Legend and Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB 3200 MHz RAM, but this fix may also apply to other AsRock motherboards and Crucial RAM.

 

Here is a list of the blue screens I was getting (if they do not match what you are getting then this fix probably won't work):

 

memory_management

system_service_exception

irql_not_less_or_equal

pfn_list_corrupt

 

Here are the steps I took to fix this issue:

 

1. Run the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool. I just did a single pass basic test. If you get an error, you probably have the same problem as me. If not, it's probably because of something else.
2. (Optional) Replace your RAM. It may be because of faulty RAM. However, this may not be the issue, and isn't what fixed the problem for me. I actually did replace my RAM, and was still getting errors when running the Diagnostic Tool.
3. Go into motherboard BIOS and make sure your motherboard is running the RAM at a high enough voltage. My motherboard was only supplying 1.2 V, and my RAM needed 1.35 V.
4. Run the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool again. If you got an error before, but don't get one now, the problem should be fixed. After doing steps four and five, I haven't had any blue screens for over two weeks.

If those steps didn't fix the blue screens, and you are still getting errors when running the Memory Diagnostic Tool, you probably just have faulty RAM and should get it replaced. Hopefully this helped fix the issue for you as well though.

 

 

[porina]

1.35v is typical for that speed, and should be set by the mobo if you select the XMP option. If not, and you only manually selected the speed, maybe it would remain at the lower standard voltage. I haven't had this problem with my Asrock B450 Gaming-ITX/ac with a variety of ram. I don't have Crucial at that particular speed though.

 

Note if you're doing a bios update, don't do it when it is in a potentially unstable state in case it gets corrupted during write. In that scenario, I'd reduce the ram speed to 2133 first as that should be very safe at the lower voltage.

 

I think it is worth upgrading the bios if you're not on latest, particularly if you're running a Zen 2 CPU as the updates since launch have significantly improved ram compatibility especially at higher speeds.

[Sir0Tek]

1 minute ago, porina said:

 

Note if you're doing a bios update, don't do it when it is in a potentially unstable state in case it gets corrupted during write. In that scenario, I'd reduce the ram speed to 2133 first as that should be very safe at the lower voltage.

 

This! Is actually a very good advice. I was as well stunned about the advice in the 1st step to update a bios while the ram may be faulty.

[WaggishOhio383]

On 1/21/2020 at 6:17 PM, porina said:

Note if you're doing a bios update, don't do it when it is in a potentially unstable state in case it gets corrupted during write. In that scenario, I'd reduce the ram speed to 2133 first as that should be very safe at the lower voltage.

Thanks for the tip. I didn't realize that this was the case. I have removed it from my post to avoid messing anyone up. I just wanted to get the advice about increasing voltage out there since it took me a week of browsing forums and articles before I found someone who suggested doing that. My problem would have been fixed much faster if more people had suggested it to fix the bsods I was getting.

[Tristerin]

On my ASRock B450 I have zero ram compatibility issues.  Currently running 4x8 sticks (2x8 2133mhz CL14 Patriot 2x8 V-Color Skywalker 3600mhz CL18) all freq/timed to 2666mhz CL 18.  Just have to ensure that the memory controller on the board matches what is capable of your OC/DC or stock settings of you sticks.  

 

Sounds like you set the memory manually to the speeds advertised to your ram and not set DOCP/XMP which would have cured those issues (as long as the memory controller on YOUR CPU also matches the speeds capabilities - then its luck and really tightening down timings etc to make it stable)