RAM OC not stable anymore after third stick was installed

[Chunchunmaru_]

Good morning, I'll start with the system setup

 

CPU: Ryzen 5 1600, stock clocks

Mobo: MSI B350M Mortar

RAM: a couple of old, scrapped from a skylake build (2015) 2x DDR4 HyperX 4GB RAM, serial KHX2133C14D4, stock clocked at 2133Hz

New ram stick: 1x DDR4 HyperX 4GB RAM, serial KHX3200C16D4/4GX, maximum clock 3200Hz

PSU: Enermax Triathlor Eco 550W

GPU: RX 580 8GB

 

I overclocked the two old 4GB x2 HyperX sticks at 2667Hz from the bios since a LOT of years and it was pretty much stable, I could even leave stock voltages (1.2V) since it was rated for in the product page, but without XMP
Amazon page (couldn't find the product page anymore from kingston) https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B00TY6A1P0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The issue came out when I installed the new (5yo newer!) ram stick, and since it was rated for 3200Hz I was pretty much sure to have no problems at all, but eventually both Linux and Windows started acting strange, bsods, random reboots, and the Windows Memory Diagnostic almost gave out hardware problems instantly when the clock was set at 2667Hz from the bios...

 

I'm pretty much clueless of what I have to do and what the problem could be, here are the things I tried:

 

- Tried swapping the DIMM slots (I got 4), no luck no matter the order

- Tried to swap the ram so the dual channel is made between the old one and the new one (also tried the opposite), no luck

- Updated the BIOS

- Tried to OC only two sticks in dual channel, the old and new one, it worked perfectly, so wtf? 

 

so, tl;dr, the problem comes out only when 3 DIMMS are installed, no matter in which order or memory channel, they won't work decently if the clock is set at 2667Hz

They work fine when I leave stock clocks

 

Here are the SPD pages of CPU-Z

Old one

 

New one:

 

 

Could it be something voltage-related?

[pstarlord]

From my understanding, mixing and matching RAM is not really a good idea.  I believe using odd number of RAM sticks makes it even harder because one of the your channels will have twice the RAM, but also mismatched timings on them. 

[NZKshatriya]

11 minutes ago, pstarlord said:

From my understanding, mixing and matching RAM is not really a good idea.  I believe using odd number of RAM sticks makes it even harder because one of the your channels will have twice the RAM, but also mismatched timings on them. 

yeah I can attest to the mix match not being the best....im using the matching 16gb 2666 set that came with  my A51m  as well as the 12GB of 2133 that came with my older MSI (8gb and 4gb)

Can say system stability isn't the best, so will likely be yanking out the two older sodimms.

 

 

[Chunchunmaru_]

59 minutes ago, pstarlord said:

From my understanding, mixing and matching RAM is not really a good idea.  I believe using odd number of RAM sticks makes it even harder because one of the your channels will have twice the RAM, but also mismatched timings on them. 

 

45 minutes ago, NZKshatriya said:

yeah I can attest to the mix match not being the best....im using the matching 16gb 2666 set that came with  my A51m  as well as the 12GB of 2133 that came with my older MSI (8gb and 4gb)

Can say system stability isn't the best, so will likely be yanking out the two older sodimms.

 

 

I already thought about that, but it's strange they work fine when only the two of them are installed

 

I tried mixing the old and the new one in dual-channel mode without the third old one, so 

1x4GB New one + 1x4GB Old one and I got no issues at all

 

With further investigating, I noticed the following things, maybe this board is a bit nuts

With stock bios settings, no OC at all, with the old sticks, the DRAM voltage states 1.36V 

When I set the OC at 2667 (without changing anything else) the DRAM voltage locks up to 1.21V 

 

Could it be I need to force the voltage a bit higher?? Even though both sticks are rated for 1.2V 

 

Could I try forcing the voltage at 1.25V? 

[Chunchunmaru_]

I may have figured it out... Clearly my board "auto" settings is nuts

 

Here is what voltage applies to my sticks

Single 4GB (old) stick: 1.214 V, Stock clock 2133Hz

Dual 4GB (old) sticks: 1.316 V, Stock clock 2133Hz

 

Single 4GB (old)  stick: 1.360 V, 2667Hz

Dual 4GB (old) sticks: 1.210 V, 2667Hz

 

Single 4GB (new) stick: 1.210 V, 2333Hz (no oc, auto mode)

Single 4GB (new) stick: 1.360V, 2667Hz

 

Three 4GB sticks. 1.360V, stock clocks 2133Hz

Three 4GB sticks. 1.210V, at  2667Hz

 

????????????????

 

Is 1.316V safe?

 

Anyway, I'll try forcing 1.250V first and see how it goes