Memory instability? I need help!

[PatXioPC]

My hardware: 

Ryzen 7 2700x 

ASUS ROG x470-f gaming 

G.skill tridentZ 3000cl16 32gb(4 DIMMs) (16GTZR)

MSI GTX 1060 6GB (@2100mhz)

 

So I've been using my PC without any issue for months (I had a weird freezing issue (vdroop) with my 2700x, and I happened to fix it). I had been running a 16gb(8x2) g.skill tridentZ 3000mhz CL16 kit at 3200mhz CL18 just fine ever since I bought my RAM. Recently for my memory demanding workloads, I installed two extra 3000 cl16 DIMMs and tried to post 3200mhz CL18, it didn't post. I kept trying if I could push this overclock by increasing vDIMM, VTTDDR, VDDP and at least, by setting the post attempt to 6, I was able to boot into windows but definitely, it crashed right away.

 

 

Then I went ahead and loaded the D.O.C.P settings and I had very bad stability like before but this time, I noticed that it was more BSODs rather than just freezing. So I fired up memtest, but didn't get any errors right away. But with prime95 in-place FFT test, I was thrown a bunch of rounding error (i.e was 0.5, expected less than 0.4). 

 

 

So I increased the DRAM voltage to 1.39v but kept having the same error. Then I moved the voltage to 1.5v(also VTTDDR .79V and VDDP .95v) and the SoC to 1.2v. But I thought it was kinda high for the rated profile so I tried to tighten the timings by 15-17-17-17-37 and I booted successfully and almost though that it's going to work and I made it very far into the tests but was slightly off from being stable.

Since I was so close, I thought the default timings (16-18-18-18-38) would just be stable.

Now I've been running prime95 for 3hrs and have got 3 rounding errors: on the 320k, 160k, and 16k. 

IS THIS PROBLEM WITH MY CPU OR MEMORY? What am I supposed to do now? Is running 4 DIMMs really that bad? I want to run higher speeds because of it benefits my rendering times and another workload. Should I sell those kits and get a 16x2 3200cl16 kit?

 

PS. I'm not overclocking my cpu just running both the core multiplier and Vcore at auto

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

There's a few things to consider here.

Firstly, just because you bought another two sticks that "appear" to be the same, doesn't mean they have the same tolerances.  You just got lucky with the first two.

 

Secondly, I believe four sticks vs two are inherently more likely to incur problems like this, especially as you didn't buy them all at the time time so they are different batches with different tolerances.  This is made even worse if you aren't using them at their rated speed/timings.

 

If you are concerned the RAM is faulty, try each pair on their own.  If they only incur errors with all four in together, they are likely fine and you are just having a compatibility problem.

 

At the end of the day, just because you got lucky and your first two worked at 3200Mhz, doesn't mean the second two will.  RAM is only ever guaranteed to work at its rated speed, anything else is the luck of the draw.

[PatXioPC]

3 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Secondly, I believe four sticks vs two are inherently more likely to incur problems like this if you aren't running them at their rated speed/timings.

I just literally dialled in their rated D.O.C.P settings but it wasn't the most stable. Recently, I even increased the DRAM and SoC voltage for it to be more stable. But looks like there's just no way, it's working. I'm not straight off getting BSODs but errors in prime95.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Like I said, I'd try the new pair on their own, just the two of them.  If they come back fine then it would suggest a problem with running all four together.

Also try them in different sockets just in case the two they were in are faulty.

[PatXioPC]

3 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Like I said, I'd try the new pair on their own, just the two of them.  If they come back fine then it would suggest a problem with running all four together.

1

Ok. That's what am doing for the first two. I'm gonna be testing them for 3hrs (just to be sure). Then I'm gonna try the new two for the same time at the same timings. I will probably even run them at the same OC settings (3200 cl18/cl170 to see if they have the same bin. 

What if neither throws any errors, will that be just the problem of running 4 of them?
 

6 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Also try them in different sockets just in case the two they were in are faulty.

Do you mean putting them in a different slot or combination? (like either 1 new and 1 old in a channel or put the new ones in one channel and the older ones in the other?

[PatXioPC]

30 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

RAM is only ever guaranteed to work at its rated speed, anything else is the luck of the draw.

Btw each four of my RAM is rated for 3000mhz cl16 but they aren't working at that. Can I probably claim that they aren't working at their rated speeds and get a RMA?

[Alex Atkin UK]

Keep them paired in dual-channel, but try the old two just in the sockets the new two were in.

 

Also, have you checked your motherboard has the latest BIOS?  I know Ryzen had some compatibility issues with RAM although I believe that was fixed before the second generation Ryzen came out.

 

Was the RAM advertised as Ryzen compatible?  I know a lot of vendors were doing this due to the compatibility issues.

 

I'm a little confused at you saying none of them are working at their rated speed, as your initial post said the original two sticks were working fine BEFORE you put the new two in.

[PatXioPC]

5 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Keep them paired in dual-channel, but try the old two just in the sockets the new two were in.

Yeah that's what I'm trying to test.

6 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Also, have you checked your motherboard has the latest BIOS?  I know Ryzen had some compatibility issues with RAM although I believe that was fixed before the second generation Ryzen came out.

I guess that was the problem people were concerned about the first gen Ryzens but never really heard anyone have problems with 2nd gen tho.
And my BIOS is at its latest version.
 

7 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Was the RAM advertised as Ryzen compatible?  I know a lot of vendors were doing this due to the compatibility issues.

When I first bought my memory, it was my bad that I didn't research well that I ended up getting this pair of sticks. They aren't that great of a RAM tbh. But they just worked fine (I even got them to work at 3333mhz). The only kit that I see have 'a ryzen compatible' sign is those bdie flairX kits. I guess this is just the problem of running 4 Dimms (daizy Chain) in a dual channel mobo?

 

11 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I'm a little confused at you saying none of them are working at their rated speed, as your initial post said the original two sticks were working fine BEFORE you put the new two in

I mean they don't work at their rated speeds/timings when I'm running 4 of them together. By what I mean 'don't run' is that they aren't stable but far more stable to post and get into windows (I even rendered some animations, and they didn't crash. Only prime95 is showing errors)

[PatXioPC]

@Alex Atkin UK I guess next time when I'm trying, I'll try to run them at cl17 to see if that makes a difference.

[Alex Atkin UK]

If the new two sticks will work on their own, in each of the memory banks, then we can safely say the problem is running four of them.

Are the two new ones the same brand/model?  If they are then maybe they would be willing to RMA them for two sticks of a larger size or four that they confirm are compatible?

[PatXioPC]

5 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

If the new two sticks will work on their own, in each of the memory banks, then we can safely say the problem is running four of them.

Are the two new ones the same brand/model?  If they are then maybe they would be willing to RMA them for two sticks of a larger size or four that they confirm are compatible?

Yeah, they are the same model. They do both have a 'GTZR' at the end of their name and I even checked from thaiphoon burner: They even share the same Hynix A-die. 

I hope I get one to RMA for a 16gig stick or refund and sell the older ones for a higher speed 16X2 config.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Probably the best option is to return the new ones, sell the old and buy a proper matched kit.  Although always worth a try to see if the manufacturer will swap them all out, though unlikely as they don't sound "technically" faulty.