Installed incompatible RAM. Could this ruin the motherboard?

[keeven]

Hello. Recently, I've bought a couple of RAM sticks for my PC, however I did not know they were incompatible with my set up until after I tried installing it. I have the ASUS PRIME B450-PLUS motherboard and I tried to install a pair of G.Skill Trident Z Neos to it. I tried clearing CMOS for the new RAM before I knew it wouldn't work. Then I tried replacing the new RAM with my old sticks, but now my PC gives no signal when I turn it on. All fans spin up after hitting the power button and everything seems to work fine, but my monitor says there is no signal (GPU fans stop spinning after some time. I don't know if that's normal).

 

Here's what I've tried already: reseating a single stick to each DIMM slot (using both sticks (the old RAM sticks)), connecting DP and HDMI to every possible port on the GPU, clearing CMOS before adding the old RAM back, checking for loose connections on the motherboard, reseating GPU.

 

Could this mean my RAM or DIMM slots are dead? Or could it mean something worse? Willing to take some advice as to how I should proceed with this issue.

[Guest Ysujy]

Try waiting a bit longer. I had instances where i had to wait over 10 minutes after installing new memory into a ryzen system. (BTW is your system bootcycling)

[keeven]

Just now, Ysujy said:

Try waiting a bit longer. I had instances where i had to wait over 10 minutes after installing new memory into a ryzen system. (BTW is your system bootcycling)

It's been a few days already that I've tried. And no bootcycles. PC stays on

[Guest Ysujy]

1 minute ago, keeven said:

It's been a few days already that I've tried. And no bootcycles. PC stays on

The memory controller could be "training" the ram.

[keeven]

Just now, Ysujy said:

The memory controller could be "training" the ram.

What should I do in this case?

[Eigenvektor]

19 minutes ago, keeven said:

Hello. Recently, I've bought a couple of RAM sticks for my PC, however I did not know they were incompatible with my set up until after I tried installing it. I have the ASUS PRIME B450-PLUS motherboard and I tried to install a pair of G.Skill Trident Z Neos to it.

Incompatible how? The board supports DDR4 and the sticks are DDR4, so they are compatible. You may not be able to run them at their maximum rated clock rate, but that's about it. If they were really incompatible (e.g. DDR3) you wouldn't be able to physically fit them into the board.

 

~edit: Yes, it could simply be dead RAM sticks or a dead slot. Try the new sticks one at a time, using the correct slot for a single stick (see your board's manual).

[Guest Ysujy]

2 minutes ago, keeven said:

What should I do in this case?

Just wait a couple of minutes. It's very unlikely that the ram damaged your motherboard.

 

-Is your memory really incompatible?  Here's a list with compatible ram modules -https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/TUF_B450M-PLUS_GAMING/Memory_QVL_For_AMD_Ryzen_2000_Series_Processors.pdf

 

-Does your mobo have status LEDs?

[keeven]

1 minute ago, Eigenvektor said:

Incompatible how? The board supports DDR4 and the sticks are DDR4, so they are compatible. You may not be able to run them at their maximum rated clock rate, but that's about it. If they were really incompatible (e.g. DDR3) you wouldn't be able to physically fit them into the board.

Trident Z Neos are specifically designed for Ryzen 3000 and X570 boards only.

[Eigenvektor]

Just now, keeven said:

Trident Z Neos are specifically designed for Ryzen 3000 and X570 boards only.

They are marketed as being compatible with Ryzen 3000 and X570, but that should be about it. They should work with any other DDR4 capable board unless there's some manufacturer specific issue with them.

[keeven]

9 minutes ago, Ysujy said:

Just wait a couple of minutes. It's very unlikely that the ram damaged your motherboard.

 

-Is your memory really incompatible?  Here's a list with compatible ram modules -https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/TUF_B450M-PLUS_GAMING/Memory_QVL_For_AMD_Ryzen_2000_Series_Processors.pdf

 

-Does your mobo have status LEDs?

Triden Z Neos are for Ryzen 3000 and X570 boards only, so it's incompatible with my Ryzen 2600 b450 setup. As for LEDs, it seems mostly aesthetic. I've tried listening for beeps but there was nothing

 

Edit: turns out the Neos should work, but the problem still persists with both types of RAM.

Edited January 1, 2020 by keeven
Wrong info

[keeven]

1 minute ago, Eigenvektor said:

They are marketed as being compatible with Ryzen 3000 and X570, but that should be about it. They should work with any other DDR4 capable board unless there's some manufacturer specific issue with them.

Oh geez, I was told something different by someone else. Sorry. If you're correct, I also get the same error with the Neos as I do with my old ones. Thought it was just incompatible.

 

In this case, the RGB on the Neos do light up, but I don't have signal

[Eigenvektor]

12 minutes ago, keeven said:

Triden Z Neos are for Ryzen 3000 and X570 boards only, so it's incompatible with my Ryzen 2600 b450 setup. As for LEDs, it seems mostly aesthetic. I've tried listening for beeps but there was nothing

He meant LEDs on your motherboard. Those sometimes have status LEDs that can indicate faulty RAM sticks.

 

Do you have XMP enabled in your BIOS? Disable it, if that's the case and see if the sticks work.

[keeven]

2 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

He meant LEDs on your motherboard. Those sometimes have status LEDs that can indicate faulty RAM sticks.

 

Do you have XMP enabled in your BIOS? Disable it, if that's the case and see if the sticks work.

There's a lot of orange LEDs on the motherboard which seem to be for aesthetic purposes. I don't see anything that would indicate faulty RAM. I had XMP disabled because it caused performance loss for some reason. Even if I had it enabled, I wouldn't be able to get into the BIOS as nothing displays on the monitor. 

[Eigenvektor]

3 minutes ago, keeven said:

There's a lot of orange LEDs on the motherboard which seem to be for aesthetic purposes. I don't see anything that would indicate faulty RAM. I had XMP disabled because it caused performance loss for some reason. Even if I had it enabled, I wouldn't be able to get into the BIOS as nothing displays on the monitor. 

Gotcha, I missed that part. So you have no option other than insert RAM and hope you get an image? If it doesn't work even with a single stick of the old RAM I suspect something on the board was damaged while swapping sticks. I don't think it was the RAM though, that shouldn't be able to kill your board.

 

I would try to remove everything except for CPU, one stick and GPU, make sure everything is seated properly (maybe reseat) and see if you get any output. If you have a different system to test (maybe borrowed from someone else) you could check whether the components on their own work.

[SpikeSpiegel]

Next option is to take the board out of the case and try it on a wooden surface or the motherboard box. And try to test it out of the case and see if it posts.  Maybe your case is causing it from being posted.   Make sure to test 1 stick then 2 sticks + the GPU/CPU/PSU/SSD/M.2

[keeven]

29 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Gotcha, I missed that part. So you have no option other than insert RAM and hope you get an image? If it doesn't work even with a single stick of the old RAM I suspect something on the board was damaged while swapping sticks. I don't think it was the RAM though, that shouldn't be able to kill your board.

 

I would try to remove everything except for CPU, one stick and GPU, make sure everything is seated properly (maybe reseat) and see if you get any output. If you have a different system to test (maybe borrowed from someone else) you could check whether the components on their own work.

Some good and bad news (for me): i have a a320m motherboard and a ryzen 1200 lying around. I decided to set up a "test bench" to test my RAM on it and it is working. Good news: I know what the problem is and my RAM still works. Bad news: Motherboard is likely damaged. Going to do a few other tests to be sure.

[keeven]

Conclusion: My motherboard is at fault for the no signal. The new RAM may have damaged the DIMM slots, but I cannot be entirely sure. I used a different motherboard to test out my old RAM and it booted into BIOS just fine. Thank you everyone who gave me advice. Very much appreciated!

 

My test method:

Set up a test bench using R3-1200, 500W power supply, and RTX 2070. Inserted single stick of RAM(old). Connected to monitor and powered on. Success. Powered off and connected second stick of RAM(old). Powered on, success.

To make sure it had nothing to do with my CPU, I removed the B450 from my case and replaced the R5-2600 with the R3-1200. Then used the 500W PSU, RTX 2070, and a single stick of RAM(old). Powered on and noticed no signal. Powered off and moved the stick of RAM(old) into another slot. Repeated until each slot was tested.

 

Parts I used:

Mobo(broken): ASUS PRIME B450-PLUS

Mobo(test): Gigabyte GA-A320M-HD2

CPU: Ryzen 5 2600 w/ stock cooler

CPU(test): Ryzen 3 1200 w/ stock cooler

RAM(new): G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200

RAM(old): Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400

GPU: EVGA Geforce RTX 2070 XC Gaming

PSU: Corsair RM750X 80+ Gold

PSU(test): EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze