RAM Compatibility

[linguistbrit]

Hi all,

 

My first time posting here so please guide me as required and I appreciate any help in advance. I have recently decided to upgrade, and all the components have arrived but I am sadly the recipient of a faulty stick of RAM. During the diagnosis process I have suffered a crisis of confidence in my choice of motherboard/CPU/RAM combination, specifically the compatibility of each of those with each other.

 

Here's some details about my build:

Motherboard - Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra

(https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z390-AORUS-ULTRA-rev-10#kf)

 

CPU - Intel Core i9-9900K

(https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/products/processors/core/i9-processors/i9-9900k.html)

 

RAM - Corsair VENGEANCE 128GB DRAM 2666MHz CMK128GX4M4A2666C16

(https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/Categories/Products/Memory/VENGEANCE-LPX/p/CMK128GX4M4A2666C16)

 

Where I need the guidance:

1. I fitted all four DIMM modules of 32GB each, and the system failed to boot. Some trial and error indicates one of the four DIMM modules is faulty. While I am confident that once the RAM is replaced, the system will boot with all four modules installed successfully, I would like someone to just confirm that I'm not wasting my time. Can this combination of CPU and motherboard support the RAM I have chosen?

 

2. I fitted only two DIMM modules so that I can boot to BIOS and view RAM information, where it correctly displays the two DIMM modules of 32GB each. However, the frequency shows only as 2133MHz instead of being closer to 2666MHz. I'm not able to verify if this occurs with other modules (i.e. with all four modules) as I do not have enough to make up a pair. Could someone point out whether this is an issue with the RAM being faulty, or if there is some form of compatibility issue?

 

For reference, this PDF document provided by Gigabyte does list the RAM as compatible, provided that XMP is disabled. (https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_z390-aours-ultra_191113.pdf)

 

I'm hoping someone can confirm that, faulty RAM aside, my hardware choices will work with each other.

 

Many thanks,

linguistbrit

[TheGlenlivet]

I've used memtest86 to track down a faulty stick of ram in a system with 4 dims before and it does work, but takes a while.

If you already have new ram coming I would wait till it arrives and see if it works.

Once you have the system up and running set the XMP profile and test the ram again for stability.

[linguistbrit]

8 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

I've used memtest86 to track down a faulty stick of ram in a system with 4 dims before and it does work, but takes a while.

If you already have new ram coming I would wait till it arrives and see if it works.

Once you have the system up and running set the XMP profile and test the ram again for stability.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

I'm not able to boot past BIOS as this is a completely new system.

 

I don't (yet) have new RAM coming, since I wanted to check the issue of the RAM frequency not being related to a compatibility issue first.

[TheGlenlivet]

2 minutes ago, linguistbrit said:

Thanks for the quick response.

 

I'm not able to boot past BIOS as this is a completely new system.

 

I don't (yet) have new RAM coming, since I wanted to check the issue of the RAM frequency not being related to a compatibility issue first.

Ah I see.  I would use Memetest86 then to test the ram.  You don't need a working system to use it, it runs off of a USB drive.

With that said, why not install the ram you have that works, 2 sticks maybe, and get the system up and running?  It will be easier to troubleshoot with it up.