PC only boots into windows after RAM replacement

[SMTMS]

Since I tried to solve this on my own for the last 2 months, i decided to ask for help to keep my sanity. 

PC config:
Gigabyte Z87-D3HP
Intel i7-4770K - OC to 4.5 Ghz, but tried with (base 3.5), 3.9, 4.1
Kingston Fury 2x8GB DDR3 2133MHz

Gigabyte 1060 OC

 

It all started with swapping an existing SSD for an other one from a notebook to save data before reinstalling Windows.

As soon as I plugged it in I've spent 2 hours to get my system going again which included changing the number and order of RAMs and finally reinstalling Windows on my Main SSD. 

 

After this incident my PC works like this: 
I turn it on, I'm hearing an almost silent beep from the diagnostic beeper/buzzer/speaker like every 10 seconds and nothing happens. - Most of the time. 
Sometimes it posts a white underscore in a black background and keeps the sequence going and also sometimes it posts and boots into windows. (This can happen anywhere in the sequence, I experienced it with 4th, 6th 9th and never in the sequence.)

In this time I managed to find 3 workarounds to successfully boot into windows:
I. workaround - 1 day after the crash
1. Start the PC and acknowledge the fact that it's almost dead. 
2. Remove both RAM modules from the slots, start it without RAM and feel the joyful music of my beeper's air defense siren mode
3. Put back the RAM modules to the same slots BUT in a different order - this actually made a difference, since it would not post/boot if I put the ram modules in the same place they were before.

II. workaround - 1 month after the crash
1. Start PC
2. Take 1 RAM out 
3. Start again, it boots up
4. Put that 1 module back
5. Start again and it still works

III. workaround - Present day
1. Start PC
2. Stop the PC with holding the power button
3. Start it again. - This way it brings up a BIOS screen saying that it couldn't boot up so I should change my BIOS settings to default.
(It doesn't matter if I change it or not, it will boot up with default, OC/XMP on/off any way I want.)

IV. unofficial workaround - Day 0
If i don't turn off my PC, just let it sleep, it works like a charm. 

 

I've took it to a local service, they said that if I turn off the XMP profile it works, but that's actually not the case - since it did not when i brought home the PC- but just a result of a strange thing that made me insane in the last couple of weeks. 

Which is - if you start tinkering around enough (like replacing ram, trying 1 module at a time or trying out different ram slots) the PC will work and boot into windows every single time, this way it's impossible to diagnose if it's a bad slot, bad module, or just a big piece of garbage. 

Also tried the basic troubleshooting steps like unplugging everything (including periferals) bios reset, bios flash, onboard graphics, 1 ssd, ram orders, everything i could think of.

I've spent some time running passmark memtest86 in the last few days, and the results are... I really dont know. 1st time I received errors on test 10 - Bit Fade. 
Then I've run only test 10 with no error for 2 times.
Then I've received errors on Test 10,12,13 i think. 

 

I'll upload the test results here just in case you guys can understand what's going on.

 

I really hope this topic finds someone who's up for the challange because I'm desperate to figure out what's wrong with my PC. Thank you guys in advance.

MemTest86-20240217-112748.log MemTest86-20240217-143054.log MemTest86-20240218-021428.log

[MadAnt250]

16 minutes ago, SMTMS said:

Then I've received errors on Test 10,12,13 i think. 

RAM issues, bad RAM, that's why there were no problems when XMP was turned off. One or both of your RAM sticks can't run at 2133MHz anymore. 

[SMTMS]

I've ordered a kit which should arrive in a few days, but I'm using it with XMP on ever since. 
As I mentioned I had the same experience with XMP off after I brought back the PC from the service.

[Harmsway1283]

Have you checked the CMOS battery? If you’ve got a multimeter you can check it for 3.3-3.0 volts. If it’s lower than that, you need to replace it. I’ve had a motherboard that wouldn’t boot at all because of a dead CMOS.

[Mark Kaine]

honestly modern pcs are cool and everything but the ram compatibility issues they're plagued with are hilarious 

 

 

back in the day that shi just worked!

 

well you fixed it now? good. 

[SMTMS]

 

UPDATE:
I bought new RAM modules, tried them on the other 2 slots (which i was unable to use before due to hight).
Tried it with and without XMP both resulting in the same scenario.

So so far it's probably not faulty RAM and not the MB being unable to handle XMP anymore.

Do you guys have any other ideas?