RAM issues

[Leazlan]

Hi guys, I'm pretty new here so not to sure what to do..

Anyways here goes, I built my own PC last week

GPU - MSI Gtx 970 4gb Twin Frozr
CPU - i7 4790k
Motherboard - MSI z97 gaming 7
PSU - Antec 850w High current gamer
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 1866mhz 4x8gb
SSD - Scandisk 256gb (used for boot up and applications)
HDD - 1.5tb Toshiba
OS - Windows 8.1 (got it from a friend)

So everything works just fine when assembled except my PC screen was just black when I switched it on so I took out two of the ram modules and then PC switched on just fine. Why can't I use all four of the ram modules? I'm pretty sure my mobo can handle up to 32gb.. I will swap out the two currently in with the ones I took out to see if the ram is maybe faulty but if it isn't why isn't it working?

Thanks for the assistance.

[PsychoFish]

Your RAM is not on the compatibility list for your MB

http://www.msi.com/support/mb/Z97-GA...ml#support-mem

[Hagan]

Hi guys, I'm pretty new here so not to sure what to do..

Anyways here goes, I built my own PC last week

GPU - MSI Gtx 970 4gb Twin Frozr
CPU - i7 4790k
Motherboard - MSI z97 gaming 7
PSU - Antec 850w High current gamer
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 1866mhz 4x8gb
SSD - Scandisk 256gb (used for boot up and applications)
HDD - 1.5tb Toshiba

So everything works just fine when assembled except my PC screen was just black when I switched it on so I took out two of the ram modules and then PC switched on just fine. Why can't I use all four of the ram modules? I'm pretty sure my mobo can handle up to 32gb.. I will swap out the two currently in with the ones I took out to see if the ram is maybe faulty but if it isn't why isn't it working?

Thanks for the assistance.

Your RAM is not on the compatibility list for your MB

http://www.msi.com/support/mb/Z97-GA...ml#support-mem

Ohh jinne ja.
Should definitely be careful when buying components; make sure you have read the mobo specs properly.

I encountered (still, as I don't have a replacement mobo yet) a similar RAM issue some time ago, it turned out that one of my DIMM slots is faulty (as I deduced). Given that both sticks (old and new) work in the slot closest to the CPU, yet neither work in the adjacent slot.

[Leazlan]

Awesome.. well I can at least be thankful that two of them work. Anyone want to buy some ram

Thanks PsychoFish, I thought I checked everything before purchasing but clearly not..

[Wyzak]

download a proper memory test something like memtest x86 and run that on your machine and make sure that your RAM is functional. It might just be faulty out of the box.

[Leazlan]

download a proper memory test something like memtest x86 and run that on your machine and make sure that your RAM is functional. It might just be faulty out of the box.

I won't be able to test them all at once. The thing is that the ram that I have at the moment isn't even supported but 16gb of it works.. When I check system information it says that I have 16gb (15.something usable). I will swap them out and check again.

[Blazzok]

One thing you can try that might work, is to underclock your RAM in the BIOS (to 1600 perhaps).

Can you link the whole model number for your RAM? Because I do see 32GB (4 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz RAM in the OC memory tab on the site that Psycho linked (CMZ32GX3M4X1866C10).

[Leazlan]

One thing you can try that might work, is to underclock your RAM in the BIOS (to 1600 perhaps).

Can you link the whole model number for your RAM? Because I do see 32GB (4 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz RAM in the OC memory tab on the site that Psycho linked (CMZ32GX3M4X1866C10).

It is - Corsair CMZ32GX3M4X1866C10 Vengeance with blacK heatsink 8Gb x 4 kit. :O

So what now, the problem is that only 16gb works? Does my motherboard perhaps need updated drivers or do I need to switch on OC genie on the motherboard or is there another problem?

[Blazzok]

It is - Corsair CMZ32GX3M4X1866C10 Vengeance with blacK heatsink 8Gb x 4 kit. :O

So what now, the problem is that only 16gb works? Does my motherboard perhaps need updated drivers or do I need to switch on OC genie on the motherboard or is there another problem?

I am not 100% sure, but I suggest you update to the latest firmware for your motherboard.

Have you checked all 4 sticks (obviously only 2 at a time since that works) to make sure all the RAM sticks work fine? Have you checked that all the RAM slots themselves work fine?

When you go into the BIOS, see if you can enable XMP1866 for your RAM slots? The default setting should be for 1333MHz, but this might also work.

[Leazlan]

Hey guys so it seems that the problem is that there is a bent CPU pin on the mobo.. I have checked and all four RAM modules work. So it would seem that the pin controls the 2 right hand side DIMM slots? Bloody irritating though.. it is way too easy to bend a pin on the mobo, even if you are the most careful I did see that the ram was set to 1333MHz in the BIOS so when I get it fixed I'll enable xmp and set the slots to 1866MHz. Bought the mobo from evetech.co.za so lets hope they (Garrett) can sort something out for me. Holding thumbs