Inconsistent booting after installing more RAM

[HourofWolves]

I recently decided to add two more RAM sticks to my computer setup as I was getting close to 16GB at some stages of use.



I made sure to get exactly the same set as was installed in the system when I first built it: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2x8) DDR4 3000Mhz 15-17-17-35 (CMD16GX4M2B3000C15).



I had the current sticks in DIMM_A2 and B2 respectively so put the newly purchased ones in A1 and B1. However, when I went to boot back up the computer did not load the BIOS. Thinking that maybe they weren't exactly the same I took the new sticks out to check. Everything is the same, except for the product barcode number (I assume this is just the difference in year).

I next tried taking out the old sticks and putting the new ones in slots A2 and B2 and it did not get to BIOS with this configuration either. I then put all four sticks back in in their original slots and used the Clear CMOS button on the back of the Motherboard, this worked and got me into the BIOS.
At this point I thought it might have been the overclock I was running so I set everything back to default and tried to boot again. Still nothing.


Looking at the Q-Code I am getting on the motherboard it is reading Eb which is "S3 OS Wake Error".


With all the sticks in I have been able to get it to BIOS about 3 times, and have managed to get it to Desktop once though I didn't do anything differently. When I did get to Desktop I entered BIOS on startup, exited without changing any settings from default, it then BSODed and then booted into Desktop. Every other time gets me the Q-Code Eb. Taking the new sticks out gets me to Desktop without any trouble.


I have tried:

• Clearing CMOS
• Turning off PSU and unplugging
• Moving RAM around DIMM slots
• removing OC
• setting RAM timings and speed in BIOS without CPU OC

I have found both of these threads which seemed to have had similar issues but different enough that I thought I should start a new thread:
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/installing-exact-same-ram-but-system-not-booting.3454551/



https://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=91297


In one of those threads a BIOS flash worked, however I already had the latest BIOS installed before getting the new RAM. Do you think if I flashed the BIOS again with the new sticks in it might solve the issue?
Or considering the error is to do with "S3 OS Wake Error" that a clean OS install might help?
I have also read that the memory controller on the first generation Ryzen was a bit finicky, would upgrading to the 3xxx series solve my issue?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.





PC Specs:


2x8Gbs Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3000Mhz (purchased 2017)
2x8Gbs Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3000Mhz (purchased 2020)
AMD Ryzen 7 1700 (NZXT Kraken X62 cooling)
ASUS Crosshair VI Hero
ASUS Strix GTX1060
Samsung 960 EVO (OS drive)
WD Black 1TB
Corsair RM650x PSU
Windows 10



OC Settings:


BCLK: 100
CPU Core Ratio: 38
Mem Freq.: DDR4-3000Mhz
Dram timings: 15-17-17-35
Gear Down mode: Disabled
VTTDDR Voltage: 0.70620
CPU Core Voltage: 1.35
CPU SOC Voltage: 1.05
DRAM Voltage: 1.35


Thanks in advance.

 

[KingNosser]

I think it might have something to do with the ram clock your trying to run think 1st gen has a cap or kinda sweet spot when using 4 sticks, might be something you want to look into.

2666mhz is a number I remember seeing but play about with your settings and see if it helps any with different speeds to see what will work.

 

[AlienALX]

Start by slackening the timings to 16-18-18-35. If that fails try again @ 17-19-19-35.

If that fails you will need to reduce the speed, and work with the timings. Early Ryzen chips did not like 4 DIMMs, as it puts more stress on the memory controller and thus entire IF.

 

[HourofWolves]

Thanks for your replies.

Okay so I tried all of the settings below with pretty much no success.
First I set the CPU SOC Voltage to 1.1
VTTDDR to 0.726
and DRAM to 1.4 all just in case the added power came in handy for stability.

Then went about changing the timings and speed as detailed below. I was only able to get into the BIOS once with 4 sticks in so I was changing the BIOS with two in then trying to boot with those settings with 4 sticks.
Almost everytime it would start to power up, power off after 1 second then power back on and hang at the Q-code listed first. Then I tried each setting again where it would power on and hang at a different (if listed) or same Q-code.

A couple of times with the slackest timings and lowest speed I was able to get it to post to a "Post failed" screen, would hit F1 to enter BIOS and it would hang and not enter BIOS. The one time I was able to get into BIOS the same happened I entered BIOS but on attempting to exit it failed to open OS.

Any other ideas or do we think my chip is just not up to handling 4 sticks?
Thanks again.


Here's a list of the Q-Code I got
ED: Reserved for future AMI error codes
EB: S3 OS Wake Error
0D: Reserved for future AMI SEC error codes
0E: Microcode not loaded
07: AP initialization after microcode loading


These two aren't in my Crosshair VI hero user guide
40: OEM post memory initialization codes
48: OEM post memory initialization codes


BIOS settings attempted and Q-Code. (note with BIOS settings at default it had the RAM set at 15-15-15-36 @ 2133Mhz.

• 16-18-18-35 / 3000Mhz / Gear down mode Disabled — 40, EB
• 17-19-19-35 / 3000Mhz / Gear down mode Disabled — 40
• 17-19-19-35 / 3000Mhz / Gear down mode Auto (CL18 in windows) — ED, 40
• 16-18-18-35 / 2666Mhz / Disabled — EB
• 17-19-19-35 / 2666Mhz / Disabled — EB
• 17-19-19-35 / 2666Mhz / Auto (CL18) — 07, ED
• 16-18-18-35 / 2133Mhz / Disabled — 07, 40
• 17-19-19-35 / 2133Mhz / Disabled — 07, 40
• 17-19-19-35 / 2133Mhz / Auto (CL18) — 07, ED, 0D, 40, 0E
• 17-19-19-35 / 2133Mhz / Auto (CL18) / No CPU OC — 48, got to BIOS, EB

 

[RobM]

I had the current sticks in DIMM_A2 and B2 respectively so put the newly purchased ones in A1 and B1. However, when I went to boot back up the computer did not load the BIOS. Thinking that maybe they weren't exactly the same I took the new sticks out to check. Everything is the same, except for the product barcode number (I assume this is just the difference in year).

IMHO the issue is the ram if this is the case, just because it is same make and model does not mean they are the same, corsair may have changed to e die or hynix.

 

[HourofWolves]

If this is the case, will a more robust IMC say with the newer Ryzen CPUs be able to handle this difference? Or is that not something we can know until trying it?