FOUR RAM Cards in AMD Build Worries

[SpyderTracks]

So shortly after I posted that screenshot, I restarted it, went into the BIOS again,and thought I'd try setting the memory to 3400MHz, then exited the BIOS thing...it started to reboot, but nothing - just a black screen. I waited a good 5 minutes, while nothing at all happened (fans & lights are running). I then held the power button down to turn it off, then back on again, and still nothing - not even the BIOS screen. The PC seems to have died. I've also tried pressing/holding down F2 after switching it on....but nothing. Just black screen. Any thoughts, anyone? Please?

You can reset the CMOS, if you remove the battery from to the right of number 20 in this photo, leave it out for a minute, then reinsert it (make sure the PC is off at the wall before doing so but leave it plugged in, this will keep it grounded). Use a piece of kitchen paper or something to handle the battery as touching with skin can damage it.

 

[ubuysa]

To be properly sure, we need @ubuysa to do some investigation when he gets a second.

Can you follow this guide: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/when-youre-seeking-help-with-a-bsod.71885/

Just link to your dump files and do a summary with as much information as you can to help him catch up on the issue.

 

[Hello Paul]

You can reset the CMOS, if you remove the battery from to the right of number 20 in this photo, leave it out for a minute, then reinsert it (make sure the PC is off at the wall before doing so but leave it plugged in, this will keep it grounded). Use a piece of kitchen paper or something to handle the battery as touching with skin can damage it.

THANK YOU! I did that - the battery was a REAL PAIN to remove, without resorting to using anything metallic, eg. a screwdriver, to prise it out. Used a very small wooden clothes peg in the end! And started it up - it went straight into the olde worlde American Megatrends BIOS thing; I then loaded the PCS factory profile (which I'd saved before I started tweaking/breaking stuff yesterday) and I'm now back up and running - albeit with the RAM at the PCS set 2666MHz (which is interesting because the originally supplied 4GB RAM states it's 2400MHz).

So I guess the next step is to set the RAM speed to 3200MHz - which seemed to be only mildly crashy, and see how I get on. And then maybe tweak some other timings to make it a bit less crashy.

EDIT -- I've set the RAM to 3200MHz and - so far - things seems to be OK.

That same After Effects project causes After Effects to crash, but there weren't any weird screen black artifacts afterwards. I suppose there's a slim chance that the graphics card wasn't seated properly, and taking it out/putting it back to get to the CMOS battery might have fixed things...seems unlikely though. I think I might leave it there for a week or so to see how I get on, and then try cranking it up a bit.

 

[SpyderTracks]

THANK YOU! I did that - the battery was a REAL PAIN to remove, without resorting to using anything metallic, eg. a screwdriver, to prise it out. Used a very small wooden clothes peg in the end! And started it up - it went straight into the olde worlde American Megatrends BIOS thing; I then loaded the PCS factory profile (which I'd saved before I started tweaking/breaking stuff yesterday) and I'm now back up and running - albeit with the RAM at the PCS set 2666MHz (which is interesting because the originally supplied 4GB RAM states it's 2400MHz).

So I guess the next step is to set the RAM speed to 3200MHz - which seemed to be only mildly crashy, and see how I get on. And then maybe tweak some other timings to make it a bit less crashy.

And upload the dump files so we can analyse the cause.

 

[NoddyPirate]

I think if you need need to reset the CMOS in future, you can just use the CLR-RTC RAM jumper which is at Number 11 in the above image. With power fully off and disconnected, use a screwdriver or a similar metal object to short the two pins and it should have the same effect as removing the battery.

 

[Hello Paul]

Well, I've been using the system successfully for a couple of weeks. I got the chance this morning to update the BIOS to 3604 and AGESA to ComboV2_1201PatchA. This seems to have fixed the audio popping issue (discussed elsewhere on this forum) which is great. I then tried turning up the wick on the RAM, but glitchy window redraws and crashes ensued, so I'm back to boring old 3200MHz again. I'm still keen to get the RAM working at its full 3600MHz capacity, so if anyone has any suggestions what might be going wrong, I'd be very happy to hear them please!

 

[ubuysa]

Well, I've been using the system successfully for a couple of weeks. I got the chance this morning to update the BIOS to 3604 and AGESA to ComboV2_1201PatchA. This seems to have fixed the audio popping issue (discussed elsewhere on this forum) which is great. I then tried turning up the wick on the RAM, but glitchy window redraws and crashes ensued, so I'm back to boring old 3200MHz again. I'm still keen to get the RAM working at its full 3600MHz capacity, so if anyone has any suggestions what might be going wrong, I'd be very happy to hear them please!

You might want to give PCS a call, you're far from the only person to suffer from this issue and they may well have more information about it now.

 

[Hello Paul]

Well, it's been just over a year since I was last in this discussion, and I actually now have a couple of free hours to take another look at my slow RAM woes, if anyone has any suggestions! Here's the situation:

I bought a nice PC last year from PCS, plus 128GB (4x32GB) RAM separately. The RAM claims to be 3600MHz, but I can only get it to run reliably at 3266MHz. Today I experimented at 3333MHz and 3400MHz; it caused all kinds of errors. Each time I try to turn it up a bit more, the system just refuses to start up, or starts up and is incredibly crashy. I've updated my Nvidia drivers and all Windows updates. My BIOS Version/Date is: American Megatrends Inc. 3604, 14/04/2021. I've used that Armoury Crate (what a silly name for an app!) to update things, including the AMD Chipset Driver: 4.03.03.431

The system should in theory be robust enough, I'd have thought, to at least run the RAM at 3600MHz; I went for a reasonably high-end board/cooling/etc, but other than tweaking the speed in the BIOS thing at startup, I have very little idea about which voltages etc. to increase if necessary. So if anyone has any thoughts, or knows of a simple guide that I could follow, then I'd be very happy to hear from you!

I'm also keen to overclock the CPU a bit; it idles around 41 degrees, and when working flat out, only goes up to a mild 65-ish, so I assume there's plenty of headroom to push it all a bit further, but that's for another day.

Loading up that AMD Master app just presents me with a baffling array of numbers - I've no idea if that's the best way to go about OC'ing stuff?

RAM specs: https://assets.website-files.com/5cdb2ee0b102f96c3906500f/606b5d2b911571854efeee72_PVS464G360C8K_Sku Sheet_033021.pdf

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
128GB Patriot 3600MHz RAM purchased separately
Graphics Card
24GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3090 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
8TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

 

[Aza]

Well, it's been just over a year since I was last in this discussion, and I actually now have a couple of free hours to take another look at my slow RAM woes, if anyone has any suggestions! Here's the situation:

I bought a nice PC last year from PCS, plus 128GB (4x32GB) RAM separately. The RAM claims to be 3600MHz, but I can only get it to run reliably at 3266MHz. Today I experimented at 3333MHz and 3400MHz; it caused all kinds of errors. Each time I try to turn it up a bit more, the system just refuses to start up, or starts up and is incredibly crashy. I've updated my Nvidia drivers and all Windows updates. My BIOS Version/Date is: American Megatrends Inc. 3604, 14/04/2021. I've used that Armoury Crate (what a silly name for an app!) to update things, including the AMD Chipset Driver: 4.03.03.431

The system should in theory be robust enough, I'd have thought, to at least run the RAM at 3600MHz; I went for a reasonably high-end board/cooling/etc, but other than tweaking the speed in the BIOS thing at startup, I have very little idea about which voltages etc. to increase if necessary. So if anyone has any thoughts, or knows of a simple guide that I could follow, then I'd be very happy to hear from you!

I'm also keen to overclock the CPU a bit; it idles around 41 degrees, and when working flat out, only goes up to a mild 65-ish, so I assume there's plenty of headroom to push it all a bit further, but that's for another day.

Loading up that AMD Master app just presents me with a baffling array of numbers - I've no idea if that's the best way to go about OC'ing stuff?

RAM specs: https://assets.website-files.com/5cdb2ee0b102f96c3906500f/606b5d2b911571854efeee72_PVS464G360C8K_Sku Sheet_033021.pdf

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
128GB Patriot 3600MHz RAM purchased separately
Graphics Card
24GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3090 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
8TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Another possibly unrelated, but something perhaps to eliminate, note.
The 3600MHz issue, from what I remember, could be resolved by dropping the RAM by one increment, 3533MHz (or something similar, been a while). For you to have to drop all the way to 3200MHz seems like something separate rather than the 4 sticks @ 3600MHz.

Have you tried running it on 2 sticks at 3600MHz? (If you have and ive missed it, I apologise)

And a warning against overclocking AMD, it reduces performance not improves it, the cores individually self boost and OC'ing it will mean having to OC all cores to the same speed, which would also then be the peak of the slowest core. Its very different to Intel.

 

[Aza]

Strongly recommend giving this a thorough read as well, DRAM calculator and some other software to get full profiles for RAM etc.
I havent specifically seen anything that says about how you are doing all your timings and this gives a lot of insight.

Ram OC

Not sure if you can OC ram whilst under pcs warranty but... it’s literally free performance, especially at 1080p. I’ve never OC’d ram before, but i just got some new ram and the box states ‘designed for extreme overclocking’. It’s already solid @ 3600mhz cl16 (16-19-19-36). Anyone else dabbled...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Hello Paul]

May not be related at all but your BIOS has been superceded by at least 4 iterations since April last year:

ROG Strix X570-F Gaming | Motherboards | ROG United Kingdom

AMD Ryzen 3000 series ATX motherboard with Aura Sync, Intel Gigabit LAN, Dual PCIe 4.0 M.2 with heatsinks, SupremeFX and USB 3.2 Gen 2

rog.asus.com

Just select whichever Windows version you have then click on the BIOS heading to see all the ones since.

However, DO NOT do anything until you have been in contact with PCS as you need their permission to update BIOS version else it invalidates your warranty

I'd previously contacted PCS asking them about a BIOS update, and they replied saying that as long as it's not a beta version, updating the BIOS will not affect the PCS warranty, so I've gone ahead and updated it to version 4204 (the latest non-beta version) and everything seems to be running OK - although I'm still unable to get the system to run with the RAM set to anything above 3266MHz. I tried running it at 3333MHz; the system seemed to run OK, but when I ran my standard After Effects test, it failed halfway through. Just for fun, I then set the RAM to 3600MHz, and Windows did not even start up - I just got a stopcode error, so I set it back to 3200MHz and that same After Effects test ran ok - at the fastest speed I've ever seen (3min 12secs). I then set the RAM to 3266MHz, re-ran the test, and it took 3m 15s. Weird.

I'll take a look through that thread that @Aza recommended when I get the chance. I haven't yet tried running the system with 2 sticks of RAM - maybe I'll give that a go soon too.

 

[Scott]

Out of curiosity, how are you setting the speed to 3600Mhz? Just in case you're literally tuning the RAM to 3600Mhz manually without changing any of the latency timings?

The XMP settings should handle everything by default, but if you try to bypass them it's more trial and error.

 

[Hello Paul]

I've been trying to increase the speed without tweaking the settings, on the (probably mistaken) assumption that I shouldn't need to crank anything up because I'm only trying to get the memory running to its stock speed - not actually overclocking it at all. And I can't even get my 3600MHz memory running at 3333MHz.

As I mentioned, I have very little idea about RAM overclocking; I'm not interested in pushing my system to the edge of its life for a few extra Hz, I just want it to run at the speed it's supposed to. I really need to dedicate a whole chunk of time to this - time that I rarely seem to have available!

 

[Scott]

I believe you should be looking for RAMP settings. If you simply switch on the profile, it should configure it for you. Attempting to manually change the frequency without also changing the timings to suit will result in the behaviour you are experiencing.

As you have found, you need to set aside an hour or so to go through it properly.