I just learned a tough lesson on RAM

[Caveman]

Built a new rig and didn't check the QVL for my MoBo and just bought what appeared to be great RAM but it's giving errors on Memtest:

Patriot Extreme Performance Viper 3 16GB Desktop Memory Module 1866MHz Dual Kit - DDR3, 2 x 8GB, (PV316G186C0KBL)

QVL for my board is below:

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/Z87-PRO/Z87-PRO_DRAM_QVL_1029.pdf


1) I guess Qualified in the "QVL" means tested to work with this board and if you use another type, all bets are off...???

2) What RAM would you choose off the QVL if you had the choice. Want fast and reliable... Not sure of timings, etc...

3) I have a Noctua NH-d14 installed so that really limits choices too...

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm sure other brands work as well, but I go Crucial/Kingston all the way. Out of hundreds of memory upgrades, I think the last time I encountered a compatibility issue due to the brand was about ten years ago (before I went with Crucial/Kingston).

 

[Caveman]

After reading a bit more, I'm at least going to try messing with the bios. I discovered a whole new area devoted to memory timings, etc and everything was set to default of "auto"... Guessing the Mobo is making some bad choices about how to manage things and I just need to help it out to make any errors go away...

 

[john3850]

I'm sure other brands work as well, but I go Crucial/Kingston all the way. Out of hundreds of memory upgrades, I think the last time I encountered a compatibility issue due to the brand was about ten years ago (before I went with Crucial/Kingston).

I always choose Crucial first because they get there chips from Mircon which is also there parent company and Kingston as a 2nd choice.
I have never bought from Kingston because much of there stock is slightly over volted.
Out of the rest of the companies that purchase there chips I would choose GSKill.
When a new chipset is first released I try to buy a slightly better memory such as GSKill Pi which had better timing if needed.

 

[MongGrel]

I'm a GSkill fanboi myself these days, have been awhile now.

OC's better than anything else I've tried over the years, but things may have changed since I've done a major upgrade anyway I imagine.

 

[Caveman]

Does anyone with an ASUS UEFI BIOS have any advice for baseline settings other than "auto" that would give stability?

 

[know of fence]

If only one stick gives errors it might not be a compatibility issue at all. Pulling out a module, test and switch, shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

Before you mess with timings, you should be able to set a different profile. CPU-Z shows the various available profiles in the SPD tab. Random image:

 

[Caveman]

If only one stick gives errors it might not be a compatibility issue at all. Pulling out a module, test and switch, shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

Before you mess with timings, you should be able to set a different profile. CPU-Z shows the various available profiles in the SPD tab. Random image:

Thanks for your help. Removing the sticks is somewhat of a pain in the rear because of the NH-d14 cooler covering them... That said, I'll do what I have to do to solve the problem... I was extremely careful on grounding provisions while I built the rig and made sure the memory was seated, etc... I'm hoping to nail this one with just some bios issues (i.e. I noticed that the XMP setting was not even turned on, 1866 clock speed was defaulted to "auto", etc...). Not looking at it right now, but IIR, the voltage also seemed to be set unusually low (like just above 1V or something... I think my RAM is supposed to be getting 1.65V nominally)

Are you saying that the CPU-Z will ID the RAM and indicate back the timings that should be set in the BIOS? Sorry for being such a noob... it's been 8 years since I built my last rig and I've forgotten a lot and a lot has changed in the BIOS world...

 

[know of fence]

Are you saying that the CPU-Z will ID the RAM and indicate back the timings that should be set in the BIOS?

Yes, you'll see the numbers for the different profiles. I'm pretty sure that it's 10-10-10-30 and 1.5V for your DIMMs but that's the tightest XMP profile.
If I disable XMP on my board and select Auto, my bios sets much looser values like 12-12-12-39 say.
To get a CPU overclock stable I have to set looser timings in this simple manner, by disabling XMP profile and setting it on [Auto].

Because timing and frequency are linked, you can also try simply lowering RAM frequency to 1333 MHZ (667) or 1600 MHz (800). Intel Celerons and Pentiums only "officially" support 1333MHz for instance. Perhaps this will get your instability sorted, but it may be just faulty RAM. If anything it's good that you noticed this early.

I wonder if I'll get memtest errors if I set known unstable settings, maybe something I should test.

 

[MongGrel]

If you are using an XMP profile to begin with I would turn that off for starters...

 

[Caveman]

Okay, I changed the bios on memory from "auto" to 1866MHz and rebooted. Then ran Memtest Delux from the boot disk to stay outside the OS. Ran it all night with no errors.

Now I'm running the freeware version (in the OS) for the passed hour or so with no errors... I'm going to let it crank all day long...