Question New 5600X build only work with 1 memory stick, no matter which. Faulty CPU memory controller?

[Hougy]

I bought a B550M Aorus Elite, a 5600X and 2x 8Gb of 3200 16-20-20-40 Netac Shadow RAM. All the other parts I'm keeping from my old PC (500W PSU, GTX 970, SSD).

When I do some things that requires higher stress like gaming and decompressing video the PC suddenly shuts down. I can make it happen consistently in around 3 minutes by playing this video

in 4k HDR AV1. My GPU doesn't have AV1 hardware decoder.

Surprisingly, when I remove one of the memory sticks, no matter which one, the PC is able to run the same video for hours. The slot I put the single stick or the 2 sticks don't matter, the results are the same. The CPU and memory were always tested in stock configurations (DDR4 2660 stock timings).

I ran Windows memory diagnostic tools and memtest86 and they didn't find problems.

I have until today to decide if I want to return it. Do you know what could be faulty and what could be tried? I'm really desperate here. What if I keep it but use only a single stick?

 

[Thunder 57]

Only thing I can think of is that your old PSU is nearing its end of life.

Absolutely. I've had it happen twice. Power supplies that should easily handle the load and have for years just gave out and shut down when stressed too much. Both times replacing the PSU fixed the issue.

 

[DrMrLordX]

@Hougy

Not sure if it helps at all, but some of the best DDR4 available for your 5600x (whether you return it or not) is going to be Crucial. Micron e-die is amazing for the value. It's surprising that nobody else recommended it.

 

[Hougy]

OP built newer rig, but kept older PSU? Could well be the issue. Actually, if the prior rig was pre-Haswell, then that almost certainly is the issue, as older PSUs don't support the low-power +12V states that the newer systems utilize.

The CPU was pre Haswell but wouldn't the problem you describe make the CPU crash when under low load? That never happened, it crashed when under high stress

 

[igor_kavinski]

The CPU was pre Haswell

It's a miracle the system functioned as well as it did with an unsupported PSU.

 

[Hougy]

I don't know if this is an actual picture or if someone made a 3D render/print with known information, but it checks out in every aspect.

After The SP5 Socket, AMD's EPYC Genoa CPU With 12 Next-Gen Zen 4 CCDs on 5nm Node With Up To 96 Cores Pictured

AMD's 5nm Zen 4 powered EPYC Genoa server CPU has been pictured in its full-fat 12 CCD configuration for the SP5 server platform.

wccftech.com

View attachment 59750

Let us know what the shop says.

As far as your own troubleshoot, did you ever test the system with the ram at 2133MHz?

Only thing I can think of is that your old PSU is nearing its end of life.

OP built newer rig, but kept older PSU? Could well be the issue. Actually, if the prior rig was pre-Haswell, then that almost certainly is the issue, as older PSUs don't support the low-power +12V states that the newer systems utilize.

Absolutely. I've had it happen twice. Power supplies that should easily handle the load and have for years just gave out and shut down when stressed too much. Both times replacing the PSU fixed the issue.

@Hougy

Not sure if it helps at all, but some of the best DDR4 available for your 5600x (whether you return it or not) is going to be Crucial. Micron e-die is amazing for the value. It's surprising that nobody else recommended it.

It's a miracle the system functioned as well as it did with an unsupported PSU.

The problem is fixed after buying a new PSU. If I understood it correctly, the PSU is not broken but it's inadequate to newer CPUs. I think I vaguely remember choosing a different kind of PSU when building another Haswell build 9 years ago, but I didn't remember to do it now, it's been years. It's disappointing that they didn't change the connectors to indicate incompatibility.

There's the picture of the PSU that didn't work, I wasn't able to find much info about it but I don't think it's 11 years old like the 2500k because I vaguely remember that first this PC had a different modular PSU, but it's certainly very old.

I chose the overclocking profile supplied with the NETAC ram and now it works perfectly in dual channel, achieving almost the same Geekbench 5 score that's on their website. I will try to overclock everything further once I have the time. This NETAC ram is much cheaper than the alternatives here and I think it was a good deal, but I thank everybody for the suggestions.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Lots of people have warned me about Thermaltake before. I almost went for their 550W coz it was the cheapest. Good thing I didn't.