CPU Upgrade causes RAM to not work

[dayday0550]

Hello,

I just upgraded from a Ryzen 7 1700 to a Ryzen 5 3600. I have the b450 Rog Strix F Gaming with 32 gigs of Corsair Vengeance RGB 3000mhz. Ram worked fine until i swapped the CPU. Now only one ram stick works. With that said, they all work one at a time. Ram stick 1 worked in slots 1 through 4, but the second i added another RAM stick in, it wouldnt. same thing for ram stick 2 through 4... they all work on their own in each slot, but not together.

I cannot find ANYTHING online about this issue and have never ran into it. Any ideas?

 

[Zyll Goliat]

Update your mobo bios on latest(HERE),if that don't work then try to set manually your ram frequency first on 2133 mhz with default timings and then if that works start rising the ram frequency step by step......GL

 

[dayday0550]

BIOS is up to date, I had to update it to even get the CPU to work. If counting slots from left to right, I have it to where it will post / boot up if I have a stick in any slot, or one in 1 and one in 2. It I put any stick in 3 or 4 with a stick in 1 or 2, it won’t boot. I’m basically limited to either 8gb of ram (one stick) or two sticks on separate channels.

tried lowering the clock, tried raising the MHz to what its supposed to be (3000) but nothing works. Was literally working just fine until I put this cpu in.

 

[Vya Domus]

If you have 4 sticks then that's a really unfortunate combination, not only you are stressing the IMC by doing that but Corsair Vengeance kits are one of the worst for Ryzen compatibility. I had the same issue on my board, the only thing that I did is I simply tried all the combinations possible and eventually it booted up.

 

[dayday0550]

so even though the ram is listed on the motherboards compatibility list for Ryzen gen 3 processors...... they aren’t?

it’s a damn shame if that’s the case. This ram has worked for 1st and 2nd generations just fine

 

[Zyll Goliat]

That's a bummer man....looks like you going to need to sell that RAM....or maybe you can try to sell that mobo.....not sure....

 

[Calmmo]

by not working you mean xmp or just it wont make it through post even at stock non xmp?

 

[dayday0550]

It won’t make it through post at stock settings. Pc turns on, lights and fans are on, gpu fan is blowing at 100% and the orange/yellow DRAM light is solid on the motherboard. The only way it will boot up is if I have one stick in any of the 4 slots, or if I have a stick in the first two slots coming from the left (closest to the cpu). No other combination works. All 4 ram modules work on their own.
Again, I didn’t have this issue for the last year vs 3 different Ryzen gen 1 and 2 processors, but the second I put in the Ryzen 5 3600, this ram issue started. I’m currently taking it apart to check for broken pins on the cpu (which there better not be any) and I am going to clean all 4 dimm slots

 

[xtreemchaos]

try disabling pcie4 in the bios, I had problems after updating bios with the same ram but diff cpu and mobo it worked for me. switch it back to pci 3 or even auto may work if you have nothing pci4.

 

[eidairaman1]

Corsair Ram, not a truly amd tested brand.

Clear cmos restart and set the docp for them and adjust voltage

 

[dayday0550]

Will try both of the above suggestions once I get ‘er back together. Currently cleaning ports and reseating cpu and building from the ground up again

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Corsair Ram, not a truly amd tested brand.

Clear cmos restart and set the docp for them and adjust voltage

As eid says , a possibility is that the motherboard has got some timings stuck in it , I've overcome similar ryzen upgrade issues by pulling all cables and the battery From a motherboard and leaving it for half an hour for all the caps to properly drain, then load optimised defaults and retest, it's likely a timing issue though.
There are some ram that gen 3 ryzen doesn't like though too , I've got one four gig stick that won't boot on its own on a ryzen 3 system.

 

[dayday0550]

Disabling pcie4 didn’t work. No bent pins, everything reseated - same issue. I’m going to take out the cmos battery and let it sit for the last hour of my shift and try again at 1030. Thanks so far for the help guys, much appreciated. I already took the cmos out, but only for like 10 mins because I’m impatient so probably didn’t do the trick the first time around.... hopefully an hour will do the trick

 

[delshay]

You may want to check the CPU in another motherboard with more than one stick of ram. This is what I would do first if I had your problem.

 

[moproblems99]

I had a 3700x with A caput memory controller, so don't rule out a bad cpu.

 

[Shou Miko]

Could be your Asucks board that cannot do all 4 dimms with a 3rd Gen Ryzen CPU and those Corsair Vengeance stick.

I am currently rocking 2 different kits that's 4 dimms of GeIL's Dragon RAM DDR4 at 3000MHz that's the kit with the lowest speeds with's a mix of Samsung and SK Hynix chips and I don't have any issues with my AMD Ryzen 9 3900X in the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC and to be honeste these dimms ain't on the AMD Ryzen list but they work fine.

 

[Bill_Bright]

If the same 4 sticks of RAM worked in that same motherboard before the CPU upgrade, I don't see how this can be caused by RAM.

That said, I do not see where the OP ever said it has ever worked with the full 32GB (4 X 8GB) installed at once. Has it?

Corsair Ram, not a truly amd tested brand.

Please explain. I note there are more than 3 dozen Corsair RAM models listed on the QVL for that board, including several 4*8GB kits.

I agree with the suggestion to reset the BIOS however.

I’m going to take out the cmos battery and let it sit for the last hour

Unplugging power from the wall (or just flipping PSU's master power switch to off or "0" is fine), then pulling the motherboard battery will reset the BIOS. But there is no need to let it sit for 1/2 hour. None of the caps on the motherboard are designed to, or are in circuits that store voltages. Even if there were storage caps in there, the "low" DC voltages found on motherboards have such small potentials, the "decay rates" would quickly (within seconds) drop the voltages below any viable levels anyway.

It is important to remember CMOS circuits and CMOS memory devices by design are intended to dump all data within a couple clock cycles after losing power. And CMOS devices were intentionally chosen for that reason by motherboard and BIOS engineers/designers to make the BIOS easy and quick to reset. Had the engineers/designers wanted resetting the BIOS to be more difficult, or for those user changes to the BIOS firmware defaults to be more "robust", they could have easily (and less expensively!) done that by using different memory devices for that circuit - like EEPROMs instead of CMOS.

So unplugging and removing the battery for 15 seconds is plenty. Only the PSU has such caps that store voltages and they have bleeder circuitry designed to quickly bleed off their voltages to quickly eliminate any "high" voltage electric shock hazards. This is why simply shorting 2 pins by moving the BIOS reset jumper for a few seconds (or, if the motherboard is equipped, pressing the reset button for a few seconds) is plenty enough time to fully reset the BIOS.

Note your motherboard manual on page 1-9 says under section 1.1.6 Jumper, "1. Clear RTC RAM jumper (2-pin CLRTC)" (my bold underline added),

This jumper allows you to clear the Real Time Clock (RTC) RAM in CMOS. You can clear the CMOS memory of date, time, and system setup parameters by erasing the CMOS RTC RAM data.

To erase the RTC RAM:
1. Turn OFF the computer and unplug the power cord.
2. Short-circuit pin 1-2 with a metal object or jumper cap for about 5 - 10 seconds.

So more than those few seconds is just wasting your time. Just be sure to discharge any static in your body by touching bare metal of the case interior BEFORE reaching in for the battery. And once you replace the battery and reconnect (or flip on) power, be sure to boot directly into the BIOS Setup Menu to check/set the date and time, and ensure your boot order is correct (if not using the default C drive).

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

If the same 4 sticks of RAM worked in that same motherboard before the CPU upgrade, I don't see how this can be caused by RAM.

That said, I do not see where the OP ever said it has ever worked with the full 32GB (4 X 8GB) installed at once. Has it?
Please explain. I note there are more than 3 dozen Corsair RAM models listed on the QVL for that board, including several 4*8GB kits.

I agree with the suggestion to reset the BIOS however.

Unplugging power from the wall (or just flipping PSU's master power switch to off or "0" is fine), then pulling the motherboard battery will reset the BIOS. But there is no need to let it sit for 1/2 hour. None of the caps on the motherboard are designed to, or are in circuits that store voltages. Even if there were storage caps in there, the "low" DC voltages found on motherboards have such small potentials, the "decay rates" would quickly (within seconds) drop the voltages below any viable levels anyway.

It is important to remember CMOS circuits and CMOS memory devices by design are intended to dump all data within a couple clock cycles after losing power. And CMOS devices were intentionally chosen for that reason by motherboard and BIOS engineers/designers to make the BIOS easy and quick to reset. Had the engineers/designers wanted resetting the BIOS to be more difficult, or for those user changes to the BIOS firmware defaults to be more "robust", they could have easily (and less expensively!) done that by using different memory devices for that circuit - like EEPROMs instead of CMOS.

So unplugging and removing the battery for 15 seconds is plenty. Only the PSU has such caps that store voltages and they have bleeder circuitry designed to quickly bleed off their voltages to quickly eliminate any "high" voltage electric shock hazards. This is why simply shorting 2 pins by moving the BIOS reset jumper for a few seconds (or, if the motherboard is equipped, pressing the reset button for a few seconds) is plenty enough time to fully reset the BIOS.

Note your motherboard manual on page 1-9 says under section 1.1.6 Jumper, "1. Clear RTC RAM jumper (2-pin CLRTC)" (my bold underline added),

So more than those few seconds is just wasting your time. Just be sure to discharge any static in your body by touching bare metal of the case interior BEFORE reaching in for the battery. And once you replace the battery and reconnect (or flip on) power, be sure to boot directly into the BIOS Setup Menu to check/set the date and time, and ensure your boot order is correct (if not using the default C drive).

You know my suggestion to pull power for longer is based on the FACT that on a great many occasions the circuits dud not work as you suggest or as intended and that it did in FACT clear all the settings out of all the chips on the motherboard then a simple bios clear.
Not less than 7 times this year that and that alone has fixed motherboards returned to me as broken.

And in each case above your method of Normal bios reset was tried multiple times first as it's much much easier.

 

[dayday0550]

I figured as much, but everywhere I read they said they left it out for an extended period of time. Good to know it’s bs.
and yes... all 4 modules worked before. As stated in the OP, I have 32gigs and all was working before the cpu swap.

at this point I have exhausted all options and I am going to go purchase a new motherboard to rule that out. If it’s not the motherboard, then I am returning the CPU.

 

[Vya Domus]

I am pretty sure it's the RAM and not the motherboard.

 

[dayday0550]

I don’t see how it’s the ram, when the ram is compatible with both the cpu and the motherboard according to the QVL. On top of that, the ram was working before I put the CPU in. So that either leaves the cpu has a shit memory controller or the motherboard is having compatibility issues with the 3rd gen Ryzen cpu. Easiest way to find out is to get a motherboard already rated to work with 3rd gen out of the box, and if it works, it works. If I have the same issue, then it’s the cpu. Memory works with the Ryzen 7 1700 and each module works on its own. The issue is the two right closets do not work.

*each module works on its own with the Ryzen 3rd gen, but only in the left two slots

Put the 1700 back in and now I have the same issue with that cpu. Safe to say at this point that the motherboard is probably the issue here. On my way to replace it now - if a new board fixes it, then I guess those two dimm slots felt like dying at the exact moment I swapped CPUs

 

[Bill_Bright]

and yes... all 4 modules worked before. As stated in the OP, I have 32gigs and all was working before the cpu swap.

Thanks for clarifying. I understood all 4 sticks worked individually, but it was not clear (to me) if all 4 worked together.

You know my suggestion to pull power for longer is based on the FACT that on a great many occasions the circuits dud not work as you suggest or as intended and that it did in FACT clear all the settings out of all the chips on the motherboard then a simple bios clear.
Not less than 7 times this year that and that alone has fixed motherboards returned to me as broken.

And in each case above your method of Normal bios reset was tried multiple times first as it's much much easier.

I am not going to debate over anecdotal incidents. Any true student of electronics knows how CMOS devices and circuits work. It is NOT a fact it takes 30 minutes once the voltage (battery) is removed for decay to make the data unviable. If longer than a minute or two (and that's already a HUGE stretch), something else is at fault - as in some device has failed and/or is damaged and that alone would prompt a proper technician to troubleshoot further. Because again, if motherboard designers had wanted that data to be viable longer, they would have used a different (and less expensive) memory device and design than CMOS.

 

[Durvelle27]

If you ask me

I’d lean toward possible memory controller problem with the CPU

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Thanks for clarifying. I understood all 4 sticks worked individually, but it was not clear (to me) if all 4 worked together.

I am not going to debate over anecdotal incidents. Any true student of electronics knows how CMOS devices and circuits work. It is NOT a fact it takes 30 minutes once the voltage (battery) is removed for decay to make the data unviable. If longer than a minute or two (and that's already a HUGE stretch), something else is at fault - as in some device has failed and/or is damaged and that alone would prompt a proper technician to troubleshoot further. Because again, if motherboard designers had wanted that data to be viable longer, they would have used a different (and less expensive) memory device and design than CMOS.

We dissagree , and no , nothing else was damaged on those board's, they had a setting stuck, it is that simple, some were old some where new, one has done this twice and is still working fine as my main rig , my mate's has required this twice due to bad memory clocks.

What's your experience with ryzen like Bill?, could it be that intel and Amd systems work different
While I understand and appreciate the workings of CMOS device's as i said i tried a normal bios reset a few times first each time and no further issues can be found.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I don’t see how it’s the ram, when the ram is compatible with both the cpu and the motherboard according to the QVL. On top of that, the ram was working before I put the CPU in. So that either leaves the cpu has a shit memory controller or the motherboard is having compatibility issues with the 3rd gen Ryzen cpu. Easiest way to find out is to get a motherboard already rated to work with 3rd gen out of the box, and if it works, it works. If I have the same issue, then it’s the cpu. Memory works with the Ryzen 7 1700 and each module works on its own. The issue is the two right closets do not work.

*each module works on its own with the Ryzen 3rd gen, but only in the left two slots

Put the 1700 back in and now I have the same issue with that cpu. Safe to say at this point that the motherboard is probably the issue here. On my way to replace it now - if a new board fixes it, then I guess those two dimm slots felt like dying at the exact moment I swapped CPUs

Well, it is and isn't the RAM. Corsair seems to have poor compatibility with Ryzen in general and seemingly even worse so with Ryzen 3000, for some odd reason.
QVL's means nothing it would seem. I had Corsair LPX modules with my Ryzen 7 1700 and they never worked at their rated speed, despite being on AMD's QVL (although not the Asus board QVL).

It's worth keeping in mind that Ryzen 3000 has a very different memory controller compared to Ryzen 1000 and 2000, which seems to have solved a lot of problems, but added some new ones. There's also some people that seem to be having IMC related issues with their CPU, where it works fine for a while and then out of the blue, the system gets stuck on boot with a memory related error, which so far, there has been no word on from AMD's side as to why this might be happening.

I tried the LPX modules I had with my Ryzen 7 3800X and it worked, but again, nowhere near the rated speed of the modules. My current modules are not on any QVL, yet works way better than their rated spec and 4x 8GB amazingly also works and at a mere 1.37V.

The problem appears to be a wide range of things, that seems to have produced the perfect storm in your case, since it's kind of impossible to guess what is causing the issue in your case. I doubt it's the motherboard, but it could be the UEFI or it could be the IMC. I doubt anything else would be a cause of the problem, but it's really impossible to say. And educated guess would be the IMC though, since you say the DIMMs only work in a single slot on the board. Unless of course you by accident damaged the board when swapping the CPU.

I am not going to debate over anecdotal incidents. Any true student of electronics knows how CMOS devices and circuits work. It is NOT a fact it takes 30 minutes once the voltage (battery) is removed for decay to make the data unviable. If longer than a minute or two (and that's already a HUGE stretch), something else is at fault - as in some device has failed and/or is damaged and that alone would prompt a proper technician to troubleshoot further. Because again, if motherboard designers had wanted that data to be viable longer, they would have used a different (and less expensive) memory device and design than CMOS.

Bill, Bill, Bill....
You've clearly never come across this issue, but I have had it happen in the past as well, where systems have seemed dead for no apparent reason, you try doing CMOS resets, pull the battery for a minute, put it back in, system still dead (while having powered off the PSU). Pull the batter and PSU, leave it for 30 minutes to an hour and the "ghost in the machine" has stopped messing with it and the system boots just fine again. There's no technical explanation or logic that I can use to justify why it works, but it works. Don't be so quick to dismiss things or call it an anecdote, this really works in many cases. In fact, this has happened to systems I've been working on for as long ago as 20 years ago, if not longer.
Maybe one day you will come across it and hopefully you'll remember this when you do.