[Solved] Can't get Asrock B450M Pro4 to post with all memory slots populated

[HalfAHertz]

Hi,

I can't seem to get the system to post at all using the stock settings. I'm using four sticks of 8gb, which are all the same brand and model (tho on closer inspection, the new pair has slightly different cooling case). The only way I managed to make the system boot is by reducing the ram speed to 2133 and bumping the cpu NB voltage by +150mV. The board voltage settings seem to be really limited. Any higher values are highlighted in red, so I'm not sure if it's a good idea to set those. I'd love it if I could just get it to run at stock settings without using any crazy voltages.

I tried updating the MB to the latest supported BIOS (seems that for 2400G that's 3.50) with no difference.

This is what HWinfo is telling me:

I tried dinking around with the dram calculator for ryzen and after randomly inputting some of the values, it recommends I bump the ram voltage to 1.35 (it is supposed to be running 2666 at 1.2v stock). Is that a good idea?

Thanks for any and all assistance!

Edit:
Here's what's available in the bios:

 

[Vya Domus]

I had the same issue, to be perfectly honest I don't know what did the trick, only thing I remember is that I had to use slots 2 and 4.

 

[HalfAHertz]

I had the same issue, to be perfectly honest I don't know what did the trick, only thing I remember is that I had to use slots 2 and 4.

Hah, had the exact same problem when I originally set up the pc ~1.5 years ago with just two sticks - couldn't get it to boot reliably and be stable until I found some random reddit post that said to use slots A2 and B2 (also the mobo manual was absolutely horrendous). The problem now is that I'm trying to use all 4 slots, which is starting to look like a bad idea on this mobo...

I've used Asrock for a long time but I think I'll try something else for the next build

 

[TheLostSwede]

You need to install Thaiphoon Burner first and read the memory information, as the DRAM calculator is giving you wonky info right now without doing that.

 

[Apocalypsee]

1.35V for DDR4 is safe you can try that first.

 

[AsRock]

1.35V for DDR4 is safe you can try that first.

And if that fails maybe a little extra.

 

[HalfAHertz]

@TheLostSwede this is what Thaiphoon Burner is showing me for all slots:

The only thing that changes between them is the serial number and the manufacturing date, which seems logical. I see something about "8Gb A-Die (20nm) in there but not sure what's the equivalent in the dram calculator. If I set it to "Micron A-die", it now recommends 1.2V.

 

[BoboOOZ]

Your memory channels are not functioning properly, the most common issue is that CPU is improperly seated in the socket, so some pins do not make good contact in the socket.
If not, it might come from the MB or the processor, but it will be tough to find out.

Just try to boot with only one stick of RAM on each of the banks to see if it is indeed an issue with the channel and not the type of ram/ quantity of RAM.

Just as an example, I have permanently lost memory channels on my 3600x due to improper application of liquid metal. But it might be just unequal mounting pressure on your cooler.

And of course, leave all settings at default, until you manage to understand what's happening with the memory channels.

 

[theonek]

or just mobo with all slots populated can't run on higher frequency than default 2133. i have seen ryzens to do so with some of memory kits due to some kind of incompatibility. On the other side intel has no such issues....

 

[TheLostSwede]

@TheLostSwede this is what Thaiphoon Burner is showing me for all slots:

View attachment 162833

The only thing that changes between them is the serial number and the manufacturing date, which seems logical. I see something about "8Gb A-Die (20nm) in there but not sure what's the equivalent in the dram calculator. If I set it to "Micron A-die", it now recommends 1.2V.

You need to export the data as an HTML file and import it into the DRAM Calculator.
Hit Report, scroll down and click on Show delays in nanoseconds.
Then File, Export to, Complete HMTL report.
Import that file into the DRAM calculator and you'll get numbers you can use.

 

[HalfAHertz]

You need to export the data as an HTML file and import it into the DRAM Calculator.
Hit Report, scroll down and click on Show delays in nanoseconds.
Then File, Export to, Complete HMTL report.
Import that file into the DRAM calculator and you'll get numbers you can use.

I attached the complete html report as a zip.
Here's what I get now in the Dram calculator:

Should I be using the "Micron A-die" option?

@theonek you're probably right, this could very well be the limit of the current setup. I was just hoping I could tweak the settings a bit and bring it back to the rated stock speed. The only reason I got this mobo + case combo was because I wanted to be able to fit 4 dimms in the long run. Otherwise my original plan was to go with an mitx board and a small case...

Edit:
found some info on the ram sticks here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/overclocking/comments/cfp99g

It's not micron A-die but should be good enough to do 2666 at 1.2v just fine. One of the posters recommends using the "Micron E/H-die" preset.

 

[Assimilator]

2400G is Raven Ridge which is 1st-gen Zen which has a known weak memory controller, so it's no surprise you are having issues running 4 sticks.

My first question is, you are having problems with RAM... yet you didn't touch the RAM voltage at all. Why not?

Put NB voltage back to default, set RAM voltage to 1.35v, try to boot.

If that doesn't work, you can push NB voltage up but you shouldn't need any more than about +100mv (default is 1.0v, max is 1.2v, you have it at +150mv which is already rather high). You can also try pushing the RAM voltage up but anything over 1.45v is a bad idea.

 

[HalfAHertz]

2400G is Raven Ridge which is 1st-gen Zen which has a known weak memory controller, so it's no surprise you are having issues running 4 sticks.

My first question is, you are having problems with RAM... yet you didn't touch the RAM voltage at all. Why not?

Put NB voltage back to default, set RAM voltage to 1.35v, try to boot.

If that doesn't work, you can push NB voltage up but you shouldn't need any more than about +100mv (default is 1.0v, max is 1.2v, you have it at +150mv which is already rather high). You can also try pushing the RAM voltage up but anything over 1.45v is a bad idea.

I didn't touch it, because I have no experience with this
I just tried with 1.35V ddr voltage and +50mV NB voltage and everything else left on auto, and couldn't get it to post. It just gets stuck in a boot loop (memory training? ) and I powered it off after 3-4 minutes.

I'll try re-seating the CPU over the weekend and see if that helps in any way.

 

[BoboOOZ]

I didn't touch it, because I have no experience with this
I just tried with 1.35V ddr voltage and +50mV NB voltage and everything else left on auto, and couldn't get it to post. It just gets stuck in a boot loop (memory training? ) and I powered it off after 3-4 minutes.

I'll try re-seating the CPU over the weekend and see if that helps in any way.

I repeat this is very important :
Just try to boot with only one stick of RAM on each of the banks to see if it is indeed an issue with the channel and not the type of ram/ quantity of RAM.
With default settings in BIOS.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I repeat this is very important :
Just try to boot with only one stick of RAM on each of the banks to see if it is indeed an issue with the channel and not the type of ram/ quantity of RAM.
With default settings in BIOS.

That doesn't work on a lot of current systems, the memory has to be loaded the right way, or the system won't boot at all.

 

[BoboOOZ]

That doesn't work on a lot of current systems, the memory has to be loaded the right way, or the system won't boot at all.

I would be shocked if that were the case. You should just get a "not optimal warning", but it should boot.

I have a current system, I boot from bank 2 and 3, it works fine, it's just not the best way to go about it.

Having just one ram stick is the most basic case for the system, it should work on any channel.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I would be shocked if that were the case. You should just get a "not optimal warning", but it should boot.

I have a current system, I boot from bank 2 and 3, it works fine, it's just not the best way to go about it.

Why would you even want to run in dual single channel mode? That makes no sense at all...

 

[BoboOOZ]

Why would you even want to run in dual single channel mode? That makes no sense at all...

Because I ruined 2 memory channels on my CPU., so it is the only way I can use my 16GB of RAM.

But why would you is another story, here we're trying to find the root of the problem. The first thing to investigate is if al memory channels are usable.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Because I ruined 2 memory channels on my CPU., so it is the only way I can use my 16GB of RAM.

But why would you is another story, here we're trying to find the root of the problem. The first thing to investigate is if al memory channels are usable.

And with that track record, you're giving advice to others?

 

[Assimilator]

I just tried with 1.35V ddr voltage

Why did you not mention that to start with? Why does your BIOS screenshot not show that?

I don't mean to be rude, but if you're asking for help, at least tell us everything you've done so far, so that we don't waste our time suggesting things that you've already tried.

---

As for your BIOS screenshot, I've just noticed that your BIOS seems to have discrete settings for SOC voltage ("SOC Voltage VID" at top of screenshot) and NB voltage ("Vcore NB Voltage Offset" at bottom). I don't know why because AFAIK these are the same on Ryzen, so I'm not sure if you're changing the correct thing, or if they are the same setting, or whatever - perhaps others more familiar with this board, or MSI Ryzen boards in general, can assist.

Either way I'd still suggest dropping the NB voltage back to default and pushing the RAM voltage up to 1.4v or 1.45v as a first step. If that still doesn't work then you can experiment with upping the SOC voltage but I'd be very careful there.

You should also check the memory QVL for the board, if your memory isn't on there you are probably out of luck. Unfortunately some sticks are just not compatible with Ryzen, particularly 1st-gen Ryzen, the fact you mentioned you already had trouble getting this system stable with only 2 sticks makes me suspect this may be an issue.

Honestly your best bet might be to try find a pair of 16GB sticks instead. This is a budget board with limited voltage options, combined with a CPU with a known weak IMC, combined with crappy memory (Nanya is very low quality even this is supposedly Hyper-X) - you may never be able to get it to run all 4 sticks of your current memory.

Ignore Thaiphoon Burner or DRAM Calculator unless you absolutely cannot get the memory to work by upping voltages.

Finally, why are you still on Windows 1903 when 2004 has been out for a while?

 

[Caring1]

or just mobo with all slots populated can't run on higher frequency than default 2133. i have seen ryzens to do so with some of memory kits due to some kind of incompatibility. On the other side intel has no such issues....

2400G APU is limited as to the Ram speeds it can support.
Problem solved, you're welcome.

Raven Ridge Memory Support	Speed
2 DIMMs - Single Rank	up to DDR4-2933
4 DIMMs - Single Rank	up to DDR4-2133
2 DIMMs - Dual Rank	up to DDR4-2667
4 DIMMs - Dual Rank	up to DDR4-1866

 

[BoboOOZ]

And with that track record, you're giving advice to others?

Yes, because I have a brain and I learned a lot from those 3 days of debugging. And after that, I went and seen some videos in order to understand the issue.

The memory channels disappearing is a problem Linus gets often when he plays with processors, it's pretty well known.

 

[Assimilator]

The memory channels disappearing is a problem Linus gets often when he plays with processors, it's pretty well known.

wat

 

[TheLostSwede]

Yes, because I have a brain and I learned a lot from those 3 days of debugging. And after that, I went and seen some videos in order to understand the issue.

The memory channels disappearing is a problem Linus gets often when he plays with processors, it's pretty well known.

Ah, so by watching some videos on the internet, you're now an expert, ok, good to know...
I hope you can help the OP work out his problems then. GL HF.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hah, had the exact same problem when I originally set up the pc ~1.5 years ago with just two sticks - couldn't get it to boot reliably and be stable until I found some random reddit post that said to use slots A2 and B2 (also the mobo manual was absolutely horrendous). The problem now is that I'm trying to use all 4 slots, which is starting to look like a bad idea on this mobo...

I've used Asrock for a long time but I think I'll try something else for the next build

Hi,
Are you using a 4 stick kit or just added 2 more sticks ?
Just adding two more sticks is usually problematic.