Windows (10) and BIOS can see only half of the memory (16gb/32gb) only two slots are active at time

[yuniyhimik]

Dear all,
I hope someone can help me with my frustration here.
I've decided to upgrade my memory from 8gb (2x4) to 32gb (4x8).
I bought new complete Kingston HyperX Savage DDR3-1600 32gb kit (4x8gb) CL9.
My motherboard is Asus P8Z77-V LX2. Processor - Intel i7 2600k (not overclocked).
No issues during installation, system works fine and fast, but only detects 16Gb . Initially I was using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, tried different solutions, nothing worked, so I upgraded to Windows 10 just in case. The issue persists. It still only uses 2 out of 4 slots.
I am pretty sure that the memory is fine, as are slots.

I've tried 2 of my old memory sticks in blue slots and black slots - both work fine. I've tried pairs of my new memory in both channels (2 in blue, 2 in black, altogether) - each of this configuration works fine, system boots nicely and shows correct amount of memory (8gb for 2 old sticks, 16gb for 2 new sticks). But whenever I insert 4 sticks, only 2 would be detected and used. If I insert 4 new sticks - I get 16gb, if I insert 2 new and 2 old - I still get 16gb.
I have used CPU-Z, and it sees all 4 sticks and 32Gb of memory.

All 4 of the slots show exactly the same numbers and frequencies when I check them.
However, even in Bios only 16Gb are shown

At the same time, from within BIOS I can see all 4 slots, and each of them shows exactly the same information

Both channels are enabled
There is no "memory limit" in configuration.
I've seen suggestion that the pins on CPU might be bent or cooler too tight.
I've removed cooler, didn't see any bent pins, put it on loosely, still the same

I have also upgraded my BIOS to the latest available. Didn't fix anything.
I have reset the motherboard by moving blue cap to neighboring position and back. Still no luck.
Anyone has any other ideas? What the hell is happening? I would be supremely grateful for any help.

 

[Toothless]

Maybe your OS is capped? I know Windows Home is capped to 16 and Pro/Ult is 64GB.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Up the voltages for uncore and ram itself... something ain't right... do manual timing settings, loose them up.

 

[95Viper]

Make sure you have not over tightened your CPU cooler mounting.
While you are at it... reseat the CPU and check for damaged pins.

And, reset the CMOS, after installing the memory.

 

[mdbrotha03]

I had a similar problem with an Asus Mobo. I never got it fixed. I went through different DIMMs from different companies.
Sometimes it would show all of my ram; sometimes only 5/6 or 4/6. It was like a lottery with my boot ups.

Since I had 24 GB installed at the time it didn't both me.
Asus P6T Memory Issues.

 

[OneMoar]

32GB is asking a lot from the IMC
try raising the VCCIO voltage keep it under 1.200v absolute max
for starters try 1.125v
op has tried all the standard troubling shooting stuff so one of two things is going on here
1. that ram kit is simply not going to play nice with his board
2. the IMC is a little on the weak side and needs some finessing

 

[Ferrum Master]

OneMoar is right. Albeit I've heard many complaints about Savages actually, they refuse to work in many boards, I bet the timings are screwed really and very disperse, so the boot tests decide to cut them off. I really avoid Kingston as such from purchases.

The tested and qualified RAM table exists for a reason. Especially for a quad setup.

You should ask ASUS itself for a special cooked bios. (it essentially will do the voltage upping and timing loosing just on auto, if you are lucky they will add some more delay to IMC initialisation during post)

 

[Aquinus]

OP: Reset your BIOS, it's not even using JEDEC for memory settings which may indicate that you're forcing settings. It's almost like it's half way between the XMP and the JEDEC settings but at lower clocks.

My suggestion it resetting the BIOS to stock and just booting up to see if it switches to 1600Mhz @ 11-11-11-28 instead of 1333Mhz @ 9-9-9-27. If not, I would try to force the JEDEC clocks. What I find interesting is that CPU-Z sees 32GB where the BIOS doesn't. It's entirely possible that the second pair of DIMMs is having issue. This feels a lot like a poor contact. I would reset the BIOS to see what happens, then re-seat the CPU while going out of your way to make sure you don't over-tighten the cooler. You should also test both pairs in the DIMM slots that work.

 

[yuniyhimik]

32GB is asking a lot from the IMC
try raising the VCCIO voltage keep it under 1.200v absolute max
for starters try 1.125v
op has tried all the standard troubling shooting stuff so one of two things is going on here
1. that ram kit is simply not going to play nice with his board
2. the IMC is a little on the weak side and needs some finessing

Thank you for new ideas, guys. Regarding upping the voltage - whenever I change voltage - the screen remains completely black after restart. In fact, whenever I exit my bios settings with "Save changes and exit" - it doesn't work, even if I didn't do any changes. I need to press "discard changes and exit" every time. And I have updated bios to latest available, but the problem persists.
Is there any way to change these voltages not from within EFI bios?

OneMoar is right. Albeit I've heard many complaints about Savages actually, they refuse to work in many boards, I bet the timings are screwed really and very disperse, so the boot tests decide to cut them off. I really avoid Kingston as such from purchases.

The tested and qualified RAM table exists for a reason. Especially for a quad setup.

You should ask ASUS itself for a special cooked bios. (it essentially will do the voltage upping and timing loosing just on auto, if you are lucky they will add some more delay to IMC initialisation during post)

How would I do that and ask for cooked bios? I've raised technical problem report with them describing issue in details (a massive pain) but didn't hear back.

OP: Reset your BIOS, it's not even using JEDEC for memory settings which may indicate that you're forcing settings. It's almost like it's half way between the XMP and the JEDEC settings but at lower clocks.

My suggestion it resetting the BIOS to stock and just booting up to see if it switches to 1600Mhz @ 11-11-11-28 instead of 1333Mhz @ 9-9-9-27. If not, I would try to force the JEDEC clocks. What I find interesting is that CPU-Z sees 32GB where the BIOS doesn't. It's entirely possible that the second pair of DIMMs is having issue. This feels a lot like a poor contact. I would reset the BIOS to see what happens, then re-seat the CPU while going out of your way to make sure you don't over-tighten the cooler. You should also test both pairs in the DIMM slots that work.

Resetting bios is with the blue cap switch, right? I've done that. Or do you mean battery removal? Regarding 1333Mhz - that's the maximum speed of memory that my processor (i7 2600k) supports, so that's probably the reason for it in autoselect. I've tried 1600 setting, but it didn't work (maybe because my bios refuses to save any settings)
Regarding slots - the thing is - ALL of them work. I've tried 2 rams in blue slots, 2 ram in black slots - each time I get full working 16Gb. Its only with all 4 together that the issue appears...
I am not very familiar with advanced manual manipulations, by forcing JEDEC clocks, do you mean changing these numbers (9 to 11) in BIOS for each memory slot?

 

[Aquinus]

Resetting bios is with the blue cap switch, right? I've done that. Or do you mean battery removal? Regarding 1333Mhz - that's the maximum speed of memory that my processor (i7 2600k) supports, so that's probably the reason for it in autoselect. I've tried 1600 setting, but it didn't work (maybe because my bios refuses to save any settings)
Regarding slots - the thing is - ALL of them work. I've tried 2 rams in blue slots, 2 ram in black slots - each time I get full working 16Gb. Its only with all 4 together that the issue appears...
I am not very familiar with advanced manual manipulations, by forcing JEDEC clocks, do you mean changing these numbers (9 to 11) in BIOS for each memory slot?

In the BIOS itself, just select "Load optimized defaults" or something along those lines and restart. If the 32GB doesn't show up, it's probably a contact issue like I said before. If memory was truly unstable, it wouldn't be booting with only half of it visible (only servers will disable DIMMs and channels to keep the machine up,) so I suggest resetting the BIOS, if no change, reseat the CPU, if still no change, try a DIMM in every slot (one DIMM,) to find out if there is a particular slot that isn't working right.

Also, you can reply to everyone in one post. It's against the forum guidelines to post many times in a row. I suggest using the "edit" button in the future to add on to a post if no one has replied yet.

 

[newtekie1]

If memory was truly unstable, it wouldn't be booting with only half of it visible (only servers will disable DIMMs and channels to keep the machine up,)

That isn't entirely true, if the IMC doesn't pass POST it will limit the RAM and still boot the machine. I've seen it plenty of times going all the way back to P55 on the desktop side.

It very well may be that the IMC just can't handle 4x8GB. Resetting the BIOS is the first thing I'd do, I'd also drop the RAM speed down to 1066. A lot of the Sandy-Bridge processors did not handle 32GB very well at high speeds. If it starts showing all the RAM as usable at 1066 then you know it is the IMC not handling 4x8GB correctly at the higher speed. Running at 1066 may just be the only option to use all 32GB.

 

[sttubs]

Could it be a sensor issue on the motherboard? If CPU-Z is identifying 32gb of ram wouldn't the system have access to the full 32gb?

 

[Caffeine_Overload]

In the past I have had a lot of issues with this particular motherboard and memory configurations...

Ideal situation seems to be either 2x8 or 4x4.

In addition, the board(s) seemed to prefer Corsair Vengeance or Generic RAM.

There are many sites / posts over the ol' interwebs, regarding the OP's issues. I know this is not exactly helpful, but perhaps will point you in the right direction...

 

[Pill Monster]

I'm not sure if the OP is having a bit of fun or is serious, but the Part Number in his screenshots is fake.
Kingston don't make 32GB kits with an 8GX suffix, only 8GB or 16GB, and it's preceded by a "K" for kit.

Also have a very close look at the module serial number.....

 

[yuniyhimik]

I'm not sure if the OP is having a bit of fun or is serious, but the Part Number in his screenshots is fake.
Kingston don't make 32GB kits with an 8GX suffix, only 8GB or 16GB, and it's preceded by a "K" for kit.

Also have a very close look at the module serial number.....

I don't quite see what would be the point for me to "have fun" on the part number)
I don't know where CPU-z gets those numbers from. Here is the shot of the dimm itself and kit box. Don't know if this is helpful for anyone?

That isn't entirely true, if the IMC doesn't pass POST it will limit the RAM and still boot the machine. I've seen it plenty of times going all the way back to P55 on the desktop side.

It very well may be that the IMC just can't handle 4x8GB. Resetting the BIOS is the first thing I'd do, I'd also drop the RAM speed down to 1066. A lot of the Sandy-Bridge processors did not handle 32GB very well at high speeds. If it starts showing all the RAM as usable at 1066 then you know it is the IMC not handling 4x8GB correctly at the higher speed. Running at 1066 may just be the only option to use all 32GB.

Regarding the speed- I tried dropping it to 1066 - that didn't change anything. Also I've noticed that memory was working at 1.5V, so I changed it to 1.6V just in case - that didn't help either.

I've reset bios many times, but it never sees 32Gb - at the very first loading screen it tells me that 16Gb of memory is present...

Really frustrated with this.

 

[Pill Monster]

^The RAM in your above photo is not the RAM shown in the bios and CPU-Z screenshots.

 

[yuniyhimik]

^The RAM in your above photo is not the RAM shown in the bios and CPU-Z screenshots.

Then I really have no idea whats happening... Perhaps this is the cause of the problems? Because it IS the RAM installed for all of the screenshots. All 4 modules are identical.

Could someone explain this?

 

[Pill Monster]

Are the serial numbers the same? Btw in case you didn't realize, the serial number in the first pics reads DOA.

Where did u buy it - Amazon?

U could try using the jedec timings which are 11-11-11. Prob won't help tho.

 

[Pill Monster]

Hey just a thought, can you put the old ram back in with the new, but make sure each channel has 1 8GB stick and 1 4GB stick.
This is how dual channel works properly, otherwise ram can disappear if not remapped.

Doesn't help with all new 8GB sticks but u may at least get 24GB......

 

[yuniyhimik]

Are the serial numbers the same? Btw in case you didn't realize, the serial number in the first pics reads DOA.

Where did u buy it - Amazon?

U could try using the jedec timings which are 11-11-11. Prob won't help tho.

Ok, so here are serial numbers for all 4. They are in order from **89 to **91, so they are proper parts of the kit.

I am in Switzerland, bought it through reputable online shop here. Unfortunately, they don't have returns unless the part sent was wrong, so I can't really check whether another kit would work.

Another issue that I've noticed lately: I often get "windows is running out of memory and needs to close programs", while I have 16Gb active and at the time of the popup at most 10Gb is being used. So it is most certainly NOT out of memory.
And one more - I am having some weird glitches from time to time. When watching a movie, it would freeze for a second, as if PC stopped working, but then continue on without problems.
Previously when I used the G-skill ripjaw 2x4Gb memory, when memory used got to 6Gb (not 8) I would get crash and restart would be the only option.

If anyone knows what can be causing this - please tell me)

Regarding the old+new memory - I've done it previously and only new memory was identified (probably because its bigger). I will try now to put them in different order and combinations.

 

[5DVX0130]

It's most likely your board. A friend had the same problem with an Asus P8Z77-M.
We spent days figuring it out and after nothing worked gave up. So we concluded it had to be the board, since the ram worked fine in a 16GB configuration.
He sent it in for service, got a DOA board back, sent it back again, and finally (after 52 days) got a working board. It was a newer revision, but no idea what they improved.
The important thing is that it worked with the 32GB of ram.

 

[Pill Monster]

Another issue that I've noticed lately: I often get "windows is running out of memory and needs to close programs", while I have 16Gb active and at the time of the popup at most 10Gb is being used. So it is most certainly NOT out of memory.
And one more - I am having some weird glitches from time to time. When watching a movie, it would freeze for a second, as if PC stopped working, but then continue on without problems.
Previously when I used the G-skill ripjaw 2x4Gb memory, when memory used got to 6Gb (not 8) I would get crash and restart would be the only option.

In that case I wonder if the board is on the way out, or possibly the memory controller. About the RMA process it doesn't matter because Kingston have lifetime factory warranty.

You can always pop it in the microwave for 30secs then get them to test it. lol.

 

[yuniyhimik]

Hey just a thought, can you put the old ram back in with the new, but make sure each channel has 1 8GB stick and 1 4GB stick.
This is how dual channel works properly, otherwise ram can disappear if not remapped.

Doesn't help with all new 8GB sticks but u may at least get 24GB......

Ok, so I did this and surprise - I got 12Gb... So it looks like only 2 slots are active at a time...
I've checked and its slot 1 and 3, which is the same result I got previously with all 4 of the new memory modules.
Only channel 1 appears to be working. But channel 2 works as well, because when I put 2 memories just in channel 2 slots - they worked. So they just don't work in tandem...

 

[yuniyhimik]

It's most likely your board. A friend had the same problem with an Asus P8Z77-M.
We spent days figuring it out and after nothing worked gave up. So we concluded it had to be the board, since the ram worked fine in a 16GB configuration.
He sent it in for service, got a DOA board back, sent it back again, and finally (after 52 days) got a working board. It was a newer revision, but no idea what they improved.
The important thing is that it worked with the 32GB of ram.

Oh damn it... That's what I was afraid of. Since my board is several years old, I will just have to buy a new one. And that means a new CPU as well, and probably new cooler... Oh damn it)
I have never sent anything for service, because the process is such a pain, that you spend so much time, effort and money - its probably not worth it.

I wish I could test this theory before spending tons of money again, but I don't have anyone with a PC nearby...(

 

[Pill Monster]

Ok, so I did this and surprise - I got 12Gb... So it looks like only 2 slots are active at a time...
I've checked and its slot 1 and 3, which is the same result I got previously with all 4 of the new memory modules.

Yeah well that pretty much means a new board unfortunately... If it was me I'd grab a 2nd hand Z77 off ebay.