AB350 Pro4 - No POST - SOLVED

TL;DR: Original RAM kit was DOA. RMA RAM was good but couldn't get it to run at the rated 3200Hz. Settled for 3133Hz.

So I guess an update is in order. I contacted Newegg for a replacement RAM kit and they sent it FedEx Next Day. Sure enough, FedEx didn't fail to disappoint a second time around, delivering the RAM almost 48 hours after they received it, traveling less than 100 miles. I digress.

The new RAM kit arrived Friday and after I got home from work, I wasted little time popping in the 2 new sticks into the priority slots (A2 + B2) and removing the old stick (from A1). Cleared CMOS and booted up the system and was able to get it to post with factory settings. Great! I enabled the XMP profile for the RAM and BIOS automatically changed the voltage for DRAM to 1.35V like the RAM is rated for. Saved and restarted. Not only did it POST, but it booted into Windows 10 without a BSoD. Great!

Pulled up some monitoring software to watch for any issues and began running some benchmarks and running the system lightly, even went as far as running Ark: Survival Evolved. No issues. Still great! I have been playing Path of Exile with a friend lately so I needed to get on there anyways and do some daily quests. First thing I noticed is that my average FPS went from ~30 to ~60 from putting the new RAM in. That's ~100% improvement just by having dual channel and twice the RAM. So far everything has been working flawlessly.

Then it happened.

After about 5-10 minutes in combat, the game crashed. First time it ever happened, figured it was just a coincidence. Loaded it back up and continued playing for about another 5-10 minutes. BSoD.

I'm beginning to get worried. I check BIOS for all of the settings, reset them, and make sure I only touch the XMP profile and verify voltage.

Same scenario as above.

I decide that since the AB350 is only rated for 1.2V at the DIMM slots, maybe the voltage just isn't that reliable at anything over it so I nudge it up to 1.37V. Begin playing again and the game crashed again. I open up the Windows Event Viewer and locate the crash details:

DRAM Timing Configuration

Primary Timing

tCL: 15 -> 16

tRCDRD: 15 -> 18

tRCDWR: 15 -> 18

tRP: 15 -> 18

tRAS: 36 -> 36

Secondary Timing

Fail Count: 3

tRC: 51 -> 54

tRRD_S: 4 -> 6

tRRD_L: 6 -> 9

tFAW: 23 -> 36

tWTR_S: 3 -> Auto -> 4

tWTR_L: 8 -> Auto -> 12

tWR: 16 -> Auto -> 24

tMAW, MAC: 0 -> Auto

TrdrdScL: 3 -> Auto -> 5

TwrwrScL: 3 -> Auto -> 5

tRFC: 312 -> 559

tRFC2: 192 -> 415

tRFC4: 132 -> 255

tCWL: 11 -> Auto -> 16

tRTP: 8 -> Auto -> 12

Trdwr: 10 -> Auto -> 7

Twrrd: 0 -> Auto -> 4

TwrwrSc: 1 -> Auto

TwrwrSd: 5 -> Auto -> 6

TwrwrDd: 5 -> Auto -> 6

TrdrdSc: 1 -> Auto

TrdrdSd: 3 -> Auto -> 4

TrdrdDd: 3 -> Auto -> 4

tCKE: 6 -> Auto -> 8

ProcODT: Auto

Data Bus Configuration

RttNom: Auto

RttWr: Auto

RttPark:

CR: 1 -> Auto

Gear Down Mode: Auto

Power Down Enable: Disabled

CAD Bus Configuration

CAD Bus Timing User Controls: Auto

CAD Bus Drive Strength User Controls: Auto

Voltage Configuration

DRAM Voltage: 1.210 -> 1.350

Unfortunately, we couldn't really make any determination about the before and after values as there is little to no information about this RAM aside from JEDEC and XMP timings, speeds, and voltages. We both settled that the MoBo was doing it's job properly and likely made no mistakes here as we had no way to check. 

I ended up setting the BIOS back to factory, yet again, enabling the XMP profile, but changed the DRAM voltage to 1.380. It was worth a shot. Loaded up BaseMark GPU benchmark and ran a 4K OpenGL w/ High settings to stress the GPU (I had just downloaded it to do some other testing previously and was curious to see the difference between 3000Hz and 3200Hz). No issues during the benchmark and my score actually improved slightly from 737 (3000HZ) to 770 (3200). We both agreed that wasn't enough to give the RAM settings all clear and decided to run memtest86 overnight to make sure the RAM settings were good.

Almost 7 hours later, 3 tests had completed with absolutely 0 errors. Awesome! Maybe we found the key to this whole thing afterall. Started playing a couple of games slowly at first, not really enjoying the crashing from last time. After about 30 minutes I requested that we really push the systems and try to force a crash. Sure enough, about 10 minutes after that BSoD (didn't crash first like the other times). Lovely.

Verified speed and voltage in BIOS before booting up again and requested we try another game to possibly eliminate PoE as being the issue. We just downloaded Crossout from Steam Friday so we gave it a whirl. About 5 minutes in, BSoD again. Well, now what?

Decided we will just have to slowly throttle back the RAM speed to see what the MoBo can run safely without causing issues. Set RAM clock speed to 3133Hz @ 1.35V. Booted it back up. We queued up for a race together and made it through. Good news! We did a couple more and before we realized it, it was about 8 hours later with no crashes. Success!

The AB350 is only rated for 1.2V at the DIMM slots. Obviously, you can push the envelope on anything, but it appears this board just can't quite handle the RAM speeds at that voltage when the APU needs to use the RAM. I believe all hope isn't loss as I will set the RAM back to 3200 after I get a GPU in the future as this RAM is on the QVL and rated for 3200Hz @ 1.35V. I think it just wasn't tested for use with an APU at those settings.

Sorry for the long winded update/response, but overall this has been a rather frustrating experience for my first build. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, maybe choosing a different MoBo (preferably one with a buzzer or LEDs for POST codes). It's also not deterring me from continuing to upgrade this rig in the future or doing a new build from scratch either. DOA components are troublesome but hopefully you can diagnose them as bad sooner rather than later.

Xaltar wrote: I am not really sure what to personally recommend when it comes to RAM, I have had no issues with my 2 Corsair kits but they are both older and I had them before upgrading to Ryzen. Interestingly, both defective (new) kits I have seen on the forums (recently) have been Corsair so maybe they have a QC issue at the moment. I know quite a few people that swear by G.Skill for Ryzen, most particularly the Flare X Series that are apparently designed specifically for Ryzen: https://www.gskill.com/en/press/view/g-skill-announces-flare-x-series-and-fortis-series-ddr4-memory-for-amd-ryzen Not living anywhere where newegg delivers I have never had any experience with them but generally I haven't seen too many issues with them on the forums here and other Tech forums.

I figured I'd post an interim update. I contacted Corsair's Technical Support and explained the situation. They strongly urged me to run a memtest prior to requesting an RMA through Newegg but failed to address the fact that one of sticks fails post if it's installed in any slot by itself or with the other stick.

I contacted Newegg to begin the RMA process and by far this has been the best experience I've had with them in a while. They're allowing me to keep the current memory kit until the new one arrives which should be tomorrow or Friday at the latest as they are going to overnight it and it's likely to come from a warehouse 1 state away.

That being said, I'm going to run a memtest on the stick I'm currently using to ensure stability so I can continue to use it until the new kit arrives. As of now, the DRAM voltage has been set to 1.35V and after loading the XMP profile, I have the speed set to 2400 Hz as 3200 failed to POST and anything between resulted in an immediate BSoD on boot. As of now, it seems stable, but want to make sure before I put it through its paces the next day or 2.

xhue wrote: Most likely it's a DOA RAM or just a compatibility issue. I'm one of the guys who swears by G.Skill for Ryzens. As is half the Internet. :D Flare X is a beast, especially for an APU where mem bandwidth is critical. Since you mentioned the navy, do you have some spare ICBM in your garage maybe? Willing to trade it for a pair of Flare X. You know, I promised the daughter a big firework party and I hate to disappoint.

Funny you mention the Navy as I contracted for them and the Marines. That was many moon ago, and tons of hardware changes have been made since. Unfortunately, as much as I'm sure I could get a bunch for an ICBM, I'm sure I'd have too many other issues for being in possession of one.

I did take a look at the Flare X and while they look like they would be great, I was concerned about the Raven Ridge QVL for this board with that RAM. No G.Skill RAM could reach its specified speed on this board which is why I originally dismissed getting any. I'm sure with enough tweaking, I could reach the 3200 Hz they're rated for, but this is my first system and I tried to keep it as modest as possible. The Corsair shows a ton of promise and is significantly cheaper than the Flare X of the same ratings.

Ultimately I stuck with Corsair until I can determine there is compatibility issues with my current set up. The 2x8GB 3200 Hz kit was relatively cheap, especially compared to the Flare X, and clocked at the same speed it is rated for. I'm hoping I have no other issues down the road but will definitely post back once I receive my new memory kit.

Thanks a ton so far! Being able to POST and eventually get Windows 10 installed (in less than 10 minutes too) has been great considering the issues I've been having. Ryzen definitely is a bit more quirky than I originally expected, but I'll be so happy once this is done (for now ).

I am not really sure what to personally recommend when it comes to RAM, I have had no issues with my 2 Corsair kits but they are both older and I had them before upgrading to Ryzen. Interestingly, both defective (new) kits I have seen on the forums (recently) have been Corsair so maybe they have a QC issue at the moment. 

VolatilePulse wrote: As far as the RAM modules go, the only site I checked for compatibility is the product page on ASRock at https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AB350%20Pro4/#MemoryRR. It specifically states my memory module on there and was the final determining factor for making the specific purchase of this RAM even though it was a bit more than I originally budgeted for. I just checked the RAM packaging and the only thing I can tell that may make a difference is the part number is 48-009085 rev AC. Really not sure if it means anything specific to support from this motherboard, but I really hope that's not the case as overall it was a good deal and I really don't want to return anything until I know for sure. Money is tight, but I'd rather test a known good part before waiting on a return or RMA.

So, good news, kinda. One of the sticks in A1 worked. But only the one and only in A1. Is there anything I need to change in BIOS or is my RAM DOA?

Edit:XMP recognizes the RAM profile, but the motherboard is running it at 2133Hz. Attempting to set it to the specifications of the RAM causes power cycling. Resetting CMOS is the only fix.

Edited by VolatilePulse - 26 Sep 2018 at 2:45pm