New build of B450M Pro4 won't boot with 2x ram

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   I am setting up a new build with parts that just arrived. 

I have the following: 

B405M Pro4 (BIOS 4.90)
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600 
PCIe Quadro 620K

When a single stick of RAM is installed in slot A1 or A2 the system boots to BIOS with no problems.  When I attempt to install both sticks in slots A2/B2 (or even A1/B1) the system produces 3 beeps, then the fan/stops starts and repeats this process every 28 seconds.

I've reviewed this and other forums and made sure the CPU was properly seated with no bent pins, the memory was properly seated, updated the BIOS, and reset the CMOS just to be sure. I've built more systems than I can remember and I've never encountered a problem like this before.

Nothing seems to work and it's entirely unclear if this is a mobo, CPU, or memory problem.  I don't have any other compatible parts to try different combos of parts to try to narrow down what might be wrong.  These are all brand new parts for a new build.

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cptndave Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2021 Location: Redmond, WA USA Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote cptndave Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: New build of B450M Pro4 won't boot with 2x ram Posted: 11 Jan 2021 at 2:37pm
	I am setting up a new build with parts that just arrived. I have the following: B405M Pro4 (BIOS 4.90) G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600 PCIe Quadro 620K When a single stick of RAM is installed in slot A1 or A2 the system boots to BIOS with no problems. When I attempt to install both sticks in slots A2/B2 (or even A1/B1) the system produces 3 beeps, then the fan/stops starts and repeats this process every 28 seconds. I've reviewed this and other forums and made sure the CPU was properly seated with no bent pins, the memory was properly seated, updated the BIOS, and reset the CMOS just to be sure. I've built more systems than I can remember and I've never encountered a problem like this before. Nothing seems to work and it's entirely unclear if this is a mobo, CPU, or memory problem. I don't have any other compatible parts to try different combos of parts to try to narrow down what might be wrong. These are all brand new parts for a new build.

muziqaz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 04 Jan 2021 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 590	Post Options Post Reply Quote muziqaz Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11 Jan 2021 at 6:56pm
	Have you tried both sticks separately? Try one stick in, if it boots, try second one on its own, to make sure one if them is not dead. If both are alive, boot into BIOS just with one of them installed. Reset BIOS to factory default. Then Set VRAM to whatever memory manufacturer recommends for your sticks, which should be 1.35v. You can even set it to 1.36v. Switch off the PC, remove power cable, install the second stick (preferably both sticks in A2/B2 slots). Try starting the PC then. Hopefully it will boot up, and you can adjust memory clocks further. If it fails to boot, then it's possible that motherboard is faulty
	folding@home

cptndave Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2021 Location: Redmond, WA USA Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote cptndave Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 1:59am
	I've tried all of this steps. System will boot with either single stick. I can load XMP profile and reboot and the settings stick. With XMP loaded I cannot change the voltage to 1.36. With both sticks in A2/B2 it will never boot. I just tried both sticks in A1/A2 and it boots, but of course they are not in dual channel mode in this config. Something is faulty. Do I RMA everything to get a working system?

muziqaz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 04 Jan 2021 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 590	Post Options Post Reply Quote muziqaz Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 2:22am
	And you went through all the RAM slots with single stick, to rule out the slot damage? If yes, RMA might be you only option :(
	folding@home

cptndave Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2021 Location: Redmond, WA USA Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote cptndave Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 4:33am
	System boots with a single stick in A1 or A2, but three beeps and no booting with a single stick in B1 or B2. Is it even supposed to boot with memory only in a B1 or B2 slot?

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 26903	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 5:13am
	That is a real pain, there is no way to know if the issue is the CPU or the board. Either could be responsible. If you do RMA, RMA both CPU and board to be sure. It could be a bad IMC (integrated memory controller) in the CPU or a defect on the slots/circuitry. I would lean more toward bad IMC as this is sadly pretty common on the CPU but if you have the option, RMA both.


cptndave Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2021 Location: Redmond, WA USA Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote cptndave Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 5:21am
	The CPU was from Amazon and the mobo from Newegg. Amazon replacement will be a lot faster. Is it worth trying the CPU first and then the mobo if that doesn't fix it? Is there any way a defect on the mobo could "break" the CPU?

cptndave Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 11 Jan 2021 Location: Redmond, WA USA Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote cptndave Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 12:32pm
	Oddly, a co-working who recently upgraded his system had a spare Ryzen 5 3600 sitting on his shelf. I popped it in - and everything started working. Loaded XMP profile, rebooted and the system is running with 16GB at full speed. Looks like it was a bad CPU after all!

muziqaz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 04 Jan 2021 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 590	Post Options Post Reply Quote muziqaz Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 3:11pm
	What CPU you had?
	folding@home

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 26903	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 4:11pm
	That is great news, at least you can return the CPU with confidence. It is all too common these days to get a DOA or partially working CPU out of the box. As dies shrink more and more the propensity for failure gets higher. Any time I see RAM not detecting in one of the channels the CPU is usually the first place I check. Knowing how motherboard manufacturers test their boards (not just ASRock), it is unlikely to be a board defect, not without some kind of physical damage to the board caused by shipping etc. There are some interesting videos on youtube about board manufacture for anyone interested. The techniques are mostly identical across all brands.