Z77 Extreme4 - Bad Slots, Bad Ram or Bad Settings?

I have seen similar issues on Z77 systems before, in most cases it required
a new BIOS ROM (or a ROM flasher to flash externally) and then a full CMOS clear.
I suspect a bit of buggy code in the core UEFI from intel that (very) slowly corrupts
itself as it isn't restricted to any one manufacturer. In almost all cases a fresh
ROM (or fresh rewrite via flasher) fixed the issue combined with a CMOS clear
(battery out in some cases).

I had exactly the same issue today with my Z77 Extremer M. It was an ex home server that out in storage for about a year. Turn on today, only ram a2-b2 slots are recognised. But if I remove ram in a2-b2, the ram in a1-b1 will be recognised. System browser always show all four ram sticks are there, tho. Also, iGPU options are missing. Not sure if this is some kind of a time bomb or not.

Okay, so here's what I'm thinking, and I'm not the most impatient of persons though I'm already considering a couple of options here.

1) New mobo that supports my current hardware

2) With my current rig still functioning, even though it's registering less ram than I have installed, is to buy a new mem kit (2 sticks) at 16GB rather than the 4 sticks of 8GB I'm currently using.

3) Or buy a new mobo that would require me to purchase a new CPU (LGA 1150) and ram kit (16GB)

I'm considering just building off this Mobo...

http://amzn.com/B00K8KPXUO

using this CPU...

http://amzn.com/B00KPRWAX8


I'd rather resolve the issue and possibly help others who may experience this same or similar situation, however, I have a large budget to play with and dropping some $$ would resolve my problem very quickly.

Your thoughts?

Edited by FS_OK - 06 Mar 2016 at 6:09am

A1 and B1 slots populated only...it now shows 7.95GB (Installed Memory)

disabled Fast boot...no changes

set the DRAM Frequency to DDR3-1333


Will change the DRAM Voltage to 1.5V and try again


Here's a pic of the previous settings before changes...

Everything unknown is odd or weird until we figure it out.

System Browser shows the memory, but in the DRAM Configuration screen, it shows slots A1 and B1 empty, right?

When you inserted each DIMM individually, you saw at first 4GB, then 8GB, but nothing after that, correct?

I have two of these boards, and have used 16GB of memory in both, so I know it can work. The memory was different, Samsung memory.

Are you using an XMP profile to set the memory parameters, or do you set them manually?

What is your DRAM voltage at now? Probably 1.5V. What does it show in the UEFI, HW Monitor screen for DRAM voltage?

Did you ever try increasing your DRAM voltage? You can safely increase the DRAM voltage with DDR3 memory up to 1.65V. If you are at 1.5V, try 1.6V as a quick test if you are concerned about damage. If nothing changes then set it back to 1.5V.

You can also try increasing the VCCSA voltage, which is related to memory. An increase of 0.025 - 0.050V is not extreme.

Actually, sometimes an increase in DRAM and the VCCSA voltage is needed for getting memory to OC, which means it increases stability at any speed. So increasing both at the same time might help.

Another thing to try is set the memory speed lower as an experiment. Crank it down to 1333 or 1600 from the current 2133.

In the DRAM Configuration screen in the UEFI, find the MRC Fast Boot setting, and set it to Disabled. This will cause a slower POST/startup time, but will enable "memory training", which is a real but relatively unknown thing that happens with memory.

The only other test I can think of now is to just try the A1 and B1 slots populated, nothing in A2 and B2, and see what happens.

Just for fun, what was the video card you replaced?


Edited by parsec - 05 Mar 2016 at 1:37pm