z890 Steel Legend RAM issue

Hello everyone,

Got at z890 Steel Legend that used to work well with a compatible set of QVL-approved RAM for almost a whole year without problems. Now it can't work without running at JEDEC 4800, everything else would cause freezes and random BSOD at all time.

Thanks for your help.

Edited by Xaltar - 26 Jun 2026 at 12:27pm

Xaltar wrote: Have you made any changes to the system that could have caused the issue? BIOS updates, upgrades, added more RAM etc? Do you remember when the issue started?

Zero changes before the first problem appeared actually. No hardware and no software.
My system just started freezing after coming back from sleep with an orange DRAM LED, every single time. Then I ended up putting the BIOS defaults, reflashing the same 3.24 BIOS, and finally using BIOS flashback.
Flashback solved the sleep issues, but since the BIOS defaults, it's non stop BSOD and freezes everywhere in XMP or 200S Boost with or without XMP, even with BIOS flashback + multiple reboots between those changes to make sure they are isolated. It has been a whole month now.

Xaltar wrote: Have you tried removing and reseating the RAM? Also, if you are using 2 modules make sure the RAM is installed in slots A2 and B2 or if a single stick thein in slot A2. The A1 and B1 slots exist to support 4 modules and don't work well if used with only 1 or 2 modules installed in the system.

Thanks for the suggestion, yes I did only boot with one stick and this works with XMP, then adding a second after a reboot also works. Then after a few reboots BSOD right away.
It seems training is messed up, the values trained for one sticks works for two sticks, but then when somehow it trains again with 2 sticks, it causes problems.

I also tried to freeze all the values that the BIOS trained to, but it seems some values are in the NVRAM only and change across reboots and trainings and fully destroys my system (I am even afraid those freezes killed my CPU, as the 200S boost freezes are very recent). BIOS training seems broken, not sure if only in the last update or previous ones too.

For A2/B2, yes, this has always been respected, thank you for the reminder!

Xaltar wrote: Ouch, it sounds like degradation but you should update to the latest BIOS for your board and run OCCT to confirm. If the system crashes when boosting the P-Cores all the way then you may have a CPU issue. It may also be worth running a RAM test to check for stability/issues. RAM can also degrade over time though it is far less common. Another thing to try would be to test both RAM sticks in slots A1 and A2 and see if the problem with training persists. If not, repeat with B1 and B2. The CPU contains 2 memory channels, channel A and channel B separated into banks 1 and 2. When running in dual channel (A2 B2 or A1 B1) both channels are in use. By testing both RAM modules on a single channel it can help identify if that channel is degraded/weak. If you can confirm that only one channel is bad then you can use that info to open an RMA request for the CPU with intel. At that point it proves that the CPU is 100% the culprit.

Thanks for the test plan.

RAM sticks are all good individually.
Going both sticks on each channel works perfectly too (A1+A2 or B1+B2), it's actually going dual channel that breaks.

This seems to match one review for this exact board here:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/product-reviews/B0DJHLSY68/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_top?_encoding=UTF8&ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

"Getting ready to have to return this. Only b1 and b2 lanes were working. Would not run dual channel. Thought it was the ram itself or the cpu. After thorough testing, this was found to not be the case. Cpu passed diagnostic tests on the mobo and ran fine on another z890 msi board. I did return the ram I originally bought even after each stick pass memory diagnostic and the both pair of ram were specifically named on the QVL for mobo. Did everything under the sun in the bios too. Flashed the new beta bios and the one before, neither fixed the problem. Cmos was reset as well. Bummed out because I liked this look of this board and this was for my daughters build. I swear I went through this with a 13th gen on an asrock board before.
Update: Went for replacement, just had an email stating there is a delay in inventory and i had to approve for shipping delay that appears indefinitely. Another unfortunate event now that i will have a PC with no MOBO. This was me trying to give the board a chance because of specs and looks. Please ASrock do better QA tests on your boards!"


I also did everything possible on the BIOS, but something seems to have broken somehow on that board.