Gaming Rig that I am purchasing on Cyber Monday

[twizzops]

Sorry to hear of the problems you have had.

I have to say though ive never had any of those kind of problems, any computers I have built have been plug in and turn on, and worked fine!

It is if I just use 1 4GB DIMM. If I use anymore than that, it's no longer plug-n-play. That's when I have to start manually setting the BOIS or I never get past the POST.


It's extremely frusterating. Asus is telling me I need to set the timing lower if I want more than 8GB. I might return 8GB as I don't want to lose speed to get 8 additional RAM that I wont be using often if ever.

 

[mjtizzle21]

are your mobo drivers up to date? I had the same problem when trying to get 16gb until i flashed mobo with the most up to date firmware.

 

[twizzops]

are your mobo drivers up to date? I had the same problem when trying to get 16gb until i flashed mobo with the most up to date firmware.

Yep that was the first thing that I did. I was on the phone with Asus's Tech support for awhile and they basically said there was something wrong with the motherboard's RAM controller.

He came to that conclusion when 1 stick of RAM would only POST in slots Red 1 and Black 1. If I put the stick in slot Red 2 or Black 2 it wouldn't POST. According to the manual and him, it should have.

I am getting ready to RMA the Mainboard back to Asus and I am also exchanging the RAM for CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9

This RAM is actually on the QVL (qualified vendor list). I didn't do the proper research and turns out the GSkill that I purchased wasn't on the QVL list, for the Crosshair IV Formula MB, on either GSkill's site or Asus's.

I am also going to just stick with 8GB of RAM. Everything that I have been reading about putting 16GB of RAM on my computer is telling me that I may need to take the timing down or the speed.

I think that putting the incompatible RAM in the MB might have messed up the RAM controller, because it did work the first few times I booted it on default settings. When I went to load windows it just died mid install and never went POST again with all 4 sticks.

Lesson learned, I needed to do more research than I originally did.

 

[[40oz]]

I use non QVL RAM all the time. All QVL means is the vendor has specifically tested it with that motherboard, nothing more. RAM made out of quality parts to the proper specifications, and a motherboard made out of quality parts and to the proper specifications, should never have a problem together. That's a lot of qualifiers, but I think about the only time I've had issues is when I bought a worse brand that was on the QVL than when I bought a better brand that wasn't.

 

[twizzops]

This is my first experience ever having RAM that didn't work with my MB when both were in specs. Asus makes quality MBs and GSkill makes quality RAM, from what I read.

The problem is when it's not on the QVL, they aren't as helpful in troubleshooting a problem as I would like. I was very disappointed with the support that GSkill gives, which was next to nothing. I posted issues on their forums and never got a response from GSkill, just other users offering advice. There's no phone number to call tech support, so I will no longer be buying RAM from them.

In the end I want RAM that I can stick in my MB and it to work. I don't want to keep tweaking settings by .05V and changing timings and speed. I am not interested in pushing my hardware to the point of just barely avoiding BSOD. I would rather pay a few extra hundred on properly speced parts and not deal with that.

Lucky for me this experience hasn't cost me anything other than some time and hard-ache. Because Newegg is so fantastic, they have covered all shipping charges and refunded/replaced all parts at no cost to me. Newegg has been the one solid thing about this experience. Because of that, I will continue to buy from them even if they are a few dollars more.