Ram or mobo issue

Ghengisahn

Hey everyone, finally started putting my brand new parts together I got from micro center. I have been having problems posting BIOS but I eventually found out why.. I saw on my mobo a Q-LED turn on for my RAM.

mobo is an asus tuf ddr4 and ram is Corsair vengeance 3600. I installed per ASUS mobo instructions but I think I found a typo…

I found 2 conflicting statements as you can see in the book. In one page B1 ,B2 and A1, A2 are depicted differently. But I was going off the recommendation and used the two grey slots.

Putting them in THE GREY SLOTS does not allow me to post bios. naturally I took off B2 and just tried to run A2. Still nothing. I tried both ram sticks to see if one was faulty. Still nothing.

what finally worked is I left it in the FAR RIGHT Grey slot, and that allowed the Q-LED to turn off and post bios with 16 gb ram. I tried the other stick, it’s good. So out of curiosity, I stuck it in this configuration shown (B1/2 or A1/2) this is one grey, one black. It posted and it showed 32gb of ram.

this isn’t supposed to happen, so hoping someone has answers.

@1Bored_soul_editor FYSA

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Ghengisahn

You've ruled out the memory as a problem by getting it to work in Channel B. From your testing it sounds like Channel A is dead. Ideally with two sticks, RAM should be installed in A2/B2, but A1/B1 would also work. I would test a single stick in Channel A, either A1 or A2 to confirm. If confirmed, this can be a motherboard or CPU issue. It can also be a cooler issue. Dissimilar mounting pressure can cause an issue like this. Check the CPU socket for bent pins.

Ghengisahn

If it’s working as intended, is it worth messing around with? I’m just not comfortable repeated mounting / unmounting of the CPU. 

I also can’t really utilize the far left channels due to the be quiet heat sink, or I at least can’t manipulate it without removing the heatsink. 

Interesting you mention potential bent CPU pins? Would it cause other issues if it is this? 

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Ghengisahn

It's not working as intended, if the memory only works in channel B, you're running in single channel mode. This effectively halves your memory bandwidth. You want the modules in A2/B2.

Ghengisahn

Is this something that would be covered under micro centers warranty or would I have to work it out through the vendor IE ASUS for The mobo?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Ghengisahn

If they're new parts, should just be covered under the return policy. If you have replacement plans, that would cover a defect or failure, but you don't want to use them if the product is brand new and can just be exchanged.

Ghengisahn

Thanks man. Appreciate the help. This part I’m unfamiliar With.. since I just need a mobo change, would that affect anything software wise IE windows install? I heard there’s some kind of CPU lock to OS but unsure if a simple Mobo swap would affect anything. 

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Ghengisahn

It'll probably deactivate, but all you should have to do is log back into your Microsoft account. You won't need to reinstall Windows or anything.

Ghengisahn

Just replaced my mobo today and everything works As intended. Thanks Mike!