I've bought two adapters to connect my SO-DIMM DDR5-5600 laptop RAM to my desktop motherboard, which is an ASUS TUF Gaming B850-E. My plan is to use these along with my existing native DIMMs to reach a total of 32GB of RAM. However, when I try to use all four RAM slots, the system doesn't boot and the orange DRAM LED lights up. I've tried downclocking the frequencies from 5600 MT/s to 4000 MT/s, but it still won't POST. The setup works fine if I use just the adapted SO-DIMMs or just the native DIMMs, but mixing them causes issues. Is there a specific voltage or timing setting I should adjust to get this hybrid configuration to work?
4 Answers
There's a notable difference in signal integrity when using native DIMMs compared to adapted SO-DIMMs, which could be why it fails to boot with all four. Consider updating your BIOS as the latest AGESA updates have improved support for dual and quad DIMM setups, which might help your situation.
While downclocking is a good first step, the key thing is to ensure that the speed, voltage, and latency are all the same for both memory types. Even if they're from the same brand, mixing laptop and desktop RAM can still lead to compatibility issues.
Just a heads up, the maximum officially supported speed on AM5 motherboards for four sticks is actually 3600 MT/s. Trying to mix laptop and desktop RAM might result in further issues, so keep that in mind if you're still having trouble.
Have you waited long enough? Sometimes training DDR5 RAM can take more than 15 minutes to initialize properly, especially with mixed setups. Also, it's possible that your motherboard might not support mixing these types of memory after all.
I waited over an hour and it still wouldn’t boot.
I got them all from the same brand, 'DATO', so that shouldn’t be the problem.