I recently built my first PC in a couple of decades, featuring a Ryzen 9700x, an Asus B650-E WiFi motherboard, and 32GB of DDR5 6000 CL30 T-Force Vulcan RAM, while using my old 2070 Super for now. Occasionally, when I reboot or power on my computer, it takes a while to post, and sometimes one of the RAM sticks isn't detected, showing only 16GB instead of 32GB. I'm wondering if this indicates a faulty RAM stick or if it might be something else, like needing a BIOS update. I'm fairly new to this, so I could use some guidance. Unfortunately, returning the RAM to the store isn't an option at this point.
2 Answers
It sounds like you might be dealing with a contact issue rather than a bad RAM stick. I suggest cleaning the gold contacts of your RAM with rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip, and also using compressed air or a paintbrush to clean the RAM slot on the motherboard. If you’re feeling adventurous, reseating your CPU could help too. It’s more likely that this is a temporary connection issue than a persistent hardware failure since it only happens sometimes.
Just a heads up, AMD pushes a guaranteed RAM speed of 5600 with the Ryzen 9700x. So, even though your 6000 RAM will work most of the time, there are cases where it won't function perfectly. Consider disabling XMP (or EXPO) and setting your RAM to 5600 CL28 instead. This might stabilize things, and you won’t lose a huge amount of performance by dropping down from 6000.
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