RAM only works in Single Channel mode. 870 Extreme 3 Motherboard

[WilsonTech]

I'm using the following:

ASRock 870 Extreme 3
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
G.SKILL Ripjaws 4GB DDR3-1333 (2x2 PC3-10666) (8-8-8-24 Timing)

The only way I can get the rig to POST is with the RAM in a Single-Channel configuration, slots A1 (Blue) and B1 (White).

If I go A1 and A2 (Blue) or B1 and B2 (White), the LED indicator on the motherboard will either give a d0 (Go to flat mode with 4GB limit and G20 enabled), whatever that means, or it will cycle through various d codes over and over again.

Are my slots dead? Is there something wrong with the DIMMs? Am I losing a lot by runnig single channel?

Any advice is appreciated.

[Jaws]

Re: RAM only works in Single Channel mode. 870 Extreme 3 Motherboard

First thing I would do is use a process of elimination...

Try testing each stick individually to determine whether one stick is defective. Run memtest86+ on individual stick. Do they both pass?

Take 1 stick that checks out good and test in each slot of the motherboard. Does it POST in every slot?

If everything checks out, checking the RAM timings and voltage in the BIOS. Perhaps easing up the timings may help.

Good luck.

[WilsonTech]

Re: RAM only works in Single Channel mode. 870 Extreme 3 Motherboard

Thanks Jaws. I'll give that a try and see what happens.

[WilsonTech]

Re: RAM only works in Single Channel mode. 870 Extreme 3 Motherboard

So I tried both sticks on each slot and my A2 and B2 definitely don't pick them up. No POST for either slot.

Is it common for 2 slots to be bad like this? Maybe I'm just missing something. Something in BIOS maybe? Do I need to enable something, or should I contact ASRock and RMA it?

[Jaws]

Re: RAM only works in Single Channel mode. 870 Extreme 3 Motherboard

You didn't lose a screw under that MB did you? ...just kidding. I guess it's possible to have 2 bad slots, a common problem, I doubt it.

You don't have to do anything in the BIOS to run dual channel memory. I'd start the RMA process.

Sorry for the bad luck.

[WilsonTech]

Re: RAM only works in Single Channel mode. 870 Extreme 3 Motherboard

Ugh, probably should have made sure of this before I tied everything down.

Almost don't want to send it back. Is dual-channel that much better?

I've heard that the speed increases can be up to 5%, but I'm not sure I'd notice that. Only thing that sucks is that I won't be able to add more RAM in the future.

[artdrivers]

Re: RAM only works in Single Channel mode. 870 Extreme 3 Motherboard

We have seen where the CPU can cause this. Try removing the CPU and check all the pins. If a pin is broken off it can cause a memory dual channel issue. We have seen this several times. The dual channel memory controller is in the cpu. Below is just a small example of the cpu causing the dual memory problem issue. You can google this and see where alot of times it's the cpu. It's not always a broken or bad pin either. Sometimes the cpu is just faulty. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1031790777

[WilsonTech]

Re: RAM only works in Single Channel mode. 870 Extreme 3 Motherboard

Hmmm... I did buy this CPU open box and when I installed it, one or 2 pins were bent...

I'll take it back Tuesday.