DH87MC - Single Sided vs Double Sided Memory Issue

[CYone1]

I have an been running a DH87MC motherboard with double-sided Kingston KVR16N11H/4 (x4) RAM. With all 4 sticks (16GB), the system BSODs daily. If I remove 2 of the sticks, leaving 8GB, the system is stable.

I tried changing to single sided DIMMs / KVR16N11S8H/4 (x4) and the systems are stable with 16GB of RAM.

This is repeatable as I have tried it with two separate systems. I have also tried multiple sets of RAM with the same results.

I am running the most recent BIOS (47).

Any thoughts on why this might be happening?

[CYone1]

Am I missing something here? As far as I can tell, I should be able to run 16GB of the Kingston KVR16N11H/4. But, if I do, I get random BSODs daily.

If I run 2 of the sticks (8GB total), I have no problems at all. Is this a BIOS issue? I don't think that it is a faulty board as I can run the single-sided version of the RAM in all 4 slots without a problem.

Can anyone see a reason why 4 sticks of the KVR16N11H/4 would fail, but 4 sticks of KVR16N11S8H/4 would not fail?

Is anyone else out there running this board? Is it running stable? If so, what RAM are you using?

[Silvia_L_Intel1]

Hello Hotwiredtech,

Please let me know if this behavior started after your updated the BIOS to version 0047?

You may want to try removing the CMOS battery and leave the system without it for about an hour. Then put it back on and restart the system. http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-028780.htm?wapkw=clear+cmos+battery# datetime http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-028780.htm?wapkw=clear+cmos+battery# datetime

Test the system out of the chassis, minimal configuration please. (Motherboard, processor, power supply and memory)

Dual channel is enable by default, so this kind of behavior could be related to a defective motherboard or a defective processor. If you have another processor to test on this board, please give it a try, if not I recommend you to replace the motherboard first.

If the board was purchased less than 30 days ago please contact the place of purchase.

If it was purchased more than 30 days, you can get in touch with our local Warranty Department so they can help you to replace the unit: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/contactsupport http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/contactsupport

Regards.

[CYone1]

I have done minimal configs outside of a chassis and had exactly the same result.

We had this issue with the original BIOS and then updated the BIOS (in hopes of resolving the issue). It did not resolve the issue.

I have a hard time putting this on a defective motherboard or processor as we have duplicated the result on different systems with different Motherboards, CPUs, PSUs, and RAM purchased from a completely different vendor (to eliminate "bad" lots or batches). As far as dual channel, we can run dual channel with 4 sticks of KVR16N11S8H/4 just fine. As a matter of fact, we also tested KVR1333D3N9H/4 and it seems to be running fine with 4 sticks in dual channel. I am at a loss as to why the KVR16N11H/4 causes an issue. It is a pretty basic Kingston DDR3 and as far as I can tell, conforms to the required standards of the board.

[CYone1]

The KVR1333D3N9H/4G (1333HHz) has proven to be stable as well. It just seems to be an issue with the newer KVR16N11H/4 (1600 MHz) and only when all 4 DIMM slots are filled.

Spec sheet for the incompatible RAM: http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KVR16N11H_4.pdf http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KVR16N11H_4.pdf

Supported memory configurations for the board: http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/db-dh87mc/sb/CS-034214.htm http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/db-dh87mc/sb/CS-034214.htm

Do these look compatible? I can't see a problem.

[Silvia_L_Intel1]

We have seen it in the past with Kingston and other brands but not that often. I'd say it has to do with the memory construction.

The reason why it is not compatible, that is something we do not know.

Based on the PDF provided by Kingston, there are some key differences between the models that could be why this memory is not working on the board.

You would need to ask the memory manufacture, so they can explain you the difference between a sixteen 256M chips memory and an eight 512M chips memory.

http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KVR16N11S8_4.pdf http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KVR16N11S8_4.pdf

http://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/KVR1333D3N9H_4G.pdf http://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/KVR1333D3N9H_4G.pdf

http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KVR16N11_4.pdf http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KVR16N11_4.pdf

Regards.

[CYone1]

Kingston has that model (KVR16N11H/4) listed as compatible with the board. It may be compatible with 8GB (2 sticks), but not 16GB (4 sticks).

I understand the difference between "a sixteen 256M chips memory and an eight 512M chips memory", but the KVR1333D3N9H/4G is a "sixteen 256M" memory and it works fine.

I am at a loss here.

[Silvia_L_Intel1]

It is hard to say, however let me try to get additional information on this. I'll keep you posted.

May I have the model number of the processor you are using?

Regards.

[CYone1]

Thank you very much.

I look forward to anything that you can find out.

[Silvia_L_Intel1]

May I have the model number of your processor please?

[CYone1]

4770

Sorry, I missed that question.

[Silvia_L_Intel1]

No problem!!

I already share this information with our Engineering team; we are going to get this specific memory model number and try to replicate this behavior in our system. I'll keep you posted.

[CYone1]

That's great. I look forward to finding out what might be going on.

Thank you.

[CYone1]

Sylvia, I am just touching base to see if there has been any progress on this yet or if you were able to replicate the behavior.

[KenF_Intel]

Hi hotwiredtech,

I've been trying to recreate this issue but have not been able to do so.

I purchased 4 sticks of KVR16N11H/4, installed Win 7 and let a video run in a loop overnight with no issues.

I then downloaded MemTest86 from PassMark and it ran overnight with no issues.

Can you share some more details about your configuration, any BIOS setting changes and what work is being done on the system when the BSOD occurs?

Thanks.

[CYone1]

I sent you a message.

[CRowl2]

This is slightly unrelated but I could not see where to start a new thread...

I have a DH87MC with the 47 bios update, an i7-4771 processor and 16GB Kingston ram part KHX18C10TTK2/16X.

I can not install either module in either DIMM 1 or DIMM 3. Computer just beeps 3 times and repeats.

Either or both work in DIMM 2 and DIMM 4. Is this memory incompatible with either the board or the processor, or do you think the board is faulty?

Thank you very much!