[SOLVED] Patriot RAM issue only in 32 GB config

[Mettiu]

My build was a i5 2500k on a Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3, 8 GB RAM Corsair (9-9-9-24), GeForce 480 GTX.

It was very stable running Mountain Lion 10.8.4, but for 3d rendering I needed more RAM and a faster processor.

 

First, I bought 4x 8GB of Patriot RAM PV316G160C9K (9-9-9-24), maxing out my motherboard's capacity, and that was when all my troubles started...

 

The system immediately became unstable, and I thought proceeding with a clean-installation.

However, the installation process was always failing. At first, I thought the problem to be with the usb stick, so I tried different ones, and connecting them to different USB ports. Every time it was a failure, with the installer randomly reporting errors.

I decided to install back the previous Corsair RAM, and I went through the installation without any issue.

 

I then tried to replace again the RAM, and now I am writing from the 10.8.4 with the Patriot RAM installed, however I am getting weird app crashes: notes crashes, system preference crashes... and I might get a reboot anytime.

 

The weird thing is that I have executed the memtest utility from memtest.org and it did not report any error.

The RAM itself seems working very well under Windows, where I stress it with rendering occupying around 30 Gb or RAM for many hours and the system keeps being stable.

 

Is it reasonable that the RAM has somehow a compatibility issue with ML? Any clue to solve this eventually?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Picasso]

If you live in USA, change the RAM. It's easy and cheap. Time is money over there.

 

BTW, check the Bios Version of your motherboard.

[Mettiu]

I agree with you that it is a waste spending time due to these problems, but I now live in Japan and I cannot have the RAM changed unless I can proof it is defective, which seems not...

 

 

The BIOS is the latest version, UEFI U1E.

[artur_pt]

hello

 

if u use dsdt, extract a new one with that ram , and patch it again..

 

and check if the ram have the right speed for u board...

 

good hack

[Mettiu]

Hello, thank you for your reply.

 

Since updating to UEFI bios, I have not been using DSDT anymore.

 

However, today I performed several experiments. My RAM consists of two 2x8GB kits.

So I tried the first kit in the 1-3 slots, then 2-4 slots. Then repeated the experiment with the second kit.

 

In the 16 GB configuration, the system worked fine.

 

I then added another module, and again with 24 GB I didn't have any weird behavior of the system.

 

But then, adding the last 8 GB causes the system to be absolutely instable, with app crashing at launch and the system freezing soon after.

[artur_pt]

hello

 

maybe something in u bios ?

 

u are not OC the board ?

 

check again u defs in bios for the ram...

 

is a weird issue.. but seems no kit problem with the ram.. maybe a mobo issue or bios config.. check the voltage of the ram..

 

1. 4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 GB of system memory
   * Due to Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than 4 GB.
2. Dual channel memory architecture
3. Support for DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules
4. Support for non-ECC memory modules
5. Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules

(Please refer "Memory Support List" for more information.)

 

only with + test .. maybe u can resolve it

 

good hack

[Mettiu]

I have been very busy with my work so for a while I simply left my hack as it was... but then, under an extensive use of performance-demanding applications under Windows (7 Ultimate, 64bit), I started experiencing crashes of applications and sometimes of the Operating System too. Maybe due to a different memory management, the problems were much more bearable that under OSX, yet I couldn't accept the random crashes of some applications crucial for my workflow.

So I recollected about the tests with the different RAM configurations I did for OSX, I simply removed one module of RAM... and voila! All the random crashes disappeared also under Windows.

 

So what I can conclude now is that the problem is not OSX-related, and not even with the RAM itself. I guess it is my motherboard to have somehow problems when I put all the modules on it. I mailed the support of Gigabyte, I hope the can reply to me.

I tried several configurations on the BIOS too, activating and dis-activating the XMP (which is supported by these RAM modules), but the problems disappear only physically removing at least one of the RAM modules.

[Mettiu]

The problem seems to be solved, although I am deeply unhappy with its solution.

 

The memory is sold as 9-9-9-24, but if you pair two kits there is no guarantee of such performances.

In order to install two identical memory kits and keep the system stable, I had to downgrade the timings to 11-11-11-30.

 

Needless to say, I do regret for buying Patriot RAM and I discourage everybody to go for this brand.

[Gringo Vermelho]

I had the same issue with two "identical" 2x1 GB kits of Kingston DDR2 RAM in a Gigabyte P43/ICH10R motherboard. I bought the kits separately...about 1/2 a year apart I think, and they worked fine together at 1066MHz in an ASUS P45/ICH10R board. With all four sticks in the Gigabyte board, I could not get them to run at 1066MHz no matter what I did, 1066MHz would only work with 3 sticks, and that meant no dual channel operation...and 1GB less..

 

I thought there might be a problem with one of the sticks but then they all worked fine in the ASUS board at 1066MHz, even though they were two kits bought separately. I always kept each pair installed in each channel, easy to do by looking at the serial number...but no..

 

Later I sold the motherboard with the RAM, AFAIK its still running happily with all four sticks at 800MHz, which is fine, just not what I paid for...and yes, they were on the compatibility list for the Gigabyte board.