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Any techies that can help? I ordered new RAM for my PC, and it didn’t work. I don’t wanna return the new ram if I can get it working, just not sure if there’s a setting somewhere I need to make it work, of if it’s incompatible or what?

The kind of RAM my PC shipped with is "16GB (8GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory [+89] (Corsair or Major Brand)”

My motherboard is a "ASUS Z87-K ATX w/ GbLAN, 2 PCIe x16 (1 Gen3, 1 Gen2), 2 PCIe x1, 3 PCI”

It says I can bump it up to (and max it out at) 32GB, which I want to do cuz I do a lot of memory-intensive stuff like design work and some video work. I usually have Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator and InDesign going all at the same time, and I absolutely hate having to wait more than 2 seconds when switching from 1 to the other. So I purchased this new ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM

It’s DDR3, 1600 Mhz, 2 8 GB sticks… I assumed that would work fine. When I installed it into my 2 empty slots, my PC started up, then shut itself off 2 seconds later. Then started up then shut off, rinsing and repeating like that. When I took the new RAM out, it worked fine. I read that there was a BIOS update that improved memory handling, so I flashed and updated that, and it didn’t help at all.

So is it just defective ram? Or did I get something incompatible even though it looked like it was the right thing? Any ideas? They want to charge me shipping plus a restocking fee to return it, so that’ll be like $25 :(

Try clearing your CMOS - page 11 of your manual. Presumably your BIOS update did that but who knows.

Does it boot with just the new RAM and not the original ram?

When it starts to post, is there a beep code?

It;s possible the RAM you have is bad, or the memory slots on that board are bad, but that seems unlikely. If you want to test the slots that you can move your working RAM over to them. I wouldn't bother personally, I haven't gotten a bad stick of ram out of the factory in like 20 years. Yeah, it happens, but not commonly in my experience. You can chase G.Skill for a replacement if you try the sticks in someone else's PC and they show as bad but it's probably a red herring. G.Skill is solid, I use them in all my PC's except one Supermicro board.

My casual glance doesn't see a problem with the ram you ordered specwise, but ultimately the ram you ordered is not on the QVL for your motherboard. Some motherboards are, sadly, more picky than others; I have a Supermicro server board (the one I mentioned earlier) that is absolutely finicky about otherwise in-spec RAM. I can't help but notice there is not a single set of PC1600 2x8gb RAM on that list from G. Skill. In fact, there are only a few 8gb sticks of any vendor and speed rating, period.

If clearing the CMOS doesn't work, I would try emailing Newegg customer support about doing an exchange for QVL ram; I have found their customer support is usually pretty good and I'd be surprised if they didn't waive the fee, especially if you're ordering a different product.

Thanks, and yeah I didn't even know what a QVL was till today. I emailed my pc's tech support and they told me the same thing. I just remember whenever I needed to upgrade before I just bought the same type and it always worked, but looks like I only have a few options to choose from..

the new ram works fine on it's own, the old ram does too, they just don't like each other. I was thinking I could sell my old ram on ebay and then just order a 2nd pack of the same ram I just got, but now I'm scared that won't work since it's not on my list :(

There's a corsair 32gb kit on the list, maybe I should just return the new ram, and get that? newegg has it for $214

been so long since I did any PC tinkering, I've stuck with macs for the last 15 years but I used to build my own PCs back in the day, guess it was easier then Kinda got me wondering if it would be a good idea to get a new MB, and ram that matches, and a SSD and use my old case and other parts.