HP EliteDesk 705 G1's BIOS does not see all memory that Windows or CPU-Z sees

[kennethl]

I recently purchased a new (old stock) HP EliteDesk 705 G1 SFF. It came installed with a total of 8GB of RAM (2 sticks of 4GB each, DDR3L) ... I bought 16GB of additional RAM (2 sticks of 8GB each, DDR3), with the idea of upping it to a total of 24GB of RAM.

I installed the two new 8GB sticks into the two empty slots and the BIOS recognized 12GB (one of the 8GB sticks, one 4GB stick)! I rearranged the sticks in every possible way & combination in the four slots and sometimes only 8GB would be recognized, sometimes 12GB, sometimes 16GB, but never all 24GB.

I know that all four sticks of RAM are operational, and that the ones I purchased conform to what the owner's manual specifies and requires (CAS, latency, speed, etc.) - G.Skill's Value 16GB (2x8GB) 240-pin DDR3-1600 SDRAM (PC3 12800), model F3-1600C11D-16GNT. The BIOS was updated to the latest version available from HP's site - version 2.28 Rev A (L06) from March 7, 2017. [Note: BIOS version 2.30 dated March 28, 2018 did not fix the problem either] The CMOS was also reset without change.

When I go into Windows (7 Pro x64), it reports that it sees 23,536MB of RAM! The CPU-Z utility also sees all four sticks of installed RAM too. It's only the BIOS that reports only 12GB (two slots filled, two slots empty).

Is this a problem with the BIOS that HP needs to fix, or a problem with my specific systemboard? Am I really operating with 24GB of RAM in Windows, or just the 12GB which the BIOS reports?

[old_geekster]

@kennethl, welcome to the forum.

Here is the Maintenance and Service Guide for the computer.  In Chapter 4, Pages 42, 43 & 44, there is a section on the memory and how to populate the sockets.  I suggest reading these pages to assure that the memory sockets are populated correctly.

The reason that I mention this is, it seems strange that it is only recognizing a 4 GB and 8 GB stick.

[kennethi]

@old_geekster, thank you for your response. I did follow to the letter the pages in the Maintenance and Service Guide you linked to during my initial RAM install.

If I install the following, the UEFI BIOS recognizes 16GB of memory, and thinks DIMM1 is empty:

DIMM1 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM2 - Gskill 8GB #2

DIMM3 - HP's (Hynix) 4GB

DIMM4 - HP's (Hynix) 4GB

If I remove the Gskill RAM and leave it in the default configuration as it came new the UEFI BIOS recognizes 8GB of memory:

DIMM1 - HP's 4GB

DIMM2 - Empty

DIMM3 - HP's 4GB

DIMM4 - Empty

In this configuration, the UEFI BIOS only sees 8GB of memory, and thinks DIMM1, 3, and 4 are empty:

DIMM1 - HP's 4GB

DIMM2 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM3 - HP's 4GB

DIMM4 - Gskill 8GB

Right now I have them installed like this (below), and the UEFI BIOS thinks DIMM1 & DIMM2 are empty; it reports 24GB in the first two seconds on POST, then the 24GB changes to 12GB:

DIMM1 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM2 - HP's 4GB

DIMM3 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM4 - HP's 4GB

Etc. I can't make heads or tails of why this is happening.

[DGroves]

please read the HP service manual for your system which shows the proper ram placement and memory type required

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @kennethl

What happens when you install the memory like this?

DIMM1 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM2 - Empty

DIMM3 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM4 - Empty

The correct way to install memory in your PC is matching the pairs like you did in your setup below...

DIMM1 - HP's 4GB

DIMM2 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM3 - HP's 4GB

DIMM4 - Gskill 8GB

Or...

DIMM1 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM2 - HP's 4GB

DIMM3 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM4 - HP's 4GB

I'm thinking that one of your new 8 GB Gskill memory modules is bad.

[kennethi]

@Paul_Tikkanen, thanks for your reply! If I install the memory like this:

DIMM1 - Gskill 8GB #1

DIMM2 - Empty

DIMM3 - Gskill 8GB #2

DIMM4 - Empty

... BIOS sees only a total of 8192MB (DIMM3 populated, and DIMM1 empty).

If I swap the RAM like this:

DIMM1 - Gskill 8GB #2

DIMM2 - Empty

DIMM3 - Gskill 8GB #1

DIMM4 - Empty

... BIOS still only sees a total of 8192MB (DIMM3 populated, and DIMM1 empty).

If I then plug in both of HP's original RAM into DIMM2 & DIMM3 like this:

DIMM1 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM2 - HP's 4GB

DIMM3 - Gskill 8GB

DIMM4 - HP's 4GB

... I notice this: during the first subsequent startup, the POST screen shows this for a moment:

Copyright (c) 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P.
Version 2.16.1240. Copyright (C) 2013 American Megatrends, Inc.
24576 MB

... then, maybe two seconds later, the "24576 MB" changes to 12288 MB and shows this:

Copyright (c) 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P.
Version 2.16.1240. Copyright (C) 2013 American Megatrends, Inc.
12288 MB
164-Memory Size Error
The system memory size is different from the last startup. The most common reason is the removal of memory ...

Keeping the memory plugged in, every subsequent boot will show "24567MB" first for two seconds, then change to "12288 MB"; it no longer shows the 164 memory size error message.

1. I can then boot into MemTest86, and the utility shows all four slots properly populated with their correct sizes. In MemTest86, I can look into the details about each RAM module, and both Gskill & HP's RAM shows all of the exact same specifications, except for: 1. the RAM part number (obviously), and 2. the SPD Revision: Gskill's SPD Revision is 1.1 and HP's SPD Revision is 1.3.
2. Or, I can boot into Windows, and it shows 23.2GB in the System Control Panel (I assume it shows 23.2GB because some of it is reserved for the integrated graphics?).
3. The CPU-Z utility in Windows also shows 24GB total and sees all four RAM modules.
4. PerformanceTest 9.0 utility in Windows also shows a total of 23534MB and all four RAM modules.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

That is bizarre!

Well, you know the memory isn't bad, since you get the same results when you swap the 8 GB chips in slots 1 and 3.

I don't know if updating the BIOS to the latest version would help or not.

But I am stumped on this one too.

[kennethi]

@Paul_Tikkanen, thanks for your input.

The BIOS that shipped with the unit (version 2.22), and the latest available from HP.com  for this unit (2.28), both produced the same results.

From what I've read, others who have described the same issue (with other systemboards from other manufacturers) solved the issue by changing BIOS settings or by upgrading the BIOS version.

It sounds like this is something HP will have to address with a BIOS update. Are there any HP Engineers on this forum that could look into this?

[DGroves]

It's not a bios issue,....you either have bad/incompatable ram or  bad ram socket(s) or a defective motherboard in that order

your ram should be the same for each bank of 2 and you have 2 banks (4 mem slots) 32GB max using  four 8GB modules

PC3-12800/16000 DDR3 non ECC

try installing just the two 4gb modules at a time checking all 4 slots and note if you see 8gb  each time you test 2 slots

then do the same with the 8 GB modules, and if you do not see 16 GB each time it's the module(s)

if your board supports booting with one memory slot used (usually slot 0), you can then test each module in the one slot and note if the board reads the correct size each time

[kennethi]

I tested each of the four RAM sticks individually in each of the four sockets, and the PC recognized them perfectly when they were plugged in one at a time. Memtest also tests them out perfectly.

The RAM specs are exactly what the user manual and service manual prescribes, and I verified those specs in Memtest as well.

Doesn't that verify that the RAM sticks are good, that the sockets are good, and it's just the BIOS that's not programmed to recognize them properly (especially since other software identifies them properly, like Memtest, Windows, CPU-Z, Passmark, etc.)?