Kingston RAM not correctly detected

[emkey08]

Hi guys! I'm having a weird memory-related boot problem with Kingston HyperX memory modules.

Model: HP ZBook 15u G5 (product number 2WK45AV)

OS: Windows 10 (64 bit)

BIOS: HP Q78 version 01.07.00 from 2019-04-17

RAM: Kingston HyperX HX424S14IBK2/32 (2 x 16 GB modules, see specification)

CPU: Intel Core i7-8550U (see specification)

Steps to reproduce:

1) Installed new Kingston HyperX memory modules (2 x 16 GB modules, see above)

2) Turned laptop on. New memory is detected:

3) Press ENTER. Windows boots successfully, system is working, new RAM modules are correctly detected by both Windows and RAMMon:

4) Restart notebook.

5) Notebook doesn't boot anymore: Screen keeps black, LED's of Shift + Num keys are blinking 3 times long, 2 times short. According to HP's notebook LED blink codes this means that "the embedded controller times out waiting for BIOS to return from memory initialization". The suggested solution is to reseat the memory modules, but this of course doesn't help.

6) If I install the original memory again, everything works again.

7) If I reinstall the Kingston memory again: Continue reading at 1).

Since this obviously is NOT a hardware fault, it seems to be a software / BIOS problem. Any ideas from the experts? Thank you very much!!

[Huffer]

I ran down the specs of the 16 gig modules specified in the Manual and its DDR4-2133 and CL=15 specs:

16-GB 820571-001

https://www.ebay.de/itm/HP-16GB-2133MHz-DDR4-Sodimm-Ram-820571-001-f-Elitebook-840-850-ZBook-15-17-G...

The Manual also says, however, that your 8th gen model is supposed to run DDR4-2400 so that is a bit hard to reconcile. Still the HyperX memory you installed is CL=14 at DDR4-2400. Theoretically it should adapt itself to the timings of the board but we pretty frequently have similar questions from Users who install gaming or performance memory into their HPs and have troubles similar to what you report. I would wager if you get some OEM type Samsung or Hynix memory with standard latency specs you will not have problems. 

Service Manual

See p. 25 item 19

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

[emkey08]

Huffer, thank you very much for your reply.

Well, since the notebook CAN actually boot into Windows with the Kingston memory, the board must be able to handle the CL-14 timings just well. I could even successfully run the UEFI hardware diagnostics tool with the Kingston memory installed:

However, it will only boot once; rebooting isn't possible. Since this seems like a memory controller software bug to me, is it possible to file a bug report about this to the HP dev team?

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Its not a bug not to be able to use unsupported memory. Being able to reboot is part of the memory function so feel free to file whatever report you want just do not be shocked if you do not receive a positive response. Good luck. 

[emkey08]

Well, I just found out that it actually works to install the 16 GB OEM module together with the 16 GB Kingston module, probably because this forces the Kingston module to run with the slower timings of the OEM memory.

I'll mark your answer as accepted, thank you very much for your help.

[Huffer]

Thanks. You did not accept as solution but that's OK. Are you saying you already had one or more 16 gig modules of OEM and you bought the Kingston to try and be even faster? Sorry. Can you perhaps return it?

[emkey08]

Yes, exactly, I wanted to both upgrade from 16 GB to 32 GB and to improve the speed as well. So I achieved the size upgrade, but not the speed upgrade, unless I reinstall the Kingston module everytime the notebook must be rebooted

For information only, I've benchmarked the RAM with MemTest86 and the Kingston modules are actually way faster: 24 GB/s vs. 16 GB/s (both read + write, 16 K block size). Quite impressive, since both modules were running at 2400 MHz.

[Huffer]

Yes and that is why gamers want to run that kind of memory if possible and I would be fully in support of your efforts if we had not seem so many posts pretty much just like this. HP tunes these machines to run on OEM memory and keep everything nice and easy on the components to keep warranty claims in check. 

[StevenDorsey]

Is it possible to fine-tune the speed of your DDR4 memory sticks in the BIOS to operate at the maximum speed compatible with the motherboard? It sounds like the OEM stick, when plugged in with one of hte HyperX ones, does something to tell the new stick what speed to operate at.

As a CompTIA student who never had hte money to get his certifications, and took his courses in Hardware a few years ago, it seems like you might be able to find a setting in the BIOS in which to configure your Memory to fully function correctly for hte HyperX memory sticks. At the very least, you'd be able to have more Memory in terms of space. Maybe not necessarily in terms of speed though. The trade off would be that the OS will still sacrifice some of the space to make your computer's pagefile larger for its own use, and not just allow you to have it all to yourself. :3

[Huffer]

@StevenDorsey 

That is the other side of the coin here. The BIOS has no settings related to memory timings/frequency etc. as you would find on an enthusiast desktop motherboard. And with 32 gigs of RAM there is no need to even mess with a "pagefile". 

So thanks for the input.