System doesn't resume from sleep (F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL)

[UnskilledG]

Recently I bought 2 packages of the RipJaws 8 GB kit, part number F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL. I installed all four sticks (16 GB) in a new system using a Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H motherboard and Intel Core i5-3570K CPU, as well as other components that probably aren't relevant here. OS was Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

Right off, things did not work as they should. Whenever the system went into "Sleep" mode, it would not resume properly, or, sometimes, at all. I observed at least two different behaviors:

-System would repeatedly power cycle. Usually on the 3rd try, it would pause for a very long time, then eventually resume, but not always.

-Other times, system would power up, but then hang before reaching the "Resuming Windows..." stage. No display, no error beeps. In this case I had to hard power-off (by holding down the power button for several seconds), then upon turning the system back on, it would go through an ordinary POST sequence, as if I had done a cold boot, and then it would finally resume from sleep.

I have another system with DDR3 RAM and also running Windows 7 64-bit, so I swapped RAM modules around. Eventually I determined that one of the pairs of G.Skill modules was causing the resume-from-sleep problem. It happened in both the above-named system, as well as a much older one using an Asus P5E3 WS Pro motherboard and Intel Core 2 Duo (E8500) CPU.

With known-good RAM, both systems resume from "Sleep" mode almost instantly, particularly the newer one since it uses an SSD.

So I'm fairly certain one of the pairs of G.Skill RAM is faulty, even though Microsoft's memory testing program failed to find a problem.

Did I miss anything?

[Tradesman]

May try testing each stick with Memtest individually, but also mixing sets can be problematic, so may try raising DRAM voltage + .05 and may need additional voltage to VCCSA and CPUVTT (might start with the same increase + .05 on each), if still no joy post your BIOS settings, particualarly the advanced timings, as XMP won't work with mixed sets and may need to manually set the timings

[UnskilledG]

I'm not overclocking and this particular memory doesn't do XMP. I guess I wasn't clear above: the problematic RAM modules have consecutive serial numbers, as they're part of a dual-channel kit.

I requested an RMA this morning and received authorization a little while ago, so I'll be sending in the questionable RAM sticks for an exchange.

[Tradesman]

There's no guarantee mixed sets will work together and it generally takes increased voltage to get them to play together, also especially in coming out of sleep mode with mixed sets it often requires additional voltage, another problem you can encounter with mixing sets is that (even if they would use XMP) the timings may have to be adjusted as the mobo makers have to basically set generic timings in the Advanced Timings when the sticks aren't 1 complete set and they can get those timings from the sticks

[UnskilledG]

I thought about that for a while and now I think I understand - particularly in light of the stickied thread in this forum, where AMD users are reminded that mixing sets will usually REQUIRE manual tweaking of settings.

Unfortunately, I've had signs that the remaining, second set of F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL may have something wrong with it. Or it may simply need some manual tweaking for the two dual-channel kits to work together. Here's why I think that:

-The original Gigabyte motherboard that I mentioned having problems with the RAM, later stopped working entirely. I don't think it was related to the RAM, because when I sent the board in for RMA service, they said they fixed the CPU socket.

-When the Gigabyte board got back from RMA, the system worked for a few days, using just the remaining two sticks of G.Skill RAM (not the ones I sent in because of Sleep problems). Then it began failing to start up, with a beep code which Gigabyte tech support says indicates a RAM problem.

-I bought yet another motherboard, an ASRock Z77 Extreme4. Installed the pair of G.Skill RAM sticks in it. I had no problems for the first day, but then on the second day, I got a "RAM not installed" error code from the motherboard when attempting to start. I double-checked that the modules were installed correctly, and they were. So... I just left the machine turned off for several hours, not knowing what to do. Later on, it started working again, and has worked normally for the past couple of days.

It seems unlikely that I'd get two defective motherboards in a row, particularly since one of them went in for repairs and so should have been tested extensively. So I'm suspecting there may be a problem with the two remaining sticks of RAM, as they're the only thing the two motherboards had in common, other than the CPU (which I cannot swap out, as I do not have an extra one).

If I have the mysterious "RAM not installed" error again, I suppose I'll post my RAM settings and maybe try some manual tweaking.

[Tradesman]

Let us know, we'll want the DRAM settings, basic and advanced as well as system voltages and BIOS version