G.Skill and Gigabyte scammed me. Help!

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element72

n00b
Joined
Dec 21, 2012
Messages
47
Hello HF community! I hope all is well.

The title is how I feel.

RAM..................Brand: G.Skill Size: 2x8GB Part No.: F4-3200C15D-8GTZ
Newegg put their own barcode with Part No. F4-3200C15D-8GTZ R (what does this R mean?)

Mobo..................GA-Z170X-GAMING-7


Going back a year ago, when I bought my new parts, I swear the RAM I bought was listed as compatible on G.Skill's website. It was taken off the web page so fast. I was going to call up tech support and tell them I had pictures as proof, and they that they owe me a new set of RAM sticks. I didn't have any pics though, lol.

Gigabyte doesn't even want to bother updating their supported RAM list. It has been over a year...

Now I'm pulling lint out of my pockets looking for a replacement RAM, because I want 100% stability. I endured enough of the random instabilities throughout the year. Why the hell is my exact same RAM now $173 when I bought it for $110 from the same place and seller!? A nearly $60 makes no sense to me. Is it really because they included xmp profile 2.0?

Anyways... can someone please be kind enough to recommend me replacements. A year ago I was told the best RAM i could get for my mobo at that time was the TridentZ 3000MT/s CL14-14-14-34 1.35v. Now those are pretty much deadstock and impossible to find. If that is what I should get, I will try to find it.

Thanks for reading

update: The compatibility list of G.Skill vs Gigabyte are very different. Should I trust G.Skill's list again?
 
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you need to trust the qvl from GB as they are the ones building and testing the boards. I would try bumping the voltage a bit, if its 1.35v bump to 1.4v and see if that helps stabilize it. this is pretty common with corsair and crucial kits. also is the kit red(the R)?
 
Yea. it is one of the original tridentZ series. They had like a grainy black-grey with red lines.
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well that's not on the list and to be fair the board is a year old. but what you could try is matching the timings and cas to one of the gskills that is on the list. you might need to manually loosen the settings, no xmp etc.
 
1. Board mfgs ALMOST NEVER update the RAM QVL list after the board is released.
2. I have never even bothered to look at the QVL list before I buy RAM. The only time I ever had a problem was when I used a 64GB set of DDR3 from ToPower that they wouldn't even acknowledge existed - some sort of test set I am guessing that was never actually released to the public.
 
well theres only one bios update that addresses ram compatibility after the qvl they have posted. first update was from 2015/07/24 qvl is from 2016/05/12. so its got to be pretty close.
I guess you haven't seen the issues with ryzen and ram thats not on the qvls...
speaking of bios, is yours up to date, op?
 
If newegg put a new label with an R on it, its refurbished by them (probably open box return). You didn't get a new part. You should have been all over them the second that got delivered to you if you paid new price for it.
 
LigTasm said:
If newegg put a new label with an R on it, its refurbished by them (probably open box return). You didn't get a new part. You should have been all over them the second that got delivered to you if you paid new price for it.
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Thank you. You have no idea what i had to do to try to find that answer. lol
 
pendragon1 said:
well theres only one bios update that addresses ram compatibility after the qvl they have posted. first update was from 2015/07/24 qvl is from 2016/05/12. so its got to be pretty close.
I guess you haven't seen the issues with ryzen and ram thats not on the qvls...
speaking of bios, is yours up to date, op?
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Using F8, because I believe going any further wont let me changed the bios version. And owners of this board, commonly report F8 is best unless you're using kaby lake.
 
cyclone3d said:
1. Board mfgs ALMOST NEVER update the RAM QVL list after the board is released.
2. I have never even bothered to look at the QVL list before I buy RAM. The only time I ever had a problem was when I used a 64GB set of DDR3 from ToPower that they wouldn't even acknowledge existed - some sort of test set I am guessing that was never actually released to the public.
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Thank you so much for that enlightening reply. I would have never found that out. So I can be nearly 100% safe by using GB qvl list or take a tiny risk with the G.Skill compatibility list, correct? I read on G.Skill's site they do extensive stress testing on various boards before they sell their RAM. Well, more specifically, I bet they randomly select a couple from a batch and just stress test that. Obviously, that should be the case...
 
pendragon1 said:
well that's not on the list and to be fair the board is a year old. but what you could try is matching the timings and cas to one of the gskills that is on the list. you might need to manually loosen the settings, no xmp etc.
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I hate fiddling with RAM timings. I did it a very long time ago when I first overclocked. It could literally take days to get a stable RAM non-stock overclock, right? There are too many variables. If you constantly get errors in stress testing it, you could be trying to overclock it for days. And then once you finally feel you got something stable. You would probably switch stress testing software from memtest86 to memtest HCI to catch any errors that probably wouldn't show up in memtest86. The worst part is.. say you spent a lot of time trying to make little changes here and there, but you're still getting some errors, so the last thing you would have to consider tweaking is the CPU.

I remember back in the day people would come home from high school to stress test their RAM or CPU once or twice. Then repeat that process. So it did literally take them days.

I don't know if a lot of things changed with RAM oc'ing, but I never got into it. It doesn't sound fun sitting there while constantly getting errors and failing to fix them. If I wanted to OC something, it would be only be the CPU, and stock clocked RAM.

It is probably just me, but I believe I never understood the art of overclocking RAM. However, CPU overclocking made a lot more sense. Maybe because it was easier to understand and it had less variables to worry about.
 
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If it work don't worry about if it isn't on the qvl. Rarely is their a issue with ram on Intel systems. As long as the memory is from a reliable vendor it should work fine.
 
vegeta535 said:
If it work don't worry about if it isn't on the qvl. Rarely is their a issue with ram on Intel systems. As long as the memory is from a reliable vendor it should work fine.
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That's mostly how I felt initially because of the much longer warranty given by G.Skill. I feel like if I experience any instability, the blame has to go to GB lol. I want to blame someone.
 
element72 said:
Thank you. You have no idea what i had to do to try to find that answer. lol
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There are different kits of RAM with the same modules and different color heatspreaders that might be denoted by a suffix letter like that for GSkill, but you said specifically Newegg had put a label on, so more than likely you got someones bad return that they just rewrapped.
 
Do some stability testing. Just because it's not on the QVL doesn't mean it's not going to be 100% stable. It just means they haven't tested it. I don't remember the last time I ever looked at the QVL. I haven't had a problem since Socket 939 days. I wouldn't say you were scammed in any way, shape, or form.
 
element72 said:
I hate fiddling with RAM timings. I did it a very long time ago when I first overclocked. It could literally take days to get a stable RAM non-stock overclock, right? There are too many variables. If you constantly get errors in stress testing it, you could be trying to overclock it for days. And then once you finally feel you got something stable. You would probably switch stress testing software from memtest86 to memtest HCI to catch any errors that probably wouldn't show up in memtest86. The worst part is.. say you spent a lot of time trying to make little changes here and there, but you're still getting some errors, so the last thing you would have to consider tweaking is the CPU.

I remember back in the day people would come home from high school to stress test their RAM or CPU once or twice. Then repeat that process. So it did literally take them days.

I don't know if a lot of things changed with RAM oc'ing, but I never got into it. It doesn't sound fun sitting there while constantly getting errors and failing to fix them. If I wanted to OC something, it would be only be the CPU, and stock clocked RAM.

It is probably just me, but I believe I never understood the art of overclocking RAM. However, CPU overclocking made a lot more sense. Maybe because it was easier to understand and it had less variables to worry about.
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I wasn't meaning to oc it just use the settings from one of the 3200 kits that are on the qvl. the qvl list all the timings, cas and voltage needed. you shouldn't have to mess around too much. and re the R on the label, it could be that its a reburb but I was thinking it designated color like mentioned above. ive never personally gotten a refurb from newegg so idk.
 
anything over 2133 is overclocking the memory controller on the cpu
with a decent mb most have no problem with 3200 but some may need a little more v to the memory controller
have you tried one stick t a time? it may be that one of your sticks is just a dud and you need to send the kit back for rma

bios updates can also make a big difference to ram stability
the latest is usually best but since updating my asus z170 mb to the latest bios with support for karby my ram cant oc anymore when it use to go from 3200c14 to 3866c16
 
I went from F8 to the newest yesterday, went really well I like the new bios a lot better. Same OC results as F8. Also, those trident z's I believe are Samsung b sides, very good ram for your board I use the 3600 b sides on XMP. You're not really being scammed, and you say nowhere that you've had any problems at all so.. set Xmp and enjoy.
 
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some mobo's and cpu's need adjustment of vccio and one of the other voltages (vssa??) I can't remember. Search overclocking ddr4 and try to come across a guide discussing bios voltages that address what I talk about. Again my labels might be wrong, but there are some different voltages past vcore, dram that need to be adjusted for higher ram clocks, especially if oc'ing the cpu.
 
element72 said:
I was going to call up tech support and tell them I had pictures as proof, and they that they owe me a new set of RAM sticks. I didn't have any pics though, lol.
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I've got two words for you.

Wayback machine.
 
element72 said:
Thank you so much for that enlightening reply. I would have never found that out. So I can be nearly 100% safe by using GB qvl list or take a tiny risk with the G.Skill compatibility list, correct? I read on G.Skill's site they do extensive stress testing on various boards before they sell their RAM. Well, more specifically, I bet they randomly select a couple from a batch and just stress test that. Obviously, that should be the case...
Click to expand...

from what i've seen from gskill their "stress" testing is literally booting up at the default DDR4 2133, if it works then it goes on their own qvl list, they never actually test the ram at their proper rated speed. took me a bit of searching their fine print to eventually figure that out and i'm sure most of the manufactures do the same thing.
 
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