Issues with Ddr5 sticks

[fatryan]

I recently built an unraid server with an asrock z790 board, 12700k, and 2x32 g skill ddr5 sticks. I ran everything stock - no OC, no XMP, no tweaking anything at all in the bios.

This past weekend I started having some major issues with the server while out of town. Ran memtest on both sticks and it failed (aborted) almost immediately with 10k errors. Tested each stick individually on the B2 slot, and 1 passed with 0 errors on 4 passes while the other aborted very quickly after 10k errors. So I got 1 bad stick.

I already submitted for rma, but I was wondering if I can just run the other stick in the mean time. I just want to check to see if the parity in my array is still valid. I don't plan to run any containers, VMs, or otherwise use unraid for anything else until getting the replacement stick. I seem to be finding conflicting information on running a single ddr5 stick. I've seen people say you cannot do it with ddr5, but I haven't seen any explanation as to why.

Another question I have is about running another pair of sticks. I'm considering just buying another 2x32 while waiting for the rma. I wouldn't get g skill this time though (seems to be QC issues per others reports). Assuming the new ram is approved by asrock (like my g skill ram), is there anything wrong with running both g skill and the new sticks? I have always heard it's not good practice to mix models or brands, but I've also heard it's usually not an issue so long as it's ram that's on the manufacturers list. Also keep in mind that I'm never going to run them at anything other than stock clocks and voltages. I'd most likely end up with ram with higher CL, since this g skill ram has some of the lowest CL on the market for consumer ddr5...not sure if that even matters though.

 

[Dopamin3]

You will be able to boot and run with just 1 stick installed. Keep in mind your platform supports dual channel memory, so you will have a decrease in performance by only utilizing one channel.

Indeed it is not ideal to mix different types of memory. Brand doesn't matter so much as the memory IC (e.g. you could run two kits from two different vendors that were rated for the exact same frequency/timings/voltage you will most likely be okay). In your case of running at "stock" JEDEC speed you should be fine.

Before you order another kit I would suggest considering getting ECC memory for an Unraid server. The 12700K supports ECC, you would have to research if your board supports it too. I'm very familiar with AMD Socket AM4, and Asrock always supported ECC on their boards as long as the CPU supported it (all Ryzens without iGPU; only "Pro" branded APUs). In fact basically all vendors supported unbuffered ECC except for MSI on socket AM4. This memory could potentially be ideal for you.

 

[fatryan]

I understand there's a performance hit with only 1 stick. I'm only planning to run a parity check, so it doesn't even matter. Just wanted to make sure there were no ill effects.

Finding matching timings is probably going to be difficult, so if that's a deal breaker than I guess I can't run 2 dual kits. So either I wait for the Rma or just buy another kit as backup only. Probably will do the former.

I was originally planning to do Ecc, but the only Intel boards that supports it are W680. And none of the W680 boards were to my liking, so I scrapped the plan for ecc.