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I got an Asus Sabertooth 990fx tonight, but I've been unable to get it to POST with my 8GB memory modules (Kingston KTD-PE310Q8, ECC Registered, 1066, 8GB each for 16GB total).

The box and manual says it supports up to 32GB total, and there's only 4 slots, so it must take 8GB sticks. Has anyone gotten this motherboard working with 8GB sticks and can confirm that?

Is it the 8GB that's causing the problem or the fact that the memory I'm using is registered? It says it supports ECC and I want that as this will be a server. But I don't need it to be registered.

There's also a very limited selection of 8GB sticks, even online- will server RAM work?

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  • have you got any other RAM you could try, just to eliminate the RAM?
    – tombull89
    Commented Jul 20, 2011 at 8:02
  • Unfortunately not. I checked my other machines but they're all DDR2. I think I'll buy a 4GB stick of DDR3 today at my local comp store. Then we'll know if it's a bad mobo, or if it just doesn't "like" that kind of RAM.
    – Nick
    Commented Jul 20, 2011 at 10:37

2 Answers 2

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Page 24, section 2-6 of the manual, found at the Asus Site state:

You may install 1GB, 2GB and 4GB unbuffered and non‑ECC DDR3 DIMMs into the DIMM sockets.

...which is odd, because it also says:

4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz, ECC, Non-ECC and un-buffered memory Dual channel memory architecture

Shame, because it's a nice board.

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  • I read that in the manual and was confused because it contradicts itself. If it supports 32GB, and has 4 slots, it must support 8GB per slot... Also, the first says "non-ECC" and the second says "ECC, Non-ECC and unbuffered".
    – Nick
    Commented Jul 20, 2011 at 11:36
  • I got it working using 4x 4GB modules. The modules are non-ECC to the best of my knowledge. It's really sad that you would have to use a "Server grade" motherboard (over $500) just to get ECC.
    – Nick
    Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 15:06
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Your problem is that the RAM you want to use is registered, aka buffered. This motherboard does support ECC memory, but only that which is unbuffered (non-registered). You can buy unbuffered ECC RAM for roughly twice the cost of non-ECC RAM from many vendors, but most RAM that was pulled from servers won't work. Registered RAM has stricter timing to allow for more banks of RAM than the two you normally find on consumer-grade motherboards. You cannot mix registered and non-registered RAM on a motherboard.

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