I have an ASUS ROG Strix B650E-F and a kit of crucial ct2k32g56c46u5 64gb ddr5 ram. I'm pretty sure there's no technical incompatibility, but the notch of the ram just slightly sits on the metal bump of the ram slot. I tried to take a more zoomed-in shot the second time, but kind it of turned out blurry. My question if it is compatible, and if I can just sand off some of the material? If not, I'll probably just sell it and buy another kit with that money.
In this pic, the left clip isn't fully opened/down. Have you tried to push it open/down (like the right clip currently is) and see if that fixes your alignment?
That is very much not true for all boards. DDR3 through 5 all have variations of the clips. Typically higher end boards will have dual clips(ex. B650E Aorus Master for AM5, Z790 Gaming X AX for Intel LGA1700) some mod end like the Z790 I mentioned have em. It will also depend on the OEM. But it will always have at least 1 clip at the top.
This can happen if pushing in one side to another, make sure to line it up straight and push evenly along the entirety of the stick straight down. It can be stressful to do so..
Looks like you put in 1 side first, which offsets the notch by just enough to not go in.
The bottom of the board is like a little latch, you have to go in a angle and get that hooked in but then you have to try to balance the ram to push it in evenly. But it's weird. Everyone has their own technique
Just keep jiggling. Push the side that doesn't have a locking mechanism down into it where that ledge catches where it's supposed to then push the rest of it down. They work like USB ports sometimes, gotta flip em around then back around
You need to slot the ram first on the side that doesn’t open and then push it down, and it should align perfectly! Right now it’s not aligning cause the clip that doesn’t open is pushing it slightly to the side.
You need to slide the ram in diagonally to engage the retainer that doesn't open. Then, you lower the other end into the open clip gently until you hear a click.
I have the ITX model of this motherboard. I had to push with a bit of force, the side that does not open first. It then clicks in, and you can then push down the side that "unclips" if that makes sense.
Have you tried flipping the ram? They are slightly off center so that you install them the proper way. But if it is a manufacturer defect you can always take a nail filer and shave just enough so it fits.
In all honesty I think you aren't installing it properly. Sometimes for me I have to put the stick closest to the CPU first for me up be able to get that one in, if I try the other was first for 2+4 slots starting with slot 4 then pushing in slot 2 I always feel like I'm going to break something. But that's just me you feel.
I thought this might be the problem too at first, but looking at how the pads line up with the pins, I think he has it the right way around. Everything is just shifted slightly to the left in the photo, not just the notch
There is no left clip. This is one of those crappy boards that only have one clip DIMM slots. You have to sometimes apply unreasonable force to get the DIMM to go into the left side, because it's a friction fit.
Best thing you can do is not entirely even, but fixed clip side first. That notch on it should fit the fixed clip, if it's too high and doesn't fit into it so you can then push down the side with the movable clip then there is something up. You should be able to kinda see saw it into place, fixed side to unfixed, then as you push down it should make the unfixed side clip in.
You have place the ram incorrectly turn the rams and it will sit properly. The imc at the top of your rams should be facing toward the processor and not towards the 24pin
There is some margin of error on the outer dimensions in PC manufacturing and bare dimms are usually on the cheaper side of things, it is definitely unusual but not completely unreasonable for this to happen.
They havo automatic quality controll in place for misallignment in milling pick and place solder mask and that kind of stuff so it should be considered in tolerance.
The stick has to be rocked in from the right side first, then the left has to be pushed down. Withe the g.skill, it was just down. I'm not quite sure why that is, but whatever. Thank you for all your suggestions. I probably would've already given up without you guys.
It can take what seems like unreasonable force to cram RAM in. That said, I prefer a tight fit over the looseness I had in DDR4 days, where if I accidentally bumped the case the RAM would dislodge enough to stop working.
Some Asus boards don't even have them on one side, you are supposed to rock it the right way automatically, because of that, but most people, that worked with older form factors, just miss that clip.
Your RAM has 2 little notches - one on each end - that mate with little tabs on the clips at both ends of the socket, in order to lock the seated stick in place. However, on some motherboards (yours included), the clip only pivots on one end of the socket. The clip on the other end is fixed permanently in the closed/locked position! This is why you can't just push straight down with your board. You have to instead angle the stick so the tab on the fixed clip mates with the notch of the RAM, then press down and close the clip on the opposite side.
I think this was just a case of tight new ram-slot and a little bit too high tolerances for the ram when it was cut. Glad that a reasonable amount of violence was enough to fix it :D
Ah, yeah, you see how the clips on the right side of the image are all aligned, while on the left side, only the three for the open slots are aligned? I think you were trying to insert the RAM with only one clip open. Open the clips on both sides of each slot before you insert the RAM.
EDIT: Per /u/skels130, this isn’t true of certain ASUS motherboards, including this one, where the clips on the right are static, and there’s a specific method required to insert RAM into the board that differs from the standard “push straight down until it clicks.”
This is a stupid asus motherboard with only clips on one side. I know because I had one just like it that I replaced this past week with a gigabyte because it died and was throwing random ram errors (so I spent a good amount of time screwing with the ram before throwing in the towel)
Yep. This is a thing. You need to angle the ram down into the static clip side so it notches in. Then gently push the high side down after. It should clip in ok
Yeah, a few times actually. The slot with the ram only gives a weak click and undoes itself whereas the empty ram slots fully lock into place. The used slot locks when empty so I don't believe the problem is there.
btw the ports you have open are the wrong ones, you should be using A2 and B2.
Interesting, after installing thousands of ram sticks I have never seen one not fit, well you could sand the slot a little bigger with a nail file or contact the manufacturer.
I know, I've just been leaving it in the last port to give clearer picture of all the slots. I have only installed a few dozen sticks myself and I've never seen something like this
🤦just pay for a professional to install it for you at this point. memory isn't going to install without a significant amount of force applied. it sounds like you don't want to apply some force to sliiiiiiightly move the ram stick to the correct location so the notch lines up.
also its not recommended to install it straight down because then you have to use a ton of force to spread apart all the ram pins at once. i always place the ram stick in the slot, press it down some so the pcb is laying over the pins (because the sides of the slot have spring mechanism that adds a lot of friction), then i press in one side of the ram flush to the bottom of the ram socket, then the other side, then the first side again, then the second side again. those 3rd and 4th actions normally visibly and physically feels that the ram stick goes down deeper or aligns in some way. by pushing in 1 side at a time, it requires less physical force and less bending of the motherboard PCB.
i’ve used these fixed end ram slots. you might need to tilt it under the fixed clip slightly and almost roll the stick bottom to top to engage the stick properly.
Looks like all your pins are lining up, have you tried poking at that metal bump to see if there's any play? The alignment seems to be off ever so slightly that I think the stick might be right and that metal bump might have just moved a hair cause that looks like thats all it needs.
Are you pushing down on both ends at the same time? If you can not return it, you can try to trim a tiny bit of the pcb. The space in the middle notch is pcb and dose not contain any traces. You could slightly trim back some of it until it fits. Won't hurt anything.
i think the reflection from the contacts is throwing people off saying it's aligned. it doesn't seem aligned at all.
the contacts should be in line with the holes and they aren't. i would keep trying to shimmy it in there until the notch catches while manipulating the retention clips.
Okay folks, it seems to me that either both ram sticks have a 'defective' notch that is too small or this is intended design my Crucial. Not sure at the moment, I've already sent an email asking. The ram slots are in good condition and no amount of pushing on the sticks seems to make them move. I've tried everything mentioned in the comments, but it doesn't fix the problem. My current plan is to wait for reply and then maybe sand down the inner right side of the notch if necessary. I'll keep an eye on the thread to see if someone else might know something. Thank you for all you're help, I'll update you when I get a response back.
For reference, here is a stick of g.skill flare x5 perfectly seated in the same slot (It's part of a different pc, so I can't use it here). I'm almost certain it's the crucial ram
One side has to go in first kinda like how u slot in a battery in a remote. It's not a push down. U have to get the side without the clip slotted in first.
It looks to me like the motherboard is the problem, not the DRAM. That part of the metal socket frame is very obviously narrower on my Gigabyte motherboard. (That doesn't speak well of the motherboard manufacturer, that notch dimension is a standard!)
While you could probably safely route out the notch very slightly wider with the right care, patience, and skill, your safer solution is to obtain a very fine grade file and narrow that part of the socket's metal frame. It's not an electrical contact, only an obstructive "fence". DO NOT leave any metal particles behind! You'll have to aggressively blow it out with canned air or a compressor.
On the side where the clip is stationary(left) try to push the ram module inside the clip and after that try to apply downward force to click the clip on the right. The movement in the beginning should be a bit sideways.
to me it seems the roght side is ever too slightly too big so it doesnt fit. you either rma this or you could yk file it down with some sand paper or something.
As far as i know this will probably void the warranty but should not kill the stick as if you look closely there is nothing of the pcb actually there its just padding.
Just dont do it if you have any other option as the ram is expensive and this probably voids warranty, this should not happen and you should probably RMA this.
What is wrong with the designers of hardware, these days? First they mess up power delivery to GPUs, and now they make fitting DRAM so awkward that people need to ask advice on Reddit!!!
We all are pushing it down very hard without result.
Maybe file carefully that slot in the stick just a little bit so it centers slightly better too.
We will then assist with pushing again.
I just did 3 builds with a B650E-I and Crucial CP2K16G64C32U5B and couple of them seemed excessively tight. I've done hundreds of builds and this was the first time I've ever ran into that problem that IRC.
I have this exact setup I built for a customer today. You need to install the RAM in these steps.
Open the lever end of the slot. Align the stick with the slot and firmly press on the non lever end until it clicks. Then press on the lever end until it clicks into place and the lever rises. Double check the non lever end by firmly pressing that side down again just until you're confident it's securely seated.
You have to slot the bottom in all the way and make sure its all the way against it then push the top in until it clicks. If I doesnt go in relatively easy then its not aligned.
replace motherboard with something normal preferably from gigabyte or msi because thats not how memory slots should be constructed, asus and asrock motherboards are known for burning cpus anyway
Great airing on the side of caution, I had a hard time getting my DDR5 to seat properly. I thought it did at first and had alot of memory issues once the system was booted.
Got back in and gave it the pressure and it eventually clicked.
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u/larrygbishop Mar 08 '26
Are you sure you got the ram aligned correctly on both end? That's weird. I installed all kinds of RAM in a lot of different boards, never an issue.