I'm curious to know if others have seen this issue? Is it worth the hassle to RMA? Will the issue get worse? Or maybe, can there be another explanation such as mobo/BIOS?
I have a set of G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 9-9-9-24 1.5V F3-1866C9D-16GZH. They are 6 months old with minimal use. When they were new they wouldn't POST much over 1866MHz, but that seemed acceptable. Recently, I left the system idling for 4 weeks--detected no issue. I made some BIOS changes to enable WOL (Wake On LAN). Now the system will not POST at XMP / 1866MHz.
To try to track down the issue, I have updated the BIOS. I have cleared the CMOS. I have reset and reconfigured the BIOS. Etc.
I have tried putting the BCLK etc back to stock and simply booting from XMP1 and XMP2. Neither will POST any longer.
However, I can POST and pass RAM test at around 1650MHz. I'm thinking the difference is minimal and not worth TOO MUCH bother, other than I have a lifetime warranty and paid a premium for speeds I cannot attain after 6mos minimal use. Another annoyance is the auto o/c software from ASUS wants to utilize XMP profiles. Again, a very minor inconvenience.
So please help: Does this happen? Often? Have I isolated the issue to the RAM? What will the G.Skill RMA process entail? Is it worth the hassle? Will the RAM continue to degrade? (Other answers to questions I haven't considered are quite welcome.)
If I decide to RMA: Are there red flags I need to be certain not to trigger? Like over-volting? Actually, I did not over-volt the RAM except in o/c testing and even so only to 1.60v for a brief period basically 6 months BEFORE the issue arose. Are there things I need to be certain NOT to say so that I have a successful RMA?