odd ram problem

[MLMIB]

first time building a PC in a decade, my 20's got in the way

threw together an i8400, MSI-B360-A Pro and some patriot viper ram 16gb (2x8gb) in a case and decent power supply

question 1) is the PCIE-PWR connector mandatory? I'm going on board video to start, I'll pick up a mid range video card in a bit, but oddly my EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G2 doesn't have that plug. I thought it was a good power supply, am I wrong?

question 2) the computer won't boot with ram in dim slot 1 or 2, it'll work fine with either stick in slot 3 or 4, and I can even load both sticks in 3 and 4, but that doesn't get me dual channel ram. I've tried testing sticks one at a time and no luck. thoughts?

Thanks for the help

 

[Johan45]

First that PSU should have two of the 6+2 PCIe power cables according to the specs. You won't need that for the iGPU.
If the RAM isn't working in 1 and 2 likely there's a bad channel on the motherboard. You can try resetting the BIOS, they should work in slots 2 and 4 if they don' and the ram is fine it's your board.

 

[Alaric]

Ditto on the PSU. I have one and my GTX 1070 uses both 6+2 plugs. The plugs should be marked PCI-E. The manual calls for dual channel DIMMS to be in slots A2 (slot 2) and B2 (slot 4) on that board.

 

[wingman99]

+1 on the memory in the correct slots according to the manual. Otherwise it might not post. Sometimes the slot pins are making poor contact with the memory try cleaning with a clean toothbrush.