Having incredible difficulties with CMU16GX4M2C3200C16B on Ryzen - Any help?!

Hi,

I made a Reddit post about my current issues with my RAM on a Ryzen platform and someone told me that people here are pretty good at helping out with issues so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I'm running a Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 Motherboard, R5 1600X and the DDR4-3200 Blue LED Vengeance RAM (CMU16GX4M2C3200C16B). I was able to get the RAM to operate at 2666Mhz tops, which was fine by me, using the Ryzen Master utility. Any attempt at using the BIOS would result in settings not saving and applying, or using XMP would cause it to issue 3 tones when trying to POST (memory error) for a total of three restarts before the BIOS reset itself to safe settings. The OS originally said 8GB was "hardware reserved", but I rectified that by editing a setting (can't remember the specific setting, but it was a fix many had done online).

Today, I lost my ability to get the RAM above 2133Mhz at all. I got pissed off at PUBG and alt+f4'd (classic issue...) and the screen cut to solid static. I'm used to this issue by now, it happens about twice daily and usually it returns after a second. This time, it didn't return so I turned the PC off and turned it back on. The dreaded three-tones "memory error" had returned, and I hadn't tweaked any settings. The BIOS performed a self-wipe, and when I returned to the desktop at last, the RAM had reverted to 2133Mhz and 8GB was hardware reserved again. The default timings (according to Ryzen Master, format may be different) are CAS Latency: 15, Row Precharge Delay: 15, RAS Active Time: 36, Read-Row Column Delay: 15 and Write Row-Column Delay: 15. I had it working at CAS 16, RAS 38 and all the others on 18 at 2666Mhz, yet suddenly after a week of being Gucci it decided to break on me. My current theory is that my fix for the 8GB hardware reserved bug never really fixed it. I never pushed above 8GB during any situation before or after I changed it to recognise all my RAM, but I figure PUBG might have suffered a memory leak which pushed into that second 8GB and the PC didn't like that whatsoever. Either way, I'm unable to POST above 2133Mhz at all now, on any sort of timings. Help!

Edit:

I'd like to clarify that this is only the second build I've ever done. My first build was using an FX-6300 and there was never a single mention of QVLs or compatibility lists with that. I was aware of Ryzen having issues with RAM, but then I heard about the AGESA update that apparently fixed a lot of issues, so I pulled the trigger on the things I wanted. Hindsight is truly 20/20. The page where I bought my mobo from said 3200Mhz was compatible, but made no mention of specific sticks working and others not playing nicely. I put my trust in Scan and they didn't really tell me the full story. I've had so many people say "have you checked the QVL" which isn't really good advice at this stage! If I could wind back time and know about the QVL and things like that, you can bet I'd be checking it back-to-front and upside-down, but sadly that's not an option now.