bakahk
Since original post I have reinstalled the stock 32GB sticks and ran MemTest86 on them, each pass was successful with 0 errors thrown.
I do believe the upgrade kit sticks are faulty, and I’m in the process of returning them.
I don’t have another system that will allow me to test them due to compatibility limitations.
I gave Crucial a call and they confirmed the model is conpatible with my GTi14 Ultra 9 185H, and that it sounds like the sticks are at fault themselves.
From what I’ve gathered, there should ne no additional updates re: BIOS or drivers necessary in order for these to work as intended out of the box with an upgrade. But I will leave that open for confirmation from anyone here that may choose to do so if they have some additional information that I may have missed.
Thank you guys!