This is a newbie question so please bear with me. Why would the RAM cause installation to fail with a SSD when the same RAM appears to work fine with the old HDD and does not report an issue with MemTest86? Shouldn't it be the case of the BIOS or motherboard which is causing this failure? For example DELL states that despite its Laptops having SATA some of its models will not support SSD. Am I missing something over here?
Because it can cause errors and crashes. One of the biggest issues I saw when all the z170 motherboards first launched was people buying ram that wasn't on the QVL. If you look at some of the motherboard user reviews from last year, people couldn't get it to work properly in XMP mode, some were experiencing random crashes, and some couldn't even start their computer. After the manufacturers updated their BIOS over the last 9 months, a lot of those issues have been fixed.
In short, RAM that is not fully compatible can cause minor issues or they can prevent the computer from starting all together.
Also, it could be the RAM is not an issue. It could be your that your laptop, for whatever reasons, has issues with the 840 EVO. You might want to send an email to their tech support. They may already be aware there are issues.