BSOD - only half RAM now available

Mak3R · 4 Nov 2017 at 23:57

Hi all! I was happily playing a game and suddenly hit a BSOD with a memory error being dumped. Upon reboot, following several POST attempts I now only half 7.94GB (or 1 stick) of my 16GB available. BIOS summary reports the same, only 8GB available so it is not a windows problem.
Things I have tried;

Re-seat RAM/swapped sticks around (using slots A2 and B2 as recommended by mobo manual)
Tried with just 1 stick in slot A2, boots fine with either stick
Tried just 1 stick in slot B2, does not boot (not sure if this is expected behaviour though?)
Tried both sticks in slots A1 and B1 at once, boots fine, only 8GB showing
Rest bios to default
Reset CMOS jumped (prodded with a screwdriver, manual said to do this?
Popped out CMOS battery and reset CMOS jumper again
Ran windows mem test with both sticks in, it said no errors found, though it never gave me the report it stated I should get at next login.

I'm out of ideas. Curiously, viewing the SPD menu in bios I can view both dimms info there, so they must both be alive yet it's only letting me using one. Any ideas folks? This build is only a few weeks old so now I'm sad

BongoHunter · 5 Nov 2017 at 05:04

It sounds like you have a duff dimm, what type / brand is it?

Mak3R · 5 Nov 2017 at 11:25

BongoHunter said:
It sounds like you have a duff dimm, what type / brand is it?

Is this stuff. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...al-channel-kit-rgb-black-tf1d4-my-08m-tg.html
I assumed the same but I can boot up using either stick so perhaps it's the memory controller or something?

BongoHunter · 5 Nov 2017 at 13:20

Memory controllers are built into CPU these days, but as it sounds like both dimms are OK when used on their own then it could be your motherboard, do you have a friend you could use to test your memory? If memory is good then more likely to be a motherboard fault than the CPU itself IMO

Mak3R · 5 Nov 2017 at 15:48

BongoHunter said:
Memory controllers are built into CPU these days, but as it sounds like both dimms are OK when used on their own then it could be your motherboard, do you have a friend you could use to test your memory? If memory is good then more likely to be a motherboard fault than the CPU itself IMO

Yeah asked a friend to test it tomorrow. I might be able to borrow some RAM from work to try out as well.
Yesterday morning I re-applied the thermal paste to my CPU/cooler as I had used too much originally and temps weren't great. I cleaned the old paste off using surgical spirit. PC was fine for a couple of hours then got the crash and issues. Hopefully I didn't mess something up :S. On a positive note...my CPU temps are much better lol.

ED209 · 5 Nov 2017 at 19:11

Mak3R said:
Yesterday morning I re-applied the thermal paste to my CPU/cooler as I had used too much originally and temps weren't great. I cleaned the old paste off using surgical spirit. PC was fine for a couple of hours then got the crash and issues. Hopefully I didn't mess something up :S. On a positive note...my CPU temps are much better lol.

Try and loosen off the cpu cooler a bit as if you have done the cooler up too tight it could be bending the mobo or cpu

Mak3R · 6 Nov 2017 at 08:53

ED209 said:
Try and loosen off the cpu cooler a bit as if you have done the cooler up too tight it could be bending the mobo or cpu

Tried that thanks but no joy. Hopefully my mate remembers his RAM today to try out! Giving him mine to try on his i7 system to see if it's ok on his...

martin363 · 6 Nov 2017 at 14:35

logic says it is likely the Motherboard I am afraid

Badfish · 6 Nov 2017 at 14:41

If both sticks work individually but not together then I guess its a motherboard problem.

Mak3R · 6 Nov 2017 at 14:42

martin363 said:
logic says it is likely the Motherboard I am afraid

I know

. Will test out other ram later to confirm. Hopefully the RMA process doesn't take weeks, how will I amuse myself :O

orbitalwalsh · 6 Nov 2017 at 15:18

Mak3R said:
I know . Will test out other ram later to confirm. Hopefully the RMA process doesn't take weeks, how will I amuse myself :O

get the board from OCUK?

Mak3R · 6 Nov 2017 at 15:19

orbitalwalsh said:
get the board from OCUK?

Yep, entire system in sig is from OCUK.

orbitalwalsh · 6 Nov 2017 at 15:33

Mak3R said:
Yep, entire system in sig is from OCUK.

i believe ocuk have quicker turn around with asus then most

should help as asus mobo rma center isnt in UK

sure gibbo mentioned about asus rma with themselves once

Mak3R · 6 Nov 2017 at 17:51

orbitalwalsh said:
i believe ocuk have quicker turn around with asus then most
should help as asus mobo rma center isnt in UK
sure gibbo mentioned about asus rma with themselves once

I hope you are right! Just tried a friends ram and it displays the exact same issue. Only 8gb instead of 16. Bummer

EsaT · 6 Nov 2017 at 18:50

Mak3R said:
Re-seat RAM/swapped sticks around (using slots A2 and B2 as recommended by mobo manual)

Tried with just 1 stick in slot A2, boots fine with either stick

Tried just 1 stick in slot B2, does not boot (not sure if this is expected behaviour though?)

Tried both sticks in slots A1 and B1 at once, boots fine, only 8GB showing

Have you tried with only one DIMM in B1?
A-channel slots seem to obviously work.

Mak3R said:
Yesterday morning I re-applied the thermal paste to my CPU/cooler as I had used too much originally and temps weren't great. I cleaned the old paste off using surgical spirit. PC was fine for a couple of hours then got the crash and issues.

Is thermal paste conductive or non-conductive?
If you got conductive paste to wrong place it could have developed problem.

Mak3R · 7 Dec 2017 at 10:44

Update on this. CPU was RMA'd and sent back to AMD, faulty memory controller apparently. Got new one back last night so back up and running! Cheers to those who tried to help.

orbitalwalsh · 7 Dec 2017 at 11:11

Mak3R said:
Update on this. CPU was RMA'd and sent back to AMD, faulty memory controller apparently. Got new one back last night so back up and running! Cheers to those who tried to help.

good to hear