My PC has alzheimers! (possible memory/mobo problem)

[dOuGiE2K7]

Hi everyone, first time poster here!

I have a problem with my week-old new build (plus graphics card, CD/Floppy drives from my old build). Today when I tried to boot my pc, the BIOS screen came on as normal, POSTed fine it seemed and then when it went to boot the OS, the screen was blank except a blinking cursor at the top left of the screen. I wasn't even able to get into the BIOS options or any of the other options (XPressRecovery, Qflash, etc). I left it for a few hours and then tried it again, same problem. So I started to remove components and found that when I only had 1 stick of RAM in, it would be able to load into Windows (currently running 1x2gb stick of RAM, everything seems to work ok atm, posting this from the system in question). So I tried putting the sticks of RAM into different slots and found that one slot caused the system to do short, continuous beeps, however the other slots seemed to be fine with one stick in, however with 2 sticks in I would just get the blank screen with the blinking cursor, unable to get to BIOS options or anything.

So my question(s) to you all is this: Is there any reason why I am unable to get 2 sticks of RAM going that I can fix myself? What could have caused one RAM slot to suddenly stop working? Would other components have an effect on the motherboard that could cause this to happen again?

The reason I ask these questions is that I would rather fix a problem myself, if at all possible, than have to RMA an item which can take a while. I'm aware that RMA'ing is probably the best option for this kind of problem but I'm holding out, hoping that someone might have come across the same problem and found a fix.

Spec:
Radon Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz @ 4.00GHz Overclocked Bundle
OCZ Vertex 2E 120GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive
OCZ StealthXStream 2 700W Power Supply
Maxtor 6B200M0 250gb SATA HDD
ATi Radeon HD4850
Coolermaster Elite 330 Midi Tower Case

 

[dOuGiE2K7]

Is it the same RAM stick or just the slot? Sounds like either the motherboard or RAM is faulty. Best to contact OcUK to RMA it.

I tested each stick in the 1st slot, which seems to be faulty, so I tried each ram stick individually in the other slots and they seem to work fine, however if I try to use 2 in any configuration, I get the aforementioned blank screen with blinking cursor, no warnings, nothing else, after POST.

to be honest with you, if that is just a week-old build as you say it is, i would RMA, incase of future problems, i know it would take a while but if you got it from OCUK, explain you situation and they maybe able to help you out quickly, since you have paid a lot of money for that.

Good point, I'd rather have a build last for a good few years than have headaches later on. Gonna wait till the weekend to dismantle my system and RMA the motherboard

Until then, if anyone has any helpful information, it is most welcome!

 

[dOuGiE2K7]

I would try a CMOS reset as well, but that would remove the overclock settings, so note all the overclock settings somewhere before the CMOS reset.

Tried that a few times, the OC profile is saved so I can reload it whenever i like. I tried the RAM using stock settings and OC settings and got the same results. Could the damage have been caused by having it overclocked?