Question Can overclocking RAM lead to an unbootable PC?

[Yelloww]

Hello,


First off; my specs:

Intel i5-6600k @4.4GHz 1.27v
Phanteks PH-TC12DX Dual-Tower CPU Cooler
ASUS Z170-A LGA1151 ATX Motherboard
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 2400MHz Memory
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM Hard Disk Drive
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980Ti XTREME Gaming 6GB Video Card
EVGA SuperNOVA 650w G2 80+ GOLD Power Supply


So 2-3 weeks ago, after extensive research I decided to change my old CPU overclock (4.5GHz 1.33v).

Thing is, during the period when I used to run 4.5GHz 1.33v, I had my RAM overclocked from stock 2400MHz to 2700MHz (X.M.P). I had no problem whatsoever until I decided to tone it down to 4.4GHz and 1.27v.

A week ago, as I was playing a game of Battlefield V, my PC turns off all of a sudden and it refused to power on. (Won't even post, PC would basically spin the fans for half a second after pressing on the power button and will shut off again). I swapped my RAM, from slots 2-4 to 1-3 and it seemed to have fixed it (Highly doubt this fixed it, cause my memory clock in the BIOS was still 2700MHz. Mind you I was spending 20-30 minutes swapping the slots over panic).

The same week prior to the issue getting fixed, I decided to overclock my RAM from 2700MHz to 2800MHz to see if it's a memory problem.

It looked as if it was stable until today (8 days later), for it to have the same problem again. Once again, I swapped and the issue was fixed, but this time I reverted the memory clock back to stock 2400MHz.

Right now I am carefully monitoring my PC to see whether if it shuts off again to confirm whether if it's a problem with unstable RAM speed.

The main question here is, can higher RAM frequencies lead to an unbootable PC? Should I stay away from RAM overclocking as a whole until I have more knowledge of it or am I supposed to up my CPU voltage a little more? I've run 30 minutes of Prime95 Blend under mentioned CPU overclock and it had zero issue.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Ivan96]

Yes,overclocking ram can lead to unbootable PC,and to all kinds off errors and stability issues

 

[Deleted member 14196]

It certainly can lead to an unbootable computer but you should be able to clear your CMOS and reboot just fine. No I hope you have not damage the ram

 

[Yelloww]

Alright, thanks for the quick response. But do you guys have any idea why everything goes back to normal after changing RAM to different slots or is it that the motherboard somehow changes the configuration to when it was last stable, or could it be that leaving the power off for 20-30 minutes changes the settings to last stable configuration? I haven't touched the CMOS at ALL since my CPU cooler blocks the entirety of it

 

[jfriend00]

Alright, thanks for the quick response. But do you guys have any idea why everything goes back to normal after changing RAM to different slots or is it that the motherboard somehow changes the configuration to when it was last stable, or could it be that leaving the power off for 20-30 minutes changes the settings to last stable configuration? I haven't touched the CMOS at ALL since my CPU cooler blocks the entirety of it

If you're putting two sticks of RAM into a motherboard that has four slots, then the motherboard documentation will tell you which two slots you should be using for the two sticks. This is very important. My ASRock motherboard won't boot at all if I put the two sticks in the wrong slots and that is expected. You have to follow directions for this.

 

[Yelloww]

If you're putting two sticks of RAM into a motherboard that has four slots, then the motherboard documentation will tell you which two slots you should be using for the two sticks. This is very important. My ASRock motherboard won't boot at all if I put the two sticks in the wrong slots and that is expected. You have to follow directions for this.

I'm 100% sure I've inserted both RAM sticks in their respected slots specially since they are color-coded (Slot 1-3 and slot 2-4). When I initially did this, my pc still wouldn't post, but after 20-30 minutes (Which is the same time interval as me swapping the ram sticks to said slots), it goes back to normal again. Why is that? I could never understand how that happens...

 

[jfriend00]

I'm 100% sure I've inserted both RAM sticks in their respected slots specially since they are color-coded (Slot 1-3 and slot 2-4). When I initially did this, my pc still wouldn't post, but after 20-30 minutes (Which is the same time interval as me swapping the ram sticks to said slots), it goes back to normal again. Why is that? I could never understand how that happens...

Here's the diagram from your motherboard manual.

Two DIMMs go in A2 and B2.

 

[Yelloww]

Here's the diagram from your motherboard manual.

Two DIMMs go in A2 and B2.

Yep, I've exactly installed my RAM in that very same configuration, and when I meant by "back to normal", I mean that my PC did post successfully and now I am wondering how it didn't post on the 1st try with the same configuration, but after 20-30 minutes it does post.