Question Can the F8b BIOS update cause ram slots to stop working ?

[Floppers]

Hello. I have an older pc and recently upgraded a few of the parts. After doing this though, 2 of my ram slots stopped working and cause the infinite starting loop when any ram is inserted into those slots. Wondering if anyone could please give me advice on what could have caused it if not the BIOS update.
I went from:

GA-H97M-D3H / F4 BIOS
Intel i5-4690 CPU
GTX 1050 Ti GPU
400W PSU
24GB Kingfast DDR3 RAM

to this:

GA-H97M-D3H / F8b BIOS
Intel i7 4790K CPU
RTX 3060 TI GPU
550W PSU
16GB Kingfast DDR3 RAM

Most of the new items are 2nd hand, but they were in such perfect condition that you couldn't even tell.

I already tried:

• Gently using alcohol and Q tips to clean the slots.
• Using air pressure to flush out dust.
• Checked if CPU pins were bent.
• Resetting CMOS.

Please assist. Thanks

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

400W PSU
+
550W PSU
You've mentioned the advertised wattage of the PSU's, what are the makes and model of the units?
Most of the new items are 2nd hand, but they were in such perfect condition that you couldn't even tell.
If the latter PSU has been in service for a while, include it's age and hat it powered prior to your rig.

24GB Kingfast DDR3 Ram
+
16GB Kingfast DDR3 Ram.
How did you change the load out from 24GB to 16GB?

Resetting CMOS.
You're advised to disconnect from the wall and display, remove the CMOS battery, press and hold down the power button for 30 secs to drain any residual power, then replace the CMOS battery after 30 mins.

Gently using alcohol and Q tips to clean the slots.
You could also use an eraser to wipe the gold fingers on the ram sticks, wipe clean off of any eraser lint, then reseat the sticks of ram.

Curious, did you update the BIOS with the upgrades in place or were you on your older hardware when you updated the BIOS?

Rtx 3060TI GPU
550W PSU
One other observation, the RTX3000 series GPU's were notorious for high transient load spikes;

View: https://youtu.be/wnRyyCsuHFQ

and as such users buying into them, in spite of investing on reliably built PSU's, were advised to overprovision on their PSU's, meaning you needed to look into a 750W or higher wattage PSU.

 

[Floppers]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
Thank you

"...what are the makes and model of the units?..."
The 400 was actually one of those "advertised as 550W" but it's main current was only 400.
The 550W is a "FSP HV PRO 550W 80Plus" seen here https://www.fsplifestyle.com/en/product/HVPRO550W.html
It was not that old and was told it has only been used for a month, similar to the gpu.

"How did you change the load out from 24GB to 16GB?"
All 3 sticks are the same so I simply tried placing them all in different slots.
3x8gb to 2x8gb. I also tried completely different models with no difference like 2x8 2x4 and variations of slots.

"You're advised to disconnect from the wall..."
I did this perfectly then

"...were you on your older hardware when you updated the BIOS"
Yes. Then went on to use that setup for a full day before finally upgrading the parts.

Will look into a higher PSU once I have the funds, thanks for the advice. I was actually told the same by a tech shop I visited but they did confirm that the PSU was not the cause of the slot issue.

 

[cruisetung]

See if you can set memory at a lower speed 1333

 

[Floppers]

See if you can set memory at a lower speed 1333

Will try this in time and see if it makes a difference thanks.
(noticed that for some reason I can't access BIOS without it freezing on a black screen unless I use a vga cable to access it...which I don't currently have near me hehe) Guessing monitor too old.

 

[BFG-9000]

No, but here under section 8.4 for Haswell, the Package Insertion Specifications specify a maximum durability limit for the processor of 15 insertions.

The reason for this limit is each time the processor is installed, tiny dents are imprinted onto the pads, and if this surface gets too rough then the pads for say, a whole memory channel can have insufficient contact with the socket pins and cause that channel to become unreliable.

I'd suggest removing and reinstalling the new processor as you may get luckier the next time + just happen to have the pins contact a less damaged part of the pads, but if that doesn't work then try putting your old processor back in.

This is one of the hazards of buying used parts in that you don't know how many times they were used or how they were treated, or even if they were sold because they developed a problem.

 

[Floppers]

"...This is one of the hazards of buying used parts in that you don't know how many times they ..."

Hi, thanks for the response. The cpu I got from a massive distribution center in China so the only way it would be damaged would be thanks to shipping bumps which I already checked for, but of course cpus are so fragile that they could be damaged on a level I haven't noticed. Hoping that's not the case. Will add this to the list of things to test out, thank you

 

[SkyNetRising]

Rtx 3060TI GPU
550W PSU

Minimum recommended PSU for RTX 3060 ti is 600W.

2 of my ram slots stopped working
I already tried:
Checked if CPU pins were bent.

Check again. Your described symptoms are typical for bent/broken pins in cpu socket.
Even slightest pin misalignment can cause no contact.

Make several high resolution photos of cpu socket from different angles and show here.
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[Floppers]

...Make several high resolution photos...

Thanks for responding. I have a busy weekend, but will do this as soon as I have the opportunity and definitely planning on getting a higher watt PSU as well.

 

[BFG-9000]

The cpu I got from a massive distribution center in China so the only way it would be damaged would be thanks to shipping bumps which I already checked for, but of course cpus are so fragile that they could be damaged on a level I haven't noticed.

I too have ordered used processors from China, knowing full well they were salvaged from the e-waste we sent them for recycling. Where else would they get so many of such old processors to sell?

Some of them seemed to have been handled pretty roughly, with deep dents in the IHS that raised a crater rim, which would have prevented the heatsink from seating flat if I hadn't sanded them off. Either there was no heatsink on it when the whole motherboard was tossed into the trash pile, or it happened when whoever ripped it out threw it into a bin. Nickel-plated copper may not be terribly hard but it still takes considerable force to dent it. As you'd expect, even an almost invisible dent on the PCB side could cost a memory channel. So best to carefully inspect the pads as well.

Most of these sellers are pretty good about DOA warranty at least for 15 days.

 

[Floppers]

So...I was taking photos of the cpu socket, noticed that there was some dust that was hard to see, cleaned it and voila, my ram works again. 🤣 Lol I didn't know dust could do that.
Went from this:

https://imgur.com/a/5qcvHXw

View: https://imgur.com/a/5qcvHXw


To this:

https://imgur.com/a/bQNK7XB

View: https://imgur.com/a/bQNK7XB


Anyways. Couldn't thank you all enough for the advice. I am glad I didn't ignore it and decided to ask on this website.
Thanks so much guys
(Will look into a better PSU and the BIOS issue in the near future)