Computer only boots with 1 stick of RAM

[jmandouglas]

Hello,

I built my computer nearly 2 years ago and its recently stopped working properly. Over the weeks I have experienced random crashes and now my machine will not boot with my 2 sticks of ram (Corsair CMY8GX3M2A1600C9R Vengeance Pro Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz).

I have tried both sticks separately in the correct slots and it works fine, but as soon as you put them in together my computer repeatedly powers on and off without bringing up the bios. I have tried both sticks of ram in a friends PC and they worked fine so I've ruled out the ram being faulty. I also read somewhere that I needed to replace the CMOS battery. Done this and still no luck.

I have recently brought 1 stick of 8GB ram (HyperX Fury 8 GB DDR3 1866 MHz CL10) and it works, but this is only a temp solution. My guess is that is the motherboard (GA-Z97X-Gaming 5) or maybe even the processor (Intel Core i5 4690K) that is faulty?

Any help would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks,
J.

 

[Tradesman1]

Have you tried them in slots 1-2? Do you have the latest BIOS? Try starting with 1 stick and set the DRAM voltage up + 0.05, save, exit and shut down then try adding the other stick

 

[jmandouglas]

Have you tried them in slots 1-2? Do you have the latest BIOS? Try starting with 1 stick and set the DRAM voltage up + 0.05, save, exit and shut down then try adding the other stick

Hi,

- Yes, I have tried both slots.

- Just updated the BIOS. No luck

- Tried increasing the DRAM voltage and still no luck.

Something must definitely be faulty.

What do you think the problem could be?

Cheers,
J.

 

[Tradesman1]

First guess is broken/bent pins in the CPU socket

 

[jmandouglas]

First guess is broken/bent pins in the CPU socket

Update: Tried it again this morning with the voltage increased and it booted once. I tried booting again moments later and it did not work. Does this give anymore clues?

I will have look at the CPU pins later today. Could they bend or break over time?

Thanks,
J.

 

[Tradesman1]

Could be a dying stick, pins (as mentioned, mobo going bad , PSU, might want to bench it

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1753671/bench-troubleshooting.html