CPU water cooler disables memory slot?

[theheadquarters]

Hi all,

Something strange is going on... my pc (coolermaster elite 130 case) has a i7 4790K cpu, 16gb ram and a coolermaster water cooler. Since installing that cooler, lane A from the memory slots is not usable > windows crashes and I get a BSOD. Bios says 16gb of rams.
Before the coolermaster, I had a standard intel cpu cooler, everything worked fine and 16gb was active.
First I thought I had damaged lane A upon installing the watercooler. But now, I'm installing a new mobo and exactly the same thing is happening: only 8gb of ram is usable in lane B.
Ram in lane A gives again BSOD's.

How can a watercooler causes memory (lanes) to disfunction????
And more urgently: how to solve it (besides buying a small sized air cooler).

Thanks all!!

Curt

 

[superninja12]

whats your powesupply?

 

[theheadquarters]

whats your powesupply?

Hello Superninja,

750W. Should be more than enough. I tested it with bare minimums attached.
Bios says 16gb, 8gb in lane A, 8gb in lane B.
Memory was tested at the store where I bought it and was deemed in order.
Still, the system is only stable and starting up with 8 gb in lane B....

Gonna need a good miss marple or sherlock for this one I think )

With a "normal" cpu cooler, both slots worked fine. Watercooler intro: just lane b...

 

[superninja12]

whats your car?

It runs on diesel.

please whats your powersupply?

also try memtest, ramslot or the ram module might have been broken.

 

[theheadquarters]

CoolerMaster G750M 80Plus Bronze
Did all that, all in working order.


ps: Super98, no diesel ;-)

 

[superninja12]

Just to be sure.

- test both ram sticks single.
- test your ram sticks in another pc, try it with another ram kit.

 

[theheadquarters]

Just to be sure.

- test both ram sticks single.
- test your ram sticks in another pc, try it with another ram kit.

That has been done. Everything that could be checked, has been checked, twice on different systems.
It's not the cpu, it's neither of the rams, it's not the mobo, it's not the power, it's not the water cooler. all parts work fine by themselves. Everything has already been checked by me and by the techs at the store. It's when they are in this system things don't work, except with only one stick of ram, than it boots and is stable.

I can think of 2 solutions:
stick to 8gb of ram, or buy a cheap small sized LGA1150 cpu cooler for the i7, then the 2 slots work.

 

[superninja12]

It is so unual, I cant figure out why it wouldn't work, I hope someone else can help you.

 

[theheadquarters]

It is so unual, I cant figure out why it wouldn't work, I hope someone else can help you.

Yes, I do too.

It doesn't make any sense why it should not work.
I have built and repaired numerous systems, but this one has me going on for hours, days...

Anyway, thank you very much for replying to my call, SuperNinja. It's been much appreciated.

 

[theheadquarters]

Small update: i tossed the water cooler out, installed an old aircooler with pushpins attachment, booted up: voila 16gb ram again! system up and running all be it with a much to small cooler....

Go figure hey....

 

[superninja12]

Small update: i tossed the water cooler out, installed an old aircooler with pushpins attachment, booted up: voila 16gb ram again! system up and running all be it with a much to small cooler....

Go figure hey....

almost certain your pump was drawing too much energy. did you attach a sta cable to a fan header?

 

[theheadquarters]

Small update: i tossed the water cooler out, installed an old aircooler with pushpins attachment, booted up: voila 16gb ram again! system up and running all be it with a much to small cooler....

Go figure hey....

almost certain your pump was drawing too much energy. did you attach a sta cable to a fan header?

what kind of a cable?
fan headers (4pins) only had 2 cables attached (coolerpump/ventilators).
But I think it must be something among those lines: power consumption.
I have a be quiet! Dark Rock 4 Pro aircooler for LGA1150 in stock too, but I think that's gonne be the same problem. Or not?

 

[superninja12]

that isn't right. what cooler did you have?

 

[theheadquarters]

that isn't right. what cooler did you have?

The watercooler was a coolermaster seidon 120.
The one I installed now again: intel standard cooler.
It's something like this one: https://enligne.microdatabr.com/en/cooling-for-processor/21116-refroidisseur-de-processeur-115011561155775-cooler-master-.html

 

[Karadjgne]

No way it's power draw. Not unless there's an actual issue with the motherboard. The pump and any other fan headers are on a 12v buss, totally separate from the ram voltage which I believe is on the 3.3v rail. And a totally separate buss. Even if you packed every fan header, you are looking at a 40w draw at best, chump change for that psu.

My only thought is that there's maybe some sort of issue with the backplate of the pump making or pressuring the socket and causing a physical issue, either by short or bleed.

My msi z77 actually has circuitry components on the back side of the mobo, right at the edges of the socket. Didn't dare use the metal backplate, so used the older plastic one and some spacers when installing my pump. The metal backplate would have most definitely crushed/interfered with those diodes etc. Bad design, but would not be an issue with a stock pushpin cooler or a 'X' backplate, but the square one was an issue.

 

[theheadquarters]

No way it's power draw. Not unless there's an actual issue with the motherboard. The pump and any other fan headers are on a 12v buss, totally separate from the ram voltage which I believe is on the 3.3v rail. And a totally separate buss. Even if you packed every fan header, you are looking at a 40w draw at best, chump change for that psu.

My only thought is that there's maybe some sort of issue with the backplate of the pump making or pressuring the socket and causing a physical issue, either by short or bleed.

My msi z77 actually has circuitry components on the back side of the mobo, right at the edges of the socket. Didn't dare use the metal backplate, so used the older plastic one and some spacers when installing my pump. The metal backplate would have most definitely crushed/interfered with those diodes etc. Bad design, but would not be an issue with a stock pushpin cooler or a 'X' backplate, but the square one was an issue.

That is a possibility too: the back plate of the cooler.
Look at the picture in this link for the backplate: https://www.pcper.com/files/imagecache/article_max_width/review/2014-04-12/DSCF0096_0.jpg

 

[theheadquarters]

Final update > SOLVED

When mentioning the backplate of the watercooler could also be the problem, I went back in, removed the old aircooler and reattached the watercooler, only this time without the backplate, using screw with isolation to hold down the base of the cooler. Watercooler attached securely, installed 16gig of ram, SSD and hit the start button and... success!!
Win boots in 18 secs showing 16gb of rams with the watercooler working as it should!!

So, in the end the backplate probably touched something on the mobo causing lane A of the mem slots getting into trouble.

Thank you all for replying to my call for help. It's very much appreciated.

All my best,
Curt

 

[ElectrO_90]

Someone else had a similar problem in this forum, and it was attached "too tight" to the motherboard.

 

[theheadquarters]

Someone else had a similar problem in this forum, and it was attached "too tight" to the motherboard.

That could have been the case here also. I usually turn the screws until the "lock", I never push them. But who knows. Could have been the case. Glad it's solved now

Now it's the long journey of reinstalling all software. Time for a large coffee

 

[Karadjgne]

Nice.