Question DRAM light is on and the screen is black, how can I diagnose the issue?

May 10, 2024
2
0
10
While playing Helldivers 2 my computer bluescreened and crashed. Upon attempting to restart, the DRAM light was on steadily and orange, and the monitor is black, not even going to Bios. I have already attempted re-slotting the RAM and the Graphics card, however neither of these have worked, and I’m at a loss for how to proceed.

My components are:
Z170 ASUS board (I can’t exactly access my specs right now to identify the specific model)
Three 8GB Corsair RAM sticks (slotted into ports 1,2, and 4)
And some variety of Nvidia graphics card.

(Added parts now that I’ve discovered all I have)

CPU: intel i7
CPU Cooler: hyper 212
Motherboard: Z170 pro Gaming/Aura
RAM: three 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4
SSD: WD Black
HDD: Watson Digital 2TB
GPU: GTX 1060 Windforce OC 3G
PSU: EVGA Supernova 850 Bronze ~7 years old
OS: Windows 10
Monitor: Samsung T350

Update:

The good news:

After some trial and error, the original issue has been identified. One of the RAM sticks had gone bad, and after being removed, the computer booted up properly.

The bad news:

After successfully booting up, the computer then proceeded to blue screen and crash twice more, eventually refusing to start up at all. This issue was then diagnosed as being a corrupted/damaged windows OS, and so I attempted to reinstall windows using an external installation media I had created previously.

The worse news:

The installation media failed to work properly, and I was forced to reconfigure my SSD in order to create a partition properly formatted for the installation to proceed

The worst news:

After successfully reformatting my ssd, I restarted the computer to begin the process of installing windows once more, and was greeted by the orange screen of death. The creamsicle-colored screen striped in white. I have no idea how to proceed from here.

Update again:

The orange screen of death was caused by a corrupted windows 10 installation media. I wiped it and remade it, and the OSOD no longer appears.

Unfortunately, despite having seemingly successfully installed windows 10 again, it doesn’t seem to want to boot properly, instead returning back to the beginning of the installation process.
 
Last edited:

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Z170 ASUS board (I can’t exactly access my specs right now to identify the specific model)
Part of troubleshooting is knowing what we have to work with, you can't expect us to fly in blind with a random chipset SKU.

Try and work with one stick of ram on what should be listed as slot A2 on your motherboard and see if that helps.

Three 8GB Corsair RAM sticks (slotted into ports 1,2, and 4)
And some variety of Nvidia graphics card.

This doesn't look right, either 2 sticks or 4, not 3. You don't drive a car with 3 tires when you need 4.

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.
 
May 10, 2024
2
0
10
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Z170 ASUS board (I can’t exactly access my specs right now to identify the specific model)
Part of troubleshooting is knowing what we have to work with, you can't expect us to fly in blind with a random chipset SKU.

Try and work with one stick of ram on what should be listed as slot A2 on your motherboard and see if that helps.

Three 8GB Corsair RAM sticks (slotted into ports 1,2, and 4)
And some variety of Nvidia graphics card.

This doesn't look right, either 2 sticks or 4, not 3. You don't drive a car with 3 tires when you need 4.

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.
I have now cycled all three of my RAM sticks through A2 with no results

Also, here’s the more specific parts list (after doing some Investigation)

CPU: intel i7
CPU Cooler: hyper 212
Motherboard: Z170 pro Gaming/Aura
RAM: three 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4
SSD: WD Black
HDD: Watson Digital 2TB
GPU: GTX 1060 Windforce OC 3G
PSU: EVGA Supernova 850 Bronze ~7 years old
OS: Windows 10
Monitor: Samsung T350
 
I have now cycled all three of my RAM sticks through A2 with no results

Also, here’s the more specific parts list (after doing some Investigation)

CPU: intel i7
CPU Cooler: hyper 212
Motherboard: Z170 pro Gaming/Aura
RAM: three 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4
SSD: WD Black
HDD: Watson Digital 2TB
GPU: GTX 1060 Windforce OC 3G
PSU: EVGA Supernova 850 Bronze ~7 years old
OS: Windows 10
Monitor: Samsung T350
Make it smaller find out what it's not......unplug all disk.