Fitted cooler - ram slot not working

[mrlip]

Hi all

I have fitted a artic freezer pro 13 today and I have a strange problem that has arisen from doing so. One of my ram slots, slot a which is closest to the cpu has stopped working. I have 2 4gb ram sticks. I can confirm the ram is working fine, both sticks work in slot b. But slot a wont read either. The motherboard is as rock extreme. I have tried removing and reseating the ram several times but nothing. It is definitely in the slot fully. The clearance on the cooler to the ram slot is tight but there is no contact between the 2. Any suggestions???

 

[Guest]

Try switching back to the stock cooler and see if the slot returns to normal function. The problem with these huge aftermarket coolers is that they put a lot of stress on the motherboard, and sometimes the torsion created by the cooler's weight can loosen the surrounding soldering, which seems to be the problem in your case.

 

[smorizio]

also if you over tighten a after market cooler on an intel cpu you can bend the lid into the chip under the cooler and cause errors.

 

[Tradesman1]

I'd try loosening the cooler then snug it down, not overly tight, but snug and give it a try, if one corner or sidde is too tight the CPU won't sit level and make full contact as it should which more often than not affects the MC (memory controller)

 

[mrlip]

Thanks for the quick answers everyone.

I dont really want to put the stock cooler back on now. It will mean completely reapplying the tim and it was a rubbish stock cooler, my temps were running high.

I will try loosening the screws a little tomorrow - I did tighten them to the max I could. Thanks for your help, will report back tomorrow.

 

[Tradesman1]

No worries, let us know how it goes 😉

 

[mrlip]

Hi again

I have loosened the screws both sides but still nothing. I tried it with thr screws snug as suggested. Any looser and the cooler was wobbly to touch. I have even tried re flashing bios just incase but nothing. Anyone any ideas?

 

[mrlip]

Ì guess an alternative if I cant get it working is to swap my 2x 4gb for 1x8gb but ideally would be good if I could get it working again!!

 

[Tradesman1]

4 SLots? try in 2-4 or even slots 3-4 (from CPU)

 

[mrlip]

No unfortunately there are only 2 slots on this board. One thing I haven't checked is to see if cpu-z detects both sticks.

Edit, is it worth resetting the cmos?

 

[Tradesman1]

Can't hurt, unless you have a big OC, or running a RAID, those types of things (and don't forget to reset date and time in BIOS)

 

[mrlip]

Can't hurt, unless you have a big OC, or running a RAID, those types of things (and don't forget to reset date and time in BIOS)

I have checked cpu-z and that doesnt read slot 1 ram stick either. I am away now until Thursday so will check a cmos reset when I return. In the meantime can anyone recommend a 1x 8gb module? Ideally at least 1600mhz cl9 as that is what my 2x 4gb ones were

 

[mrlip]

Just as a back up I have ordered this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/r.html?R=2YMLJHHWCLOQV&C=11P1MGQVK7Z7I&H=DHBJC5DX16MYILMEEDO4KIQIQIUA&T=C&U=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fdp%2FB00A14ZTWE%2Fref%3Dpe_385721_37986871_TE_item

Will try hav one last go at getting it fixed on Thursday

 

[Tradesman1]

Will be looking for the update

 

[mrlip]

Ok fitted the 8GB stick and all is well. It didnt work in the non working slot which is no surprise.

One thing i noticed, if I fit a stick into the working slot slightly unseated or incorrectly, I get the constant boot 3 second loop normally associated with bad/missing ram. If I fit it into the non working slot and no RAM in the working slot, the machine will stay powered on and booted but I get a black screen and no video output??