Question One of my DIMM slots suddenly stopped working ?

[jowmee]

Suddenly, today, I realized my computer was showing only half of the usual amount of RAM. The weird thing is that BIOS was recognizing both sticks, but both Windows and Linux didn't. So, I tried multiple combinations of sticks + slots and realized both sticks were fine, but one of the slots are dead. When I put only one stick in the dead slot, the PC doesn't boot. The motherboard is a Gigabyte A320M-S2H.

My outlet is not grounded, and I have a kind of lousy power strip. Last week I touched it and disconnected the power plug inadvertently. I could hear a "zapping" sound. There were some power outages in the last weeks as well. Could this have killed the slot? I want to know so I don't kill another motherboard when I replace it. I've read it could be a bent CPU pin, but the CPU wasn't touched in several months.


Thanks in advance for any help =)

 

[lvt]

If the slot's contact pins are fine, there might be a capacitor being faulty.

Anyway you still can put a 16GB on the working slot.

 

[Misgar]

A non-grounded mains supply connected to an ATX PSU is a safety hazard, i.e. DANGEROUS.

If a fault develops inside your ATX PSU and it's not earthed, the case could become "live" and LETHAL. The protective earth ensures any in-line mains fuse or circuit breaker will trip immediately when a fault current flows down to ground.

Without a mains safety earth, the fuse/breaker won't trip and the metal computer case could "float" up to 340V DC or 230V/110V AC during a fault condition and you could suffer a fatal electric shock.

Any device with a 3-pin mains input (e.g. ATX PSU) MUST be earthed. Any device with a 2-pin mains input (e.g. some laptop PSUs) feature "double isolation" and do not need to be earthed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system

Throw away your dodgy power strip immediately and get a qualified electrician to repair the safety earth in your faulty mains outlet.

Alternatively, take a length of 1mm2 or16AWG wire (prerably with green/yellow insulation) and connect the chassis of your computer to a metal pipe that ends up buried in the ground, e.g. a central heating radiator pipe (provided it's metal and not plastic). Alternatively connect your green/yellow wire to an earth spike buried in damp soil.

If you're not worried about getting a fatal mains shock, carry on exactly as before. An accident might never happen. On the other hand, you don't want die just yet do you? Play safe. Get it fixed.