Question One of My RAM's suddenly not working/detecting and PC won't boot

[Hello_it's_me]

Hey guys,

I am very new to PC building and last night was the first time I built my own PC. After updating windows, one of my RAM's malfunctioning and I do not understand why.

Here's my system's specs
CPU: Ryzen 7 5800x
CPU cooler: Lian Li Galahad 360 AIO
GPU: 3060 Strix
MB: Asus B550-A Strix
RAM: G Skill Trident Z Royal 32G (16X2)

Here's the issue. When I first booted my PC, my MB recognized both 16GB RAM . But after a windows update earlier during the day, I suddenly started seeing a DRAM error light on my MB (The RGB light is turned on on both RAMs).

These are the things I've tried and I suspect it's my RAM issue/

1. Switching from A2/B2 to A1/B2
2. Disassembling MB
3. When I plug in my working RAM to all 4 DIMM slots separately on its own, it works (This is why I don't think it's my MB issue as I think this means the DIMM slots are fine)
4. The faulty RAM I suspect does not work on its own (I see a yellow DRAM warning when I try to boot alone in all DIMM slots)
5. I reset my bios and updated it, it still can't recognize my 2nd faulty RAM I suspect when placed as a dual channel, but boots perfectly when I only put the working RAM on any DIMM slot.

I'm just really confused because this problem came out from nowhere as when I first assembled my PC and it booted fine, my MB recognized both RAMs and I had 32G of memory. But after an update, it suddenly stopped.

Any help or insight would be great here.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Try and reflash the BIOS with the latest version, manually, then clear the CMOS(power down system, disconnect from the wall and display, remove the battery from the board for at least 30 mins before replacing). See if that alleviates the issue.

Does the culprit ram work on a donor system?

 

[Hello_it's_me]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Try and reflash the BIOS with the latest version, manually, then clear the CMOS(power down system, disconnect from the wall and display, remove the battery from the board for at least 30 mins before replacing). See if that alleviates the issue.

Does the culprit ram work on a donor system?

Hi, thanks for the reply!

Unfortunately, I don't have another system to see if the culprit RAM is indeed faulty or not. I've also tried reflashing and CMOS, but it seems like the problem's still there. Since I don't think this is my MB or CPU's issue, I'm gonna call amazon or G skill to see if I can get a new pair. In the meanwhile I guess I'll be using my system with just 1 16GB RAM.

 

[Lutfij]

You don't have a friend or neighbor who might have a platform on which you can use your ram on?

 

[Hello_it's_me]

You don't have a friend or neighbor who might have a platform on which you can use your ram on?

No unfortunately I don't all my friends live pretty far.

I'll try to see and get a new pair of RAM because I highly doubt this can be a MB issue? I can place my working RAM on Any A1,A2,B1,B2 and my PC will boot, but the faulty culprit will only give me a yellow DRAM warning on any DIMM slot. Unless there's another reason why my MB cannot recognize dual channel?

 

[Lutfij]

A corrupt BIOS can cause an issue similar to yours. Try and see what your seller and G.Skill have to say about the lone faulty stick. Having another platform to drop the faulty stick of ram would surely put the nail in the coffin if the ram that's presumed to be faulty doesn't work on the known working system...I wasn't pinning the blame on the motherboard, I was following procedure to rule out one component or the other, which is known as a process of elimination, which is also what troubleshooting is. Swap parts and then come to logical conclusion, as opposed to pointing a finger and hoping it's the issue.

 

[Hello_it's_me]

A corrupt BIOS can cause an issue similar to yours. Try and see what your seller and G.Skill have to say about the lone faulty stick. Having another platform to drop the faulty stick of ram would surely put the nail in the coffin if the ram that's presumed to be faulty doesn't work on the known working system...I wasn't pinning the blame on the motherboard, I was following procedure to rule out one component or the other, which is known as a process of elimination, which is also what troubleshooting is. Swap parts and then come to logical conclusion, as opposed to pointing a finger and hoping it's the issue.

Yeah, it's really frustrating because I can't test this faulty RAM on another device. I do have an interesting update though.

From left to right, my MB's DIMM is listed as B1/B2/A1/A2, and I have been placing my faulty + working RAM on B1/A1 as a dual chamber. I haven't tried using both RAMs on single chamber so when I connected them to B1/B2, it actually worked and my PC turned on, recognizing them both and showing that my PC has 32GB of RAM.

I didn't know what was causing this so I restarted my PC (with RAM B1/B2) and to no surprise, it did not work again and I was seeing a yellow light on my MB DRAM error indicator. Think at this point I'm 99% confident I just lucked out with my RAM. Hopefully after getting it replaced or returned, it'll solve the issue. Thank you for the suggestions, I really appreciate it.