[SOLVED] RAM keeps dying or acting up

[nova2]

Hi. I have a problem with RAM keep dying for no apparent reason. I've built this PC, and I've gone through many pairs of RAM sticks. I've recently changed my PSU, and got a new pair of RAM sticks cause the old pair broke again. It's only been a couple of weeks, and I just got another BSOD due to memory management error. Does anyone know what could cause this? Is it possible that the motherboard is killing the RAM? Or even the CPU? Would it be possible that i would have to replace all the parts and just do a new build?

My rig:

ASUS Maximus IX Hero MB
GTX 1070
i7-6700k
Corsair Vengeance 2X8GB 2666 Mhz
Seasonic Focus Gold 650w PSU

 

[Darkbreeze]

You cannot be using a Maximus XI Hero with an i7-6700k. The XI Hero is a Z390 motherboard and is not compatible with that 6th Gen Skylake CPU. You must have typed the wrong name of the motherboard or the wrong CPU.

 

[nova2]

You cannot be using a Maximus XI Hero with an i7-6700k. The XI Hero is a Z390 motherboard and is not compatible with that 6th Gen Skylake CPU. You must have typed the wrong name of the motherboard or the wrong CPU.

Yes, I meant 6700k.

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, the Hero XI is not compatible with the 6700k. Either you have an 8700k/9700k or you have some other motherboard. The Hero XI is completely incompatible with 6th and 7th gen Intel processors.

 

[nova2]

Sorry, its the IX not XI.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ah, ok.

So, the first thing I would do is remove the CPU cooler and CPU, and check the motherboard pin bed in the CPU socket VERY closely for any bent or slightly deviated pins. If you find nothing there, even using magnification like a magnifying glass or high powered reading glasses, then it might be a good idea to remove the motherboard from the case and make sure that there are no standoffs in the wrong place under the motherboard, that do not line up directly with the mounting holes in the motherboard, and that no screws or fasteners were trapped between the motherboard and case when the motherboard was first installed.

Any of those things could cause a short that could potentially cause memory problems.

Prior to doing that though, I would make sure that you have the MOST recent motherboard BIOS version installed and that you have the memory modules installed in the second and fourth slots over from the CPU socket, going towards the edge of the motherboard. A2 and B2 will be the designation for most dual channel motherboards.

 

[nova2]

I will do that when I have time. On a side note, i just finished running memtest86, and it seems that my new RAM kit shows no errors.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You ran four passes of all eleven tests in Memtest86, using the i3?

 

[nova2]

Yea, no errors in any of the passes. But something is weird though, when I tried to go into BIOS to boot into my OS harddrive, it froze completely for a couple of times during the screen where it asks me to press F2/del to go into BIOS after I press F2 or del. I had to reset my PC a couple of times before getting in the BIOS to change my booting options. This has never happened before.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Try this.


BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes, press the power button on the case for 30 seconds. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP, A-XMP or D.O.C.P profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

It is probably also worth mentioning that for anything that might require an attempt to DO a hard reset in the first place, IF the problem is related to a lack of video signal, it is a GOOD IDEA to try a different type of display as many systems will not work properly for some reason with displayport configurations. It is worth trying HDMI if you are having no display or lack of visual ability to enter the BIOS, or no signal messages.