[SOLVED] RAM or Motherboard?

[pixelmurderer92]

Hello,

Today I was playing a game and my computer froze all of a sudden, and a loud buzzing sound was coming out of the headphones.
The temperature indicator on the motherboard was frozen too, the mouse cursor, the entire system, nothing was moving. I had to shut it down by holding down the power button.

I waited a minute and tried to turn it back on, but it would not turn on. The fans would begin spinning (PC turning on) for about 2 seconds then it would power off, then back on by itself after 2 seconds, then back off again. I couldn't even stop it by holding down the power button this time, I had to turn off the power using the button on the PSU.

My cousin said he had a similar issue and it was related to either his Motherboard or RAM, but he never found out which one it was; he upgraded his whole system at the time.
I am using 2 RAM sticks (Corsair Vengeance, DDR3, 1600MHz, 1.5V, 2x4GB, 9-9-9-24 CL), my motherboard (MSI Z97 Gaming 5) has 4 RAM slots, I was using the 1st and the 3rd (to keep space between them for better ventilation or w/e).
I've been using this computer that way without an issue for over 2-3 years, so I know it's not bad RAM placement or anything.

What I did to troubleshoot:
• I tried removing one of the RAM Sticks, and the computer turned on just fine.
• Then I tried to replace the existing RAM stick with the one I removed, and the problem happened again.
• I tried putting it in different RAM slots - didn't work either.
( So I assumed it was a dead RAM stick.)
• After about 3 hours of gaming (running only light games like RuneScape to avoid stressing it until I get a new RAM) the computer froze again - with a buzzing sound again coming out of the headphones, the exact same way it did at first.
Again, I shut it down by holding the power button. This time I moved that RAM Stick to a different slot.
I tried to check my BIOS settings after restarting. The BIOS menu was freezing for about 10-20 seconds, then unfreezing for 5-10, then freezing again. I checked the settings, everything seemed ok, so I just booted normally.

The computer turned on normally now and hasn't frozen since (It's been about 1 hour, but I haven't played any games, fearing it might happen again). I'm freaking out trying to understand what's going on, so I could really use some help.

I've ordered a new couple of RAM sticks which will arrive in 2-3 days so I can at least figure out whether or not it's the RAM, but I won't be certain it's the Motherboard if the new RAM Sticks have the same issue. Could it be something else? I am a rookie when it comes to hardware stuff, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[kanewolf]

Hello,

Today I was playing a game and my computer froze all of a sudden, and a loud buzzing sound was coming out of the headphones.
The temperature indicator on the motherboard was frozen too, the mouse cursor, the entire system, nothing was moving. I had to shut it down by holding down the power button.

I waited a minute and tried to turn it back on, but it would not turn on. The fans would begin spinning (PC turning on) for about 2 seconds then it would power off, then back on by itself after 2 seconds, then back off again. I couldn't even stop it by holding down the power button this time, I had to turn off the power using the button on the PSU.

My cousin said he had a similar issue and it was related to either his Motherboard or RAM, but he never found out which one it was; he upgraded his whole system at the time.
I am using 2 RAM sticks (Corsair Vengeance, DDR3, 1600MHz, 1.5V, 2x4GB, 9-9-9-24 CL), my motherboard (MSI Z97 Gaming 5) has 4 RAM slots, I was using the 1st and the 3rd (to keep space between them for better ventilation or w/e).
I've been using this computer that way without an issue for over 2-3 years, so I know it's not bad RAM placement or anything.

What I did to troubleshoot:
• I tried removing one of the RAM Sticks, and the computer turned on just fine.
• Then I tried to replace the existing RAM stick with the one I removed, and the problem happened again.
• I tried putting it in different RAM slots - didn't work either.
( So I assumed it was a dead RAM stick.)
• After about 3 hours of gaming (running only light games like RuneScape to avoid stressing it until I get a new RAM) the computer froze again - with a buzzing sound again coming out of the headphones, the exact same way it did at first.
Again, I shut it down by holding the power button. This time I moved that RAM Stick to a different slot.
I tried to check my BIOS settings after restarting. The BIOS menu was freezing for about 10-20 seconds, then unfreezing for 5-10, then freezing again. I checked the settings, everything seemed ok, so I just booted normally.

The computer turned on normally now and hasn't frozen since (It's been about 1 hour, but I haven't played any games, fearing it might happen again). I'm freaking out trying to understand what's going on, so I could really use some help.

I've ordered a new couple of RAM sticks which will arrive in 2-3 days so I can at least figure out whether or not it's the RAM, but I won't be certain it's the Motherboard if the new RAM Sticks have the same issue. Could it be something else? I am a rookie when it comes to hardware stuff, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Start by running MEMTEST for 6 to 8 hours. If it is clean, then you don't have a memory problem. It is more likely to be a software problem, temperature problem, or power supply problem.