[SOLVED] Ram slot not working with 1 ram stick

[K_NAKO]

I have a 2013 Lenovo desktop pc with:
i5 3350p
2x4GB ddr3 1600mhz ram
Lenovo cih61mi v1.1 motherboard
500gb hdd
280W psu.

I haven't used this pc in about a year, and before it used to work just fine.
I took it back from my garage yesterday and tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't boot and started beeping. 3 short 1 long beeps. I look it online and it turns out to be a ram problem.

The mother board has 2 ram slots and i have 2 ram sticks.
1 of the ram sticks works in both the slots and the pc boots w/o problems.
The 2nd ram stick works in the Left slot (closer to cpu) but not the Right one.

If i install both ram sticks the pc doesn't boot no matter the combination of the ram and the slots.

Is this the motherboards fault or the ram's fault?
How can i solve this? because i'd rather have 8Gb than 4Gb of ram.
Do i have to buy another ram stick or another motherboard?

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

Download memtestx86:

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

Place it in an USB drive, and shut off the PC. Proceed to place the 2nd ram stick in the left slot, leave the other stick out.

Boot from the USB. Run a memory test. Report back with results. This way we can see which is at fault here, the mobo or the RAM stick.

 

[K_NAKO]

Thanks i'll try that.
Also a bit more information:
When i bought the pc it only had 4Gb of ram, at the time i downloaded Speccy64 and checked the ram, it said 1 of 4 ram slots occupied, so i bought myself 2 extra 4GB ram sticks of the same Mhz so to have 12GB total of ram, opened the case for the first time in my life to see it didn't have 4 slots but only 2.

 

[K_NAKO]

I did the memtest86 as you said.

The result was :
[Note] RAM may be vulnerable to high frequency row hammer bit flips
Finished pass #1 (of 4) (Cumulative error count: 0)
[Note] RAM may be vulnerable to high frequency row hammer bit flips
Finished pass #2 (of 4) (Cumulative error count: 0)
[Note] RAM may be vulnerable to high frequency row hammer bit flips
Finished pass #3 (of 4) (Cumulative error count: 0)
[Note] RAM may be vulnerable to high frequency row hammer bit flips
Finished pass #4 (of 4) (Cumulative error count: 0)

I ran the test also on the other stick and got the [Note] only after pass #3 and still 0 cumulative errors

 

[K_NAKO]

I also went and got 2x2GB 1333mhx sticks from a friend.
When i got back, i had left the 2x4GB ones on the motherboard, i turned te pc on and it booted fine.
Swapped them with the 2x2GB ones and the pc booted just fine again, i swapped the 4GB ones back the same way they were before but this time it didn't boot, it power cycled a few times before starting the usal 3shot 1 long beeps

 

[SamirD]

Sounds like bad a memory module vs anything wrong with the motherboard. Great opportunity to get a cheap 2x8gb set and boost it up to 16GB.

 

[K_NAKO]

After taking them off and putting them back on a cople of times it seems to be working with the 2x4GB, so momentarly it is working, you know how it is "if it works, don't fix it"
i'll think about it when the time comes 😁

 

[SamirD]

If it's working, see what memtest says.