Ram sticks dying off when playing games

[Vynleren]

First off, I have:

i5-4670k 3.4Ghz
16GB (Now 8) RAM
GTX 770
MSI Z87-GD65 Mobo
2x 128GBSamsung SSDs
1x Regular TB HD

I've had this computer for almost a year, and it has worked fine until now. Two days ago, while playing a video game (Dota 2), the screen froze and I heard static in my headphones. Then, the computer turned off. It repeatedly tried to turn back on for about a second and then would turn off again. Rinse and repeat.

I opened it up and looked around and eventually removed the 4th stick of ram. After removing the 4th stick the computer booted up just fine, no issues. I did check to make sure it was actually the ram stick and not the ram slot; it was the stick.

Well, fast forward to today, where dumb ol' me decides to launch up another game (Starcraft II). It works fine for a while until the same thing happens... except this time, my 3rd stick of ram, which I removed and now the computer is working just fine again.

Is this RAM serial-killing a result of something wrong going on in my build, or is it just faulty RAM?

 

[polke45]

For one, your build is a dual-channel ram. So, you should have 4 or 2 rams. It is possible that your 4th ram is causing issue and when you removed the it, the 3rd ram doesn't have a 2nd channel to communicate with.

You can try plugging the ram back and use Memtest to see if your ram is bad.

 

[Vynleren]

I have plugged the RAM back in but I cannot figure out how to run Memtest from the USB, because when I place the 'dead' ram back into the computer it won't even start up for more than a second, so there is no way I can figure out to actually run memtest.

What am I missing? It can't boot up with the faulty ram so I'm not sure how to test it.

 

[polke45]

Can you get to the bios screen? You need to set the primary drive to your USB.

Then a message, i think, should come up saying Press a key or somethine. Do that and Memtest should start up

 

[Vynleren]

Cannot get to the bios screen. When the two 'dead' sticks of RAM are installed, te computer will only flash on and off for a brief moment.

Literally can't get to the BIOS during this time, and no input at all displays on the monitors/keyboard and mouse don't even light up.

 

[polke45]

You can try to clear your cmos by pressing the Clear CMOS button or removing the 4th stick and see if it works. Also, make sure your ram slot is clean. Sometimes, dust can accumulate in the slot.

If not, then both of your ram is truly dead. However, you should be able to get to the bios without ram.

 

[Vynleren]

It turns out that my computer will boot properly with up to three of the sticks of RAM just fine.

However, there is a 'bad' stick which will not permit the computer to boot AT ALL under any circumstance; whether by itself, in any of the slots, or with any combination of the other 'good' sticks.

Is it possible that just one of my sticks actually died, and the second crash incident was due to using 3 sticks of RAM at once instead of in multiples of 2?

 

[polke45]

It could be anything for the 2nd crash, but since your mobo is dual-channel, manufacturer did recommends to have 2 sticks over 1. I have seen different issue regarding 1 stick on dual-channel where the ram size is not showing properly. I have not seen the 2nd crash before, but it is still a possibility.

If it crash again, you can test this theory by removing the 2nd ram and place the 3rd ram on it assuming all 4 of your ram is the same. If it crashes again, then the 3rd ram is bad too. If not, then you need a fourth ram

But one thing for sure, your 4th ram is bad