Question Really weird situation with RAM and GPU ?

[Motri]

So some days ago one of my screens (4k, DP connected) stopped working while the other (old screen, 1080p, HDMI, worked fine) so I disconnected swap the HDMI and it worked on the 4k screen. Some moments later, the DP started working again, so I started playing again but it was very laggy. Ran a benchmark and my GPU had like only 4% performance. Then I turned off my PC and made my day.

The next day I woke up, turned on my PC and had both black screens. Nothing worked, and I noticed that sometimes and for some seconds my GPU fans went FULL SPEED, just for some seconds. I reset the CMOS, cleaned pc, etc. Got some RAM sticks out and it worked! Ran a benchmark and had a 32%. Turned off the PC (can't remember why) and later I had again a 4% performance. Used it for a while to work and suddenly screen turned black.

So I said okay, GPU is running crazy I'm gonna try it on another PC, where it went full speed fans too. Okay! The GPU is the problem right? Got back home, deeply cleaned it and found it had no thermal compound. Replaced it and it didn't work. Briefly full speed fans and no signal on screen. But before went to sleep (this happened 12h ago) I said wait let's take off the RAM. Left one stick and MAGICALLY IT WORKS. Turned off and plugged one more stick (8GB per stick). It worked too! I used it for a while, tested it again playing and it was fine, then ran another benchmark and got 40% performance, (which I think is okay after 30 months of usage editing video, 3D designing and playing games)

So I watched some videos and went to sleep. Turned it off. Today I woke up and again, no signal plus GPU full speed for some seconds.
What did I do? I removed a RAM stick (16GB > 8GB) and VOILÁ! IT WORKS!

I don't know what to do.


The whole computer EXCEPT for the GPU is 7 months old. The GPU is 30 months old.
Full specs:
Mortar B450 Max
32GB (8x4) DDR4 3200Mhz Ballistix
Ryzen 7 3800x 3.90Ghz
Geforce GTX 1650

 

[Boopig]

Fastest course of action to determine if the card is at fault is to test another card. Easier said than done, I know. But if you have any friends local to you with a GPU you can test with?

 

[Motri]

Fastest course of action to determine if the card is at fault is to test another card. Easier said than done, I know. But if you have any friends local to you with a GPU you can test with?

Yes that would be possible, but my GPU works fine when I'm running this RAM

 

[Boopig]

Yes that would be possible, but my GPU works fine when I'm running this RAM

Unless I am misreading (could be the case ) the common denominator between your two machines is your GPU. I am assuming you're using different sticks of RAM in the different machines?

Just to clarify - The GPU worked when you took both machines down from 16GB of RAM to 8GB in both machines?

 

[Motri]

Unless I am misreading (could be the case ) the common denominator between your two machines is your GPU. I am assuming you're using different sticks of RAM in the different machines?

Just to clarify - The GPU worked when you took both machines down from 16GB of RAM to 8GB in both machines?

In my friends PC I didn't get his ram out, because as soon as I listened to the full speed fans and no signal I said okay it's the gpu why would the gpu affect the ram?

 

[Boopig]

In my friends PC I didn't get his ram out, because as soon as I listened to the full speed fans and no signal I said okay it's the gpu why would the gpu affect the ram?

I couldn't say to be perfectly honest. But I feel like we have reached the same conclusion. I would suggest putting your friends GPU in your machine, but you doing the opposite gives us the same answer. It is most likely your GPU is on its way out.

As a last effort, have you tried reinstalling your GPU's drivers? are they fully updated? Is your machine itself fully updated? You never know!

Does your GPU have an extended warranty? If it does, you should still have some time to get it RMA'd. If not well, triple confirm the fault and look to upgrade I guess.

On the upside - the GPU market it looking much healthier these days. You can pick a used card for a really good price!

 

[Motri]

I couldn't say to be perfectly honest. But I feel like we have reached the same conclusion. I would suggest putting your friends GPU in your machine, but you doing the opposite gives us the same answer. It is most likely your GPU is on its way out.

As a last effort, have you tried reinstalling your GPU's drivers? are they fully updated? Is your machine itself fully updated? You never know!

Does your GPU have an extended warranty? If it does, you should still have some time to get it RMA'd. If not well, triple confirm the fault and look to upgrade I guess.

On the upside - the GPU market it looking much healthier these days. You can pick a used card for a really good price!

Thank you so much, but my question is, if the card is on its way out. why is it now working perfectly fine?

 

[Boopig]

Thank you so much, but my question is, if the card is on its way out. why is it now working perfectly fine?

As said above I don't know if I had to make a guess I'd say the amount of RAM you're using could be causing instability for the GPU, but this is a complete guess. I assume you have XMP enabled as you're running 3200MHz RAM. What happens if you have your 32 / 16 / 8GB of RAM in the machine with XMP disabled?

 

[Motri]

As said above I don't know if I had to make a guess I'd say the amount of RAM you're using could be causing instability for the GPU, but this is a complete guess. I assume you have XMP enabled as you're running 3200MHz RAM. What happens if you have your 32 / 16 / 8GB of RAM in the machine with XMP disabled?

I'll try to do that, but I think I won't be able as it won't boot with all the sticks on

 

[Boopig]

I'll try to do that, but I think I won't be able as it won't boot with all the sticks on

That's the idea of testing with XMP disabled, to see if it does