Question Upgraded my CPU Cooler and Now I have BIG FPS drops. But it could be a Mobo or a Ram issue.

[NathanHXC]

So for Christmas I purchased myself a new liquid cooler. After the install I now get less FPS when playing games. Particularly when there’s a lot going on in whatever game I’m playing (fire fights, lots of enemies, etc) it will tank down to 15-20fps. I never had this problem before and I’m not 100% sure where the problem is coming from.

To make my install easier, I removed my ram sticks and my gpu to give myself more space.
When I put the ram back in the 1st and third slot the ram light on my motherboard lit up. And my pc wouldn’t start up correctly. The only way I’m able to get my pc to boot correctly is if my ram sticks are in the 3rd and 4th slots.

My cpu is running at 30 degrees Celsius according to iCue.

There are a few things I think the problem could be:

•My motherboard’s ram slots are broken/dirty
• I need new ram sticks
• I need to reapply thermal paste on my cpu cooler (I feel like this is the least likely as the thermal paste on the cooler was pre applied but I could be wrong)


Does anyone know what could be causing my frames to drop?

Specs:
CPU: i7 6700k
Mobo: Asus z170 Pro Gaming
Ram: G. Skill Ripjaws 2x8GB DDR4-2400
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce Extreme Gaming GTX 1080 8GB
PSU: Corsair 650w 80+ Gold

 

[Mr.Spock]

try both sticks singly in the original slots. You should be able to eliminate which slot is the issue by trying both sticks in each.

 

[NathanHXC]

try both sticks singly in the original slots. You should be able to eliminate which slot is the issue by trying both sticks in each.

I’ve tried this. They only work in slot 3&4

 

[NathanHXC]

I’ve tried this. They only work in slot 3&4

I think the problem is the 1st slot.