Dead RAM slots?

[Claymotion]

Hello all,

First post here. Maybe some of you good natured people can help me out here. I apologize in advance for the long winded OP but here it goes. 

I purchased a use computer the other day to build a photo editing PC for my wife. I think overall I got a good deal but I have a problem with 2 RAM slots.

The PC is:

MSI z270 pro gaming

i7 7700k,

Coorsair water cooler,

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070,

2x PNY 8gb DDR4 2400 RAM. 

EVGA 700w Bronze PSU

Thermaltake case

 

I was formatting the drives and waiting on a clean install of Win 10 to load while reading the owner's manual for the MoBo adn I looked over and noticed that the RAM was inserted in slots 3 and4. So after a successful boot with the new OS on clean drives I powered down the machine and moved the RAM to the slots recommended in the manual, slots 2 and 4. The computer would then not boot. I reset the CMOS, no boot. So i began wringing out the internet for answers. I tried booting the PC with the RAM in the original slots 3 and 4 and it boots fine an sees all 16gb of RAM installed. I then tried with each stick seperately in each slot. The computer will not boot if there is any RAM in slots 1 and 2. I tried resetting the CMOS multiple times. Both RAM sticks are good. I tried loosening the MoBo mounting screws near the RAM slots. I saw where someone had luck cleaning the chip socket so I tried that this morning and I still have the same problem. I'm betting that the build is not under warranty... The PC works fine as is and will probably be overkill for editing photos as is...

 

But I have 2 questions

 

1.   Is there any problem with running the RAM in this position? will it cause the processor to heat unevenly and or wear out prematurely?

 

2.   Are there anymore tricks up the Guru sleeve for fixing this issue?

 

Thanks to anyone who is willing to lend an ear and an expert opinion.

[1van]

2 minutes ago, Claymotion said:

 

it may be either:

• a dead memory controller channel in the CPU itself;
• bent socket pins relevant to the memory channel;
• broken trace(s) on the motherboard;
• dirty contact pad of the CPU;
• ???

[Skipple]

What is interesting to me is that not only is the computer not detecting either of the DIMMA slots, but it refuses to POST. This is leading me to think something is physically wrong with the board.