RAM Problem Brainstorming

[F Bomb29]

Hi all, I've been having some issues with I'm assuming to be my RAM. This morning I ran MemTest86 for about 20 minutes on all 4 sticks with about 1500 errors. I then started to take them out one by one and after the first error I would cancel the test. All 4 sticks failed. Then I threw in some old Hyper X RAM that I had taken out a few months ago for my current fancy RGB sticks. It didn't even launch to the test. I again took them out one by one with the same result of not making it to the test. So I thought why not, put in my spare motherboard and it wouldn't even make it to the BIOS screen. So I put everything back together the way it was this morning, and now I've got no errors and its been running for about 50 minutes now. 

 

While I was in the process of switching boards I did notice that on contacts for the CPU there was a little black patch of some foreign material, so I took a Q-Tip and cleaned that off. Could that be what was causing my issues?

 

Other than that I don't have any ideas of what changed to cause all my errors to go away. Give me your thoughts on what the issue might have been.

 

Thanks. 

[Radium_Angel]

Shorting will certainly cause issues. Dirt should never been in the CPU socket or on it.

[F Bomb29]

47 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Shorting will certainly cause issues. Dirt should never been in the CPU socket or on it.

How could that have gotten in there though, I haven't taken this computer apart in a few years at least. If that started the problems, why would it just show its face now and not before?

[Radium_Angel]

Critical mass I suppose, enough dust builds up that it gets into places it shouldn't have.

Or it was there all along and just moved enough to cause issues.