DRAM Yellow LED (Dual Channel not working)

[exxoticx]

Hey, i've ordered a new Gaming PC. I unboxed it, turned it on and the yellow DRAM LED was on & flashing red CPU LED on the Motherboard.

I reset the CMOS (battery off for 30 secs and put in again), updated bios to newest version, switched the RAM Sticks into 3 & 4 which works, 2&4 dont work, 1&3 dont work either, havent tried 2&3, 1 as a single doesnt work either.

Please help me I have no idea what is causing this, I can only start the PC without problems with the RAM in the 3rd and 4th Slot but I want Dual Channel.

 

 

Intel i5-11600 mit 6x 2.80GHz / 4.8GHz Turbotakt, 12MB Cache
be quiet! Dark Rock 4
MSI MAG B560 TOMAHAWK WIFI (inkl. WLAN + BT)
16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 Corsair 3200MHz Vengeance RGB PRO SL
1TB Kingston A2000 M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVME (L 2200MB/s ; S 2000MB/s)
8GB MSI RTX3060Ti GAMING X (LHR)
700W be quiet! PurePower 11

[Mister Woof]

Take the CPU out of the socket and carefully inspect the contact pads for any irregularities. Same for the socket, but be careful as it is quite fragile.

Additionally, double check your CPU cooler mounting pressure. Unevenly mounted or overtightened coolers can also cause these types of failures.

 

 

[exxoticx]

1 minute ago, Mister Woof said:

Take the CPU out of the socket and carefully inspect the contact pads for any irregularities. Same for the socket, but be careful as it is quite fragile.

Additionally, double check your CPU cooler mounting pressure. Unevenly mounted or overtightened coolers can also cause these types of failures.

 

 

 

Hmm I don't really want to take out the cooler & CPU... I might loosen the screws on the cooler but I dont know if I will be able to get the CPU & cooler running again when removing it.. but will try loosen the screws on the cooler, thanks.

[exxoticx]

52 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

Take the CPU out of the socket and carefully inspect the contact pads for any irregularities. Same for the socket, but be careful as it is quite fragile.

Additionally, double check your CPU cooler mounting pressure. Unevenly mounted or overtightened coolers can also cause these types of failures.

 

 

Well that was it everyone! I've seen a lot of people having this issue online where they described exactly this situation and I can tell you this man is right!

Unscrew all your screws from your CPU cooler, test it without screwing them on, if it works screw them a little harder and try again. Otherwhise like he said check your CPU pins.

 

Thanks alot!

[Mister Woof]

1 minute ago, exxoticx said:

Well that was it everyone! I've seen a lot of people having this issue online where they described exactly this situation and I can tell you this man is right!

Unscrew all your screws from your CPU cooler, test it without screwing them on, if it works screw them a little harder and try again. Otherwhise like he said check your CPU pins.

 

Thanks alot!

I'm glad I was able to help. I would run a few stress tests to see that thermals and everything is under control, and if so, enjoy your build.

[exxoticx]

11 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

I'm glad I was able to help. I would run a few stress tests to see that thermals and everything is under control, and if so, enjoy your build.

Thanks again!! Could you recommend a program or how should I do the stress test, I really don’t know anything about this. And also; what should the thermals look like, what is “good” and what is “bad”?

[Mister Woof]

I'd download ASUS Realbench and HWInfo64

Run RB for maybe 15-30m and if CPU temps are below 90 or so you're probably fine

[exxoticx]

16 hours ago, Mister Woof said:

I'd download ASUS Realbench and HWInfo64

Run RB for maybe 15-30m and if CPU temps are below 90 or so you're probably fine

90 °C I believe right, not fahrenheit?

[Mister Woof]

2 minutes ago, exxoticx said:

90 °C I believe right, not fahrenheit?

Yeah. Anything under 100c is fine (most laptops straddle this, constantly teetering on the edge of thermal throttling) is within spec, and if you're in a synthetic stress test than anything under 100c is fine as your typical day-to-day uses won't get that hot.

 

If you're getting 80 or under during your normal tasks, that's fine.

 

Additionally, if you do get that hot, the hardware will throttle itself anyway to prevent damage.

[exxoticx]

12 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

Yeah. Anything under 100c is fine (most laptops straddle this, constantly teetering on the edge of thermal throttling) is within spec, and if you're in a synthetic stress test than anything under 100c is fine as your typical day-to-day uses won't get that hot.

 

If you're getting 80 or under during your normal tasks, that's fine.

 

Additionally, if you do get that hot, the hardware will throttle itself anyway to prevent damage.

Okay so I did the test and it crashed my pc now the Dual Channel doesn’t work anymore yellow dram led and red cpu flashing 

[Mister Woof]

1 minute ago, exxoticx said:

Okay so I did the test and it crashed my pc now the Dual Channel doesn’t work anymore yellow dram led and red cpu flashing 

Hmm, well that's not good. It's possible the memory controller on the CPU is bad or the motherboard is bad. Can you contact the retailer to the place it came from to get support? 

 

 

[exxoticx]

14 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

Hmm, well that's not good. It's possible the memory controller on the CPU is bad or the motherboard is bad. Can you contact the retailer to the place it came from to get support? 

 

 

Really weird, i really dont know what the issue is but after starting it in 2 & 4 channel I got multiple bluescreens in a row.. put it in 3 & 4 now it works again.

The site where I bought the PC from asked if I want a new motherboard that they would send me but honestly I have no idea how to build a pc..  

[Mister Woof]

4 minutes ago, exxoticx said:

Really weird, i really dont know what the issue is but after starting it in 2 & 4 channel I got multiple bluescreens in a row.. put it in 3 & 4 now it works again.

The site where I bought the PC from asked if I want a new motherboard that they would send me but honestly I have no idea how to build a pc..  

It's pretty easy to do, there's plenty of youtube videos about how to do it.

 

That said, it's hard to really tell if its the motherboard or the cpu. My guess is the socket is not quite right, which would account for the intermittent function of the DRAM channels (pins kinda wonky etc)

[exxoticx]

1 minute ago, Mister Woof said:

It's pretty easy to do, there's plenty of youtube videos about how to do it.

 

That said, it's hard to really tell if its the motherboard or the cpu. My guess is the socket is not quite right, which would account for the intermittent function of the DRAM channels (pins kinda wonky etc)

The only  thing im worried about is the big CPU cooler tbh, i can manage anything else probably. I will think about it

[exxoticx]

9 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

It's pretty easy to do, there's plenty of youtube videos about how to do it.

 

That said, it's hard to really tell if its the motherboard or the cpu. My guess is the socket is not quite right, which would account for the intermittent function of the DRAM channels (pins kinda wonky etc)

Quick question, if I remove the CPU cooler now and check the CPU pins, do I have to re apply new thermal paste?

[Mister Woof]

14 minutes ago, exxoticx said:

Quick question, if I remove the CPU cooler now and check the CPU pins, do I have to re apply new thermal paste?

Usually you should thoroughly clean and replace the paste every time you remount a cooler. If its been remounted the same day of the application, then it will probably be okay. 

[exxoticx]

On 12/1/2021 at 5:35 PM, Mister Woof said:

Usually you should thoroughly clean and replace the paste every time you remount a cooler. If its been remounted the same day of the application, then it will probably be okay. 

Alright so they send me a replacement for the motherboard, I start taking out the cooler and cpu and literally the only part I didn’t check; the cpu- is broken at the top. The thing is, I build everything on the new motherboard and the Dual Channel works fine again. Could it be that both, old Mainboard and processor are broken? I don’t think that I damaged it myself to be honest I gently picked it up. And should I get a replacement for the CPU too? And I feel dumb, I don’t think they’re gonna replace the CPU for me they will probably say I broke it even though I didn’t even check it until I moved the CPU…