PC wont boot in dual channel mode, dont know what i need to replace.

[SadD0G]

to simply put it, recenatly i bumped into my computer, it wasnt hard, but it was enough to cause a major fault to accur, where the pc turned off, on and then off again all by itself. after trying to troubleshoot for a long time, ive found that i cannot run it in dual channel mode. i tried some diffrent ways of troubleshooting, different ram, graphics cards but all i get is a black screen everytime i try to boot in dual channel. it runs fine anything but dual channel. ive seen some other forums which recommended checking if my cpu cooler is too tight but after i took it off i realized this will highly likley not be the reason because i have the amd prism wraith which just latches on, i tried cleaning my motherboard slots with alcohol, nothing. i didnt try to run it with a diffrent psu because i dont own another one. i think i need to replace the motherboard or psu, but i dont know what should i replace as i dont have enough money for both. this computer ran partley fine for 2 years (except for one time when i had a similar issue but i resolved it after putting diffrent ram and returning my old ones, dont know if related)

edit: forgot to mention, had pc unplugged for 12 hours, then cmos battery off for half an hour, and it worked only once in dual channel fine, i dont know if to suspect cpu then.

 

specs:

ryzen 2700x with wraith prism

asus prime 370x pro

2x corsair vengence pro rgb 8gb

rtx 3060ti

antec earthwatts 650w +80 gold

[BiotechBen]

Run one stick in each slot separately to see if there is a bad slot or a bad stick of RAM.

[stvsteve]

Hi SaD0G,

just going through some ideas: you say dual channel breaks your pc, have you tried the different slots? maybe only one ram slot is slightly bricked, so it won't work in dual channel mode. for example if you labelled your ram slots 1 through 4, have you tried 1&3, 1&4, 2&3 and 2&4? If one of those fixes it you wouldn't have to replace anything, and you know that the motherboard has a problem, if you ever want to add another 2 sticks of ram. 

Also, what you can do (and I have done once, but I don't know if this is an option where you live): order another psu online, if it fixes the problem, hurrah, if not, return it within the 2 week return period and get your money back. 

Best of luck!

[SadD0G]

1 minute ago, stvsteve said:

Hi SaD0G,

just going through some ideas: you say dual channel breaks your pc, have you tried the different slots? maybe only one ram slot is slightly bricked, so it won't work in dual channel mode. for example if you labelled your ram slots 1 through 4, have you tried 1&3, 1&4, 2&3 and 2&4? If one of those fixes it you wouldn't have to replace anything, and you know that the motherboard has a problem, if you ever want to add another 2 sticks of ram. 

Also, what you can do (and I have done once, but I don't know if this is an option where you live): order another psu online, if it fixes the problem, hurrah, if not, return it within the 2 week return period and get your money back. 

Best of luck!

to reply to both comments, i have tried using one stick only and slots A1 B1 and A2 B2, those dont work at all, but using only a single stick in each slot or 2 without dual channel works fine.

[PDifolco]

I suppose you didn't OC memory with XMP/DOCP, and if RAM stick work when you use one I then suspect your motherboard is defective

 

[SadD0G]

3 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

I suppose you didn't OC memory with XMP/DOCP, and if RAM stick work when you use one I then suspect your motherboard is defective

 

is there still a chance its my psu? or should i get a new motherboard?

[PDifolco]

Just now, SadD0G said:

is there still a chance its my psu? or should i get a new motherboard?

How could that be the PSU, or the wall power ?? RAM use like 20W ...

It's either the board or the memory controller on the CPU, if you can test with another CPU to confirm which

[stvsteve]

did you try updating the bios? the cmos battery thing might suggest it might have to do with a corrupted bios. I went over the bios updates available to your board and 3 mention 'memory compatibility'. 

[SadD0G]

4 minutes ago, stvsteve said:

did you try updating the bios? the cmos battery thing might suggest it might have to do with a corrupted bios. I went over the bios updates available to your board and 3 mention 'memory compatibility'. 

bios is already at the latest update

 

[SadD0G]

8 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

How could that be the PSU, or the wall power ?? RAM use like 20W ...

It's either the board or the memory controller on the CPU, if you can test with another CPU to confirm which

no cpu sadly

 

[stvsteve]

12 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

It's either the board or the memory controller on the CPU, if you can test with another CPU to confirm which

unfortunately I arrive at the same conclusion. PSU can cause many extremely random and erratic errors. If your system works fine in mono-channel mode it is very unlikely it is the problem. 

[SadD0G]

1 minute ago, stvsteve said:

unfortunately I arrive at the same conclusion. PSU can cause many extremely random and erratic errors. If your system works fine in mono-channel mode it is very unlikely it is the problem. 

i see, also it also works when i have 2 ram sticks but not in dual channel (A1 B2) so i guess its the mother board then

[Bombastinator]

I like the first suggestion best myself, though doing a check to make sure all connections are properly made couldn’t hurt.  This bump thing smacks of an incorrectly installed cord or card or something.  It will apparently work in single channel mode yes?  Perhaps run some diagnostics stuff.

[Gazereths]

Did you reseat the CPU when you had the cooler off? Have tried booting the board out of the case to try and eliminate any possible short or warp in the board? 

[SadD0G]

10 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

I like the first suggestion best myself, though doing a check to make sure all connections are properly made couldn’t hurt.  This bump thing smacks of an incorrectly installed cord or card or something.  It will apparently work in single channel mode yes?  Perhaps run some diagnostics stuff.

yep, runs fine in single channel but when i run diagnostics i see nothing, it says memory is fine and that its not damaged.

[SadD0G]

7 hours ago, Gazereths said:

Did you reseat the CPU when you had the cooler off? Have tried booting the board out of the case to try and eliminate any possible short or warp in the board? 

i pulled out the motherboard from the case, i made sure my cpu pins are fine, they are, and then i just booted it on the table and still it didnt work with dual channel.

[Gazereths]

19 minutes ago, SadD0G said:

i pulled out the motherboard from the case, i made sure my cpu pins are fine, they are, and then i just booted it on the table and still it didnt work with dual channel.

Well it seems you've tried everything you can without having spare parts to swap in and out. I would guess its the motherboard at fault but that's all it is really, a guess. Do you have any friends or family with compatible hardware who would be willing to help test components? If it is the motherboard that's probably the cheapest part to replace anyway, used b450 boards can be had pretty cheap. 

[Bombastinator]

45 minutes ago, SadD0G said:

yep, runs fine in single channel but when i run diagnostics i see nothing, it says memory is fine and that its not damaged.

Well that’s good.  Are you seeing anything else?   Anything that might indicate why this is happening?  Possibly not if it runs flawlessly on single channel but not at all on dual channel. When you do try to run it dual channel are any errors thrown during POST?  If it will post but not boot it’s a software issue.  If it won’t post it’s a hardware issue.  If it throws an error during post it likely a hardware issue but could be a bios issue, so in that case it would be clear cmos, try it, if that fails reinstall bios, clear CMOS, and try it again.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Bombastinator