Ram nightmare!!

[Pizzainspace]

I have 2 kits of Kingston Fury Beast DDR4 RAM, 2x8gb. They were purchased 6 months apart.

 

All 4 sticks were fine working together, but usually each time after cleaning my pc, DRAM light would turn on and it wouldn't boot at all. After a lot of fiddling it would eventually work.

After a few months, it stopped working with 4, only 2 instead.

 

Then, after installing a new SSD (today), it STOPPED working with 2. It only works with 1. I've tested it out and only the A2 and B2 slots work with 1 stick. The rest of the slots don't work. I tried A2+B2, and still it didn't boot. For all of these tests, including the ones at the start, all had the SAME result: no boot, DRAM light constantly on

 

The problem is, the RAM sticks I've tried together were both from the SAME KIT. I've checked the numbers on the back constantly to make sure I didn't mix them up.

 

I have no idea on what to do anymore. Nothing works, even CMOS battery reset doesn't work or BIOS settings reset.

Pcpartpicker list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7hTYJ

 

[Tetras]

By cleaning, what exactly do you do?

 

Do you change the thermal paste? If so, I'd check your cooler mount.

[Pizzainspace]

Just now, Tetras said:

By cleaning, what exactly do you do?

 

Do you change the thermal paste? If so, I'd check your cooler mount.

 

Yes, changing the thermal paste, cleaning out fans, the usual stuff.

I have checked the cooler while fiddling the sticks around 20 minutes ago. I also replaced the thermal paste. The cooler isn't fixed at all, it's not too tight and not too loose either. Maybe a bit tight.
 

[Pizzainspace]

Just now, Pizzainspace said:

 

Yes, changing the thermal paste, cleaning out fans, the usual stuff.

I have checked the cooler while fiddling the sticks around 20 minutes ago. I also replaced the thermal paste. The cooler isn't fixed at all, it's not too tight and not too loose either. Maybe a bit tight.
 

Wait, by the mount, do you mean the thing on the back of the motherboard? I'm sorry, I forgot what the mount is. I'm a bit unexperienced at this, I just know how to build them and simply troubleshoot them, not this..

[firereverie]

Are all the kits the exact same, meaning not just the brand, product line, and capacity but also every single timing?

Are you using XMP?

Do you currently or in the past run an overclock other than XMP?

Have you tried posting without the new SSD?

Have you tried unplugging all peripherals aside from one monitor?

[Pizzainspace]

Just now, firereverie said:

Are all the kits the exact same, meaning not just the brand, product line, and capacity but also every single timing?

Are you using XMP?

Do you currently or in the past run an overclock other than XMP?

Have you tried posting without the new SSD?

Have you tried unplugging all peripherals aside from one monitor?

Yes, they're the exact same model. The only problem is they've been purchased 6 months apart, so one kit is newer.

No, I've disabled it to make sure the kits could work.

No, I've never overclocked anything else.

In the past, yes, and it worked with 1 kit, and not 2.

No. Should I? Don't think it would make a difference. I have 1 monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. That's it

[Dedayog]

25 minutes ago, Pizzainspace said:

 

Yes, changing the thermal paste, cleaning out fans, the usual stuff.

I have checked the cooler while fiddling the sticks around 20 minutes ago. I also replaced the thermal paste. The cooler isn't fixed at all, it's not too tight and not too loose either. Maybe a bit tight.
 

Changing thermal paste is NOT the usual stuff.  Should be done every few YEARS, not when dusting.

 

CPU Cooler should be tight.

 

[Pizzainspace]

Just now, Dedayog said:

Changing thermal paste is NOT the usual stuff.  Should be done every few YEARS, not when dusting.

I do kinda dust it every few months tho.

 

Alright, I'll tighten the cooler soon, check the mount too.

[firereverie]

7 minutes ago, Pizzainspace said:

No. Should I? Don't think it would make a difference.

Yes.  The SSD was the most recent change to your hardware configuration.

[Pizzainspace]

Just now, firereverie said:

Yes.  The SSD was the most recent change to your hardware configuration.

Alright, I'll try this as soon as I can. I'll update you then.

[firereverie]

5 minutes ago, Pizzainspace said:

I do kinda dust it every few months tho.

 

Alright, I'll tighten the cooler soon, check the mount too.

Check the instructions for your cooler, but they don't normally need to be exceedingly tight.

Since you had it off and did a reapplied your TIM; What did you clean the old paste with?  Did you remove the CPU?  You may want to consider checking in and around the socket with the CPU removed to make sure there are no bent pins between the two (a photo that you can zoom on a phone may make this easier), errant paste, solvent, or bits of papertowel or qtips.

[Pizzainspace]

2 minutes ago, firereverie said:

Check the instructions for your cooler, but they don't normally need to be exceedingly tight.

Since you had it off and did a reapplied your TIM; What did you clean the old paste with?  Did you remove the CPU?  You may want to consider checking in and around the socket with the CPU removed to make sure there are no bent pins between the two (a photo that you can zoom on a phone may make this easier), errant paste, solvent, or bits of papertowel or qtips.

Ohhhh crap

I did check the cpu and there is some thermal paste on a few pins, didn’t think it could cause this? Could it?? If so, how can I remove it? Other than that, no bent pins.

Also, when I clean it, I usually get some isopropyl alcohol and a few paper towels and yknow the rest.

[BillBill]

3 hours ago, Pizzainspace said:

I have 2 kits of Kingston Fury Beast DDR4 RAM, 2x8gb. They were purchased 6 months apart.

 

All 4 sticks were fine working together, but usually each time after cleaning my pc, DRAM light would turn on and it wouldn't boot at all. After a lot of fiddling it would eventually work.

After a few months, it stopped working with 4, only 2 instead.

 

Then, after installing a new SSD (today), it STOPPED working with 2. It only works with 1. I've tested it out and only the A2 and B2 slots work with 1 stick. The rest of the slots don't work. I tried A2+B2, and still it didn't boot. For all of these tests, including the ones at the start, all had the SAME result: no boot, DRAM light constantly on

 

The problem is, the RAM sticks I've tried together were both from the SAME KIT. I've checked the numbers on the back constantly to make sure I didn't mix them up.

 

I have no idea on what to do anymore. Nothing works, even CMOS battery reset doesn't work or BIOS settings reset.

Pcpartpicker list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7hTYJ

 

I would take out the RAM and then take a good look at the labels. So you have two kits of two sticks. Make sure that the kits match up. It is easy to mix up two different kits. Since everything looks the same. Place the exact matching sticks into slot A2 and B2 and then the other matching into A1 and B1. You might have to undergo RAM training again. Since you removed the sticks and also had done a CMOS reset. Some motherboards will display a message saying RAM training in progress and some don't. If you have done a BIOS update that might cause an issue with four sticks of RAM with AMD. Windows by default will update the BIOS and sometimes that can cause issues. Windows sometimes provides BIOS firmware that is not stable for your configuration. You might have to use an older BIOS to have four stick compatibility. I have had success with older BIOS versions and four sticks with AMD. The newest and newer versions at least for me were not stable.   

[Crunchy Dragon]

3 hours ago, Pizzainspace said:

Ohhhh crap

I did check the cpu and there is some thermal paste on a few pins, didn’t think it could cause this? Could it?? If so, how can I remove it? 

Thermal paste can be conductive, it could very conceivably be messing with how your computer sees RAM. 

 

If you have a steady hand, some cotton swabs, and some isopropyl alcohol, you can usually VERY GENTLY swab it out. Otherwise, you can grab a thin tool like a utility knife, razor blade, or something similar to gently lift it out. 

 

Basically, a lot of gentle care and patience with the right type of tools is how you clean it out. 

I've done it a handful of times, it's a process, but it can be done. Every time I've gotten clumps of paste in a socket I've gotten them back out, and the board has continued to work fine after the fact. 

[firereverie]

53 minutes ago, Pizzainspace said:

If so, how can I remove it?

So, soo, soooooo, very carefully.  Ask me how I know... 
 

It is very important not to snag on the pins.

[Pizzainspace]

6 hours ago, firereverie said:

So, soo, soooooo, very carefully.  Ask me how I know... 
 

It is very important not to snag on the pins.

Well… I cleaned it thoroughly, didn’t snag any pins or anything . Now it won’t boot. No lights. Nothing. It’s dead

[firereverie]

1 hour ago, Pizzainspace said:

Well… I cleaned it thoroughly, didn’t snag any pins or anything . Now it won’t boot. No lights. Nothing. It’s dead

Did you check the power cord and PSU switch?  Did you check them again?  It's amazing how many times high impedance air gaps are misdiagnosed as hardware failure, again speaking from experience. 

Reseat the CPU, try it again again, then move on to checking your socket.  Use your phone camera with the flash held as level as possible and as close as it will focus to take photos of the socket pins.  Zoom in and look for inconsistencies in the field of pins, damage in the middle is a lot easier to spot than on the edges.  You can also gently brush your fingers over the pins.  

 

[Pizzainspace]

1 minute ago, firereverie said:

Did you check the power cord and PSU switch?  Did you check them again?  It's amazing how many times high impedance air gaps are misdiagnosed as hardware failure, again speaking from experience. 

Reseat the CPU, try it again again, then move on to checking your socket.  Use your phone camera with the flash held as level as possible and as close as it will focus to take photos of the socket pins.  Zoom in and look for inconsistencies in the field of pins, damage in the middle is a lot easier to spot than on the edges.  You can also gently brush your fingers over the pins.  

 

Good news!

 

It was just the socket having a bit of dust. I cleaned it with compressed air and it works now.

 

Unfortunately, the cpu STILL doesn’t work with 4 sticks. It works with 2 now. I think it works with 3 still, like it did at one point, but not with 4.

Im entirely sure it’s the motherboard. I heard some bad stuff about it recently and I don’t know what to say!

[firereverie]

13 minutes ago, Pizzainspace said:

Im entirely sure it’s the motherboard.

It could be, but the memory controllers themselves are internal to the CPU, so there's that.  Glad you got a POST. 

 

Check the BIOS, see which stick is not showing up then try swapping around to see if the issue follows the stick or the slot.

 

I'd probably still go back with the camera and inspect the RAM slots, clean the RAM contacts with clean pink pencil erasers and maybe look at the socket pins again.   Memtest(if supported) and a BIOS reset/reflash may also be a good idea.

[Pizzainspace]

Just now, firereverie said:

It could be, but the memory controllers themselves are internal to the CPU, so there's that.  Glad you got a POST. 

 

Check the BIOS, see which stick is not showing up then try swapping around to see if the issue follows the stick or the slot.

 

I'd probably still go back with the camera and inspect the RAM slots, clean the RAM contacts with clean pink pencil erasers and maybe look at the socket pins again.   Memtest(if supported) and a BIOS reset/reflash may also be a good idea.

That's the weird part. 

Both kits work fine alone, but when they're together the pc fails to post.

Usually, you'd put all 4 right? And if it doesn't work, reset the cmos battery, right?
Well, one time I did do that. When they were all 4 and the cmos was reset, still no display and dram led was on. Once I removed the 2nd kit, and there were only 2 sticks, finally I got a display, dram led wasn't on, and the screen would say "CMOS Cleared Or Memory Changed", but the weird part is it wouldn't even do that with all 4 sticks.

I'm trying to think as what could the issue be, since it worked perfectly fine with all 4 at one point.

[Dedayog]

3 hours ago, Pizzainspace said:

Well… I cleaned it thoroughly, didn’t snag any pins or anything . Now it won’t boot. No lights. Nothing. It’s dead

Please stop constantly changing thermal paste after this.

 

CPU may be dead. What paste did you use?

[Pizzainspace]

29 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Please stop constantly changing thermal paste after this.

 

CPU may be dead. What paste did you use?

I resuscitated it

 

It wasn’t dead, just dirty contacts. I have learned my lesson with thermal paste and will stop using as much, as well as using it as often.

[Pizzainspace]

4 hours ago, firereverie said:

It could be, but the memory controllers themselves are internal to the CPU, so there's that.  Glad you got a POST. 

 

Check the BIOS, see which stick is not showing up then try swapping around to see if the issue follows the stick or the slot.

 

I'd probably still go back with the camera and inspect the RAM slots, clean the RAM contacts with clean pink pencil erasers and maybe look at the socket pins again.   Memtest(if supported) and a BIOS reset/reflash may also be a good idea.

Wait, I just had an idea, could it be because of my cpu (Ryzen 5 5500, you can also check the PCPartPicker list on the post) being weak? I’ve heard it has limitations with 4 sticks of ram

[firereverie]

4 hours ago, Pizzainspace said:

Wait, I just had an idea, could it be because of my cpu (Ryzen 5 5500, you can also check the PCPartPicker list on the post) being weak? I’ve heard it has limitations with 4 sticks of ram

Its possible, specifically a bad memory controller on the CPU die, related to or caused by damage to the socket.  Can't say for certain without methodical testing, the extent of which may not even be possible with your on-hand hardware.

[Pizzainspace]

On 2/21/2026 at 10:36 PM, firereverie said:

Its possible, specifically a bad memory controller on the CPU die, related to or caused by damage to the socket.  Can't say for certain without methodical testing, the extent of which may not even be possible with your on-hand hardware.

How exactly could I test it? 
From what I've done so far, the RAM slots on the motherboard are fine, the RAM itself is also fine, all sticks being completely function regardless of the slot I put them in. One issue could be the CPU socket, even though I tried to clean it very thoroughly and gently (even got my dad to do it lol, got some compressed air too and tried flinging off the crumb-sized thermal paste on there) I'm not entirely sure if it is the problem or not.