RAM Problem

[rjotto]

Hello!

I have the following parts:

CPU: 4790k stock

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A with latest bios

GPU: ASUS GTX970

RAM: 2x8 GB Adata 1600 9 9 9 24 1.5 V

PSU: Cooler master silent 600w

 

Recently I changed the thermal paste on the cpu. Before that everything was working fine.

When I tried to boot the first time after the change the pc did not pass POST check and the DRAM_LED stayed lit up.

I took one of the RAM sticks and tried every slot consequently. Only slot B1 and B2 worked. Same thing with the second RAM stick.

Dual channel does not work. Whenever I put a RAM stick in either of the slots labeled A the PC do not pass the POST check and DRAM_LED stays lit up.

 

What do you think? Is it the motherboard or is it the memory controller on the cpu itself?

Can a cpu memory controller lose one channel and still pass the POST check?

 

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Did you clear the CMOS?

[Jarno.]

The POST only checks if everything is avaible in order to boot. Single channel is enoug to boot so yes why would'nt it pass the test. 

 

 

Edit: have you tried booting with 1 stick of RAM?

[Bananasplit_00]

clear CMOS so the XMP/OC goes away and try booting. if that dosent work then its either the motherboard that got damaged while you changed the paste or the IMC that hates you now because the thermalpaste dosent hit it or it just degraded

[rjotto]

4 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Did you clear the CMOS?

Yes I did clear the CMOS multiple times.

[rjotto]

5 minutes ago, Jarno. said:

The POST only checks if everything is avaible in order to boot. Single channel is enoug to boot so yes why would'nt it pass the test. 

 

 

Edit: have you tried booting with 1 stick of RAM?

Yes I did. Both of them are working properly and I can boot to windows when slot B1 or B2 or BOTH (single channel) is populated.

But whenever slot A1 or A2 or both POST fails.

[rjotto]

8 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

clear CMOS so the XMP/OC goes away and try booting. if that dosent work then its either the motherboard that got damaged while you changed the paste or the IMC that hates you now because the thermalpaste dosent hit it or it just degraded

I dont see any physical damage to the board or the socket pins. And the computer is working when slot B1 and B2 are populated. Can only one channel on the memory controller be faulty?

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, rjotto said:

I dont see any physical damage to the board or the socket pins. And the computer is working wen slot B1 and B2 are populated. Can only one channel on the memory controller be faulty?

could be, i see it as unlikely but it could be that

[rjotto]

1 minute ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

could be, i see it as unlikely but it could be that

Is it possible to do something else to pinpoint the problem more precisely? Are there any diagnostic tools that will show if the cpu's memory controller is the problem?

[Bananasplit_00]

15 hours ago, rjotto said:

Is it possible to do something else to pinpoint the problem more precisely? Are there any diagnostic tools that will show if the cpu's memory controller is the problem?

no there are no such tools. there is only testing you can do. if you swap the CPU and the chanels are still dead, the motherboard is to blame, if you swap the CPU into another motherboard and the chanel is still dead the IMC is to blame

[rjotto]

Thanks to all for the input.

Just want to post an update for future reference.

The problem was ME. When installing the processor I had bent some of the pins on the socket.

After long struggle and some help I have managed to somehow straighten the pins and the PC is working now.

RAM is in dual channel and with specified speed and timings.

 

Just a side note: 4790k is very HOT if I use auto setting in bios.

Now I am experimenting with lower cpu voltage in an effort to lower the temperature.

I am using adaptive setting in bios with offset mode sign set to minus. For now stock is set to -0.06 and turbo is set to auto.

When stress testing with aida64 I see ~1.2V @ 4.4 GHz for 40 minutes without crashing. But I still see thermal throttling.

 

After reading numerous posts on different forums and some reviews of the 4790k I still have the following questions:

1. Do you think that I should enable ASUS multicore enhancement setting in bios?

2. Do you think that it is safe to lower the voltage for the cpu even more?