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+--- Thread: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode (/showthread.php?tid=1126)
I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 02-27-2016
Hey guys I'm hoping you can help me out. Last night I transferred my computer over to a new case. When I was done it wouldn't turn on. I didn't know what was wrong, however after troubleshooting the problem I determined that my computer could boot with only one stick of RAM installed. Then after I fooled around with it some more I discovered that I could run the RAM in single channel mode without issue.
Do you guys know what could cause this? There was some dust in one of the slots at one point and I did have a stick plugged into that slot. Could that have shorted it out? Also one of the sticks got bumped by one of my water cooling hoses. Does this sound like physical damage? Do I need a new motherboard? Is there anything else I can do? I tried clearing the CMOS and I cleaned out the RAM slots with alcohol but it's still not working. :(
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 02-27-2016
(02-27-2016, 10:33 PM)gstanford Wrote: Test the sticks individually - one may be faulty, causing the dual channel issue.
What would cause the faultiness (dust, moving components to new case, water cooler pipes) I really couldn't say, but I would suspect static discharge damage when moving components above the other things if I had to guess.
Both sticks are working, however even if I just try to run a single stick in either slot A1 or A2 the computer will not post.
The only configuration is having my two sticks in slots B1 and B2 but that does not give me dual channel. :(
So you think something is fried? I need a new motherboard?
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - RolloTheGreat - 02-27-2016
(02-27-2016, 10:25 PM)SickBeast Wrote: Hey guys I'm hoping you can help me out. Last night I transferred my computer over to a new case. When I was done it wouldn't turn on. I didn't know what was wrong, however after troubleshooting the problem I determined that my computer could boot with only one stick of RAM installed. Then after I fooled around with it some more I discovered that I could run the RAM in single channel mode without issue.
Do you guys know what could cause this? There was some dust in one of the slots at one point and I did have a stick plugged into that slot. Could that have shorted it out? Also one of the sticks got bumped by one of my water cooling hoses. Does this sound like physical damage? Do I need a new motherboard? Is there anything else I can do? I tried clearing the CMOS and I cleaned out the RAM slots with alcohol but it's still not working. :(
Stuff like this is totally annoying, and would always piss me off when I was constantly building new boxes in focus group.
Probably not what you want to hear:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231719
Send newegg Canada $45 for that 8GB stick, go enjoy the weekend. Not much money, and only 2-3% performance loss if you have dedicated graphics.
Why chase it for $45 when you can even sell your current RAM to offset the tiny cost?
If you must you might see if current RAM is sketchy with current mobo and you were just lucky before, update bios, stop OCing, set all to factory defaults, definitely don't over volt, try RAM in another box and MEMTest, try different RAM in this box and MEMTest, etc, etc,etc.....
Or just spend the $45, sell your RAM, and if it doesn't work for guy you sell to, apologize and refund.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 02-27-2016
(02-27-2016, 11:01 PM)RolloTheGreat Wrote:(02-27-2016, 10:25 PM)SickBeast Wrote: Hey guys I'm hoping you can help me out. Last night I transferred my computer over to a new case. When I was done it wouldn't turn on. I didn't know what was wrong, however after troubleshooting the problem I determined that my computer could boot with only one stick of RAM installed. Then after I fooled around with it some more I discovered that I could run the RAM in single channel mode without issue.
Do you guys know what could cause this? There was some dust in one of the slots at one point and I did have a stick plugged into that slot. Could that have shorted it out? Also one of the sticks got bumped by one of my water cooling hoses. Does this sound like physical damage? Do I need a new motherboard? Is there anything else I can do? I tried clearing the CMOS and I cleaned out the RAM slots with alcohol but it's still not working. :(
Stuff like this is totally annoying, and would always piss me off when I was constantly building new boxes in focus group.
Probably not what you want to hear:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231719
Send newegg Canada $45 for that 8GB stick, go enjoy the weekend. Not much money, and only 2-3% performance loss if you have dedicated graphics.
Why chase it for $45 when you can even sell your current RAM to offset the tiny cost?
If you must you might see if current RAM is sketchy with current mobo and you were just lucky before, update bios, stop OCing, set all to factory defaults, definitely don't over volt, try RAM in another box and MEMTest, try different RAM in this box and MEMTest, etc, etc,etc.....
Or just spend the $45, sell your RAM, and if it doesn't work for guy you sell to, apologize and refund.
Thanks for that.
I'm wondering if it could also be my CPU socket. I managed to get thermal paste in my CPU socket about a year ago. I was able to clean it out using alcohol and a small brush but I'm wondering if there is still some caked in there and when I moved everything around maybe it messed things up again.
Right now I have 2x8gb sticks for 16gb total RAM. If the performance hit is only 3% I guess I can live with that. I will watch for a deal on a new motherboard. What a pain!
I have tried resetting my BIOS to the defaults and it still doesn't work.
It seems strange to me that two of the slots are not working. How could I have damaged two of them? It doesn't make sense. Everything looks good visually.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - RolloTheGreat - 02-27-2016
You're welcome, you could probably even run one 8GB stick and not know the difference.
Check this goof out trying to tell people 75 vs 78 fps minimum and 84 vs 90 fps average is "smoother" for 16GB vs 8:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDkKDqThyBo
Sure thing buddy- except minimum 75 vs 78 would be imperceptible to the naked eye.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 02-27-2016
The strange thing is, I can run both sticks but I have to use slots B1 and B2 which means it's only running in single channel mode. Slots A1 and A2 appear to be fried. :(
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 02-27-2016
Rollo it looks like you were right about the performance:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/does-dual-channel-memory-make-difference-in-gaming-performance/
I'm not going to sweat it for now. It is a shame about my motherboard though.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - RolloTheGreat - 02-28-2016
(02-27-2016, 11:52 PM)SickBeast Wrote: Rollo it looks like you were right about the performance:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/does-dual-channel-memory-make-difference-in-gaming-performance/
I'm not going to sweat it for now. It is a shame about my motherboard though.
Eh, if you're not out performance or money, I'd say all is well.
The multichannel memory thing is one of those old wives tales about how "future games" may take advantage of it
then mysteriously never do.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 02-28-2016
It turns out that I have extended warranty coverage through my credit card. They will hopefully be reimbursing me for the board soon. I just ordered a Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming motherboard:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128716&cm_re=gigabyte_gaming_z97-_-13-128-716-_-Product
Hopefully it's good! It looks like a very nice board to me.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - RolloTheGreat - 02-28-2016
(02-28-2016, 09:04 AM)SickBeast Wrote: It turns out that I have extended warranty coverage through my credit card. They will hopefully be reimbursing me for the board soon. I just ordered a Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming motherboard:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128716&cm_re=gigabyte_gaming_z97-_-13-128-716-_-Product
Hopefully it's good! It looks like a very nice board to me.
I like Gigabyte stuff a lot. They usually go above and beyond on build quality.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 02-28-2016
I like that it has a 3 year warranty. I was hoping to get an MSI board but it was over $200 and I couldn't find any in stock here. It's hard to find a decent mATX board. With a 3 year warranty plus an extra year through my credit card I should be all set until my next major platform upgrade. I like that it supports Crossfire and SLI as well. I may go down that route at some point if it makes sense.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - dmcowen674 - 02-29-2016
Usually when I ran into that problem it was one of the RAM chips no longer in spec to do dual channel.
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - BoFox - 03-02-2016
(02-28-2016, 09:04 AM)SickBeast Wrote: It turns out that I have extended warranty coverage through my credit card. They will hopefully be reimbursing me for the board soon. I just ordered a Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming motherboard:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128716&cm_re=gigabyte_gaming_z97-_-13-128-716-_-Product
Hopefully it's good! It looks like a very nice board to me.
Congrats - hope it serves you well with better overclocking and stuff..
As to the dual-channel issue, try baking the motherboard in the oven at 120C (edit, actually maybe 150C) for about 1 hour or so. It could re-flow all of the critical solder points, melt the thermal paste off the socket pins, and more? But check the socket pins with a magnifying glass first. If the mobo is indeed revived to perfect working condition once again, perhaps you could use it to build a second kick-ass computer for your wife?
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 03-03-2016
My credit card looks as though they are going to refund me for the dead motherboard. Interesting suggestion though, thanks very much!
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - RolloTheGreat - 03-03-2016
(03-03-2016, 04:45 AM)SickBeast Wrote: My credit card looks as though they are going to refund me for the dead motherboard. Interesting suggestion though, thanks very much!
I would NEVER bake a motherboard. (or video card for that matter)
What if solder bridges a circuit, you plug it in and it zaps one of your other components?
Just sell it for a few bucks less, disclosing the RAM issue, and call it a day.
No hillbilly science experiment cooking parts.
(sorry, inadvertently put thin in your post on first try- watching news)
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 03-03-2016
I can't sell it or salvage it. I have to send it back to my credit card's insurance company (at my own cost).
RE: I can't run my RAM in dual channel mode - SickBeast - 03-06-2016
I just got my new motherboard up and running. I'm really impressed with it. I think I'm going to go with Gigabyte from now on for my motherboards. It's a huge upgrade in terms of quality and features over my old board. I'm very impressed with it. I'm not easily impressed, either. I have been building computers for a long time. This is by far the highest quality board I have ever worked with and I have owned several high end boards in the past. The 3 year warranty is worth the extra money in and of itself.
Thanks again guys for trying to help. Now I just hope my credit card looks after the rest.